The Roland Garros draw is now reduced to just eight men, seven of whom are ATP Top 10 players, and five have tasted Grand-Slam glory. The only absent active Grand-Slam winners are Roger Federer who is practicing on grass these days, and Juan Martin Del-Potro who lost to the gritty Brit in the 3rd round.
With Rafael Nadal continuing his great 2017 run, Novak Djokovic benefiting from Andre Agassi's partnership, and Andy Murray hitting peak form just in time for mid-season hunting, there seems to be a lot of great tennis left in this year’s French Open.
Rafa is still the man to beat
The matador is reminding everyone, once again, why he is "The King of Clay." He simply crushed his last two opponents and only lost 6 games in 6 sets. He seemed quite pleased with his performance. In the quarters he will face the only non Top-10 player left in the draw, his countryman Pablo Carreno Busta who defeated Milos Raonic in 5 sets to ruin the Top-10-inclusive roster. While it is unlikely that he lets Rafa proceed with a similar scoreline to his previous rounds, it is so hard to bet against Rafa marching on.
Novak and the real test
Novak Djokovic was ruthless in the final two sets of his 4th-round match and looked more similar to the man who rose 'La Coupe des Mousquetaires' 12 months ago.
However, things are only going to get harder from now on. If he is going to repeat his last year’s achievement, he needs to get past the red-hot Dominic Thiem first. The good news for him, though, is that he demolished the Austrian last week at Rome.
Moment of truth for Murray
Andy Murray may have had the easiest route to the quarterfinals, but now it is time for him to prove himself once again and remind us that he is not The World's No.1 player for no reason.
His quarterfinal clash with Nishikori has been one of the tennis classics in the last few years. This is the moment of truth as far as Murray is concerned. Defeating Nishikori could solidify him as a serious contender for the trophy, while losing would pull him down even more.
Stan staying perfect
🎥 Match point 🎾
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 5, 2017
Le champion 2015 @stanwawrinka en 1/4 après sa victoire sur @Gael_Monfils 7/5, 7/6, 6/2 #RG17 pic.twitter.com/aCSSC91Pt3
Stan Wawrinka doesn’t care about being considered the favorite or attracting the media's attention.
The only thing he cares about is winning matches. Until now, he has played extremely solid tennis and has not been troubled at all in his journey to the 2nd week. The showdown with Cilic could be a real test, but with the form he has shown it will be really hard to stop him from advancing to the semis.