2018 Roland Garros

DAY 8 MEN’S NOTES

Sunday 3 June

Round of 16 Bottom Half

Featured matches

No. 2 Alexander Zverev (GER) v Karen Khachanov (RUS)

No. 7 Dominic Thiem (AUT) v No. 19 Kei Nishikori (JPN)

No. 8 David Goffin (BEL) v Marco Cecchinato (ITA)

No. 20 Novak Djokovic (SRB) v No. 30 Fernando Verdasco (ESP)

On court on Sunday…

After surviving a match point in his 5-set victory over Damir Dzumhur in the 3rd round, No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev takes on Karen Khachanov – who ended the hopes of French No. 1 Lucas Pouille on Saturday – in the first match on Court Suzanne Lenglen with both men looking to reach a first Grand Slam quarterfinal. Zverev (aged 21 years 51 days) and Khachanov (aged 22 years 20 days) are the youngest men remaining in the men’s singles here and the winner of today’s match will become the youngest man to reach the last 8 here since Juan Martin del Potro reached the quarterfinals here aged 20 years 257 days in 2009.

7 seed Dominic Thiem is aiming to reach a 3rd consecutive quarterfinal here and become just the 2nd Austrian player – man or woman – to reach the last 8 at a major on 3 or more occasions, after Thomas Muster, who reached 9 Grand Slam quarterfinals. Standing in his way is 7-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist Kei Nishikori – and Thiem must record his first victory against the Japanese No. 1 when they face off on Court Philippe Chatrier, having lost both their previous meetings in straight sets.

David Goffin saved 4 match points against Gael Monfils as he came through his 2nd five-set clash of the tournament in a 3rd round match that spanned 2 days. He returns to Lenglen today to play Italian world No. 72 Marco Cecchinato, who has recorded his first Grand Slam match-wins here this week, having fallen in the 1st round on each of his 4 previous Grand Slam appearances. The Italian overcame No. 10 seed Pablo Carreno Busta in the 3rd round and will have to produce another upset win against Goffin, who has never lost to a player ranked as low as Cecchinato here.

Novak Djokovic and Fernando Verdasco contest the final match on Chatrier today. A win for the Serb would see him reach an Open Era record 12th quarterfinal here, and equal Roger Federer’s record of 9 straight appearances in the last 8 here. While he will be a favourite to progress and record a 6th straight victory against Verdasco, the Spaniard may prove to be a tricky opponent having powered past No. 4 seed Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets in the 3rd round. Should Verdasco reach his first Roland Garros quarterfinal on his 15th appearance here, he will go top of the list for most attempts before reaching the quarterfinals here in the Open Era.

2 ALEXANDER ZVEREV (GER) v KAREN KHACHANOV (RUS)

Head-to-head: Zverev leads 1-0

2016 St Petersburg Hard (I) R32 Zverev 76(3) 64

A 2nd meeting for the 2 players, but their first at a Grand Slam or on clay.

Zverev (21 years 51 days) and Khachanov (22 years 20 days) are the 2 youngest players remaining in the men’s singles here. The winner of today’s match will become the youngest Roland Garros quarterfinalist since Juan Martin del Potro reached the last 8 here in 2009 aged 20 years 257 days.

ZVEREV v KHACHANOV

21 Age 22

3 ATP Ranking 38

8 Titles 2

17-11 Career Grand Slam Record 11-6

5-2 Roland Garros Record 6-1

150-78 Career Record 60-56

57-23 Career Record – Clay 25-17

33-8 2018 Record 18-11

20-3 2018 Record – Clay 6-4

6-5 Career Five-Set Record 1-1

0 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0

55-43 Career Tiebreak Record 37-37

9-3 2018 Tiebreak Record 11-9

ZVEREV is bidding to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam for the first time.

Zverev is bidding to become the 7th German man in the Open Era to reach the quarterfinals at Roland Garros – and only the 2nd since 1996 (when Bernd Karbarcher and Michael Stich both reached the last 8 here) after Tommy Haas in 2013. Maximilian Marterer, who plays Rafael Nadal in the round of 16 on Monday, could also achieve the feat here.

Should both Zverev and Marterer win today, it will be the 3rd time that Germany has had multiple representatives in the Roland Garros quarterfinals in the Open Era – after Boris Becker and Stich reached the last 8 in 1991, and Karbacher and Stich in 1996. By both reaching the round of 16 here, Zverev and Marterer ensured Germany has multiple representatives in the last 16 here for the first time since 2013, when Haas and Philipp Kohlschreiber reached this stage.

Zverev advanced to the round of 16 here for the first time and equalled his best Grand Slam performance after defeating Ricardas Berankis 61 61 62, Dusan Lajovic 26 75 46 61 62 and No. 26 seed Damir Dzumhur 62 36 46 76(3) 75 in the opening 3 rounds. He also reached the round of 16 at 2017 Wimbledon (l. Milos Raonic).

By reaching the round of 16 here, Zverev has recorded his best Roland Garros performance. He reached the 3rd round on his debut here in 2016 (l. Dominic Thiem) and lost in the 1st round to Fernando Verdasco last year. This is his 3rd Roland Garros appearance and his 12th Grand Slam overall.

By defeating world No. 29 Dzumhur in the 3rd round here, Zverev recorded his first victory against a Top 50 opponent at a Grand Slam. It was also his 150th Tour-level match-win.

By defeating both Lajovic and Dzumhur in 5 sets here, Zverev improved his win-loss record in 5-set matches to 6-5. He saved a match point in the victory against Dzumhur. They are the first 5-set matches he has contested at Roland Garros.

If he wins today Zverev will play either No. 7 seed Thiem or No. 19 seed Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals. He trails Thiem 2-4 and is tied 1-1 with Nishikori in their previous meetings.

Zverev warmed up for Roland Garros by winning the titles at Munich (d. Kohlschreiber) and Madrid-1000 (d. Thiem). By winning the title at Madrid-1000, he became the 5th active player, after the ‘Big 4’ of Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray to win 3 or more Masters-1000 titles.

Also on clay in 2018, Zverev reached the final at Rome-1000 (l. Nadal) and the semifinals at Monte Carlo-1000 (l. Kei Nishikori). His defeat to Nadal at Rome-1000 ended a 13-match winning streak. He also won one of his 2 singles rubbers in Germany’s Davis Cup World Group quarterfinal defeat to Spain.

Elsewhere in 2018, Zverev reached the final at Miami-1000 (l. John Isner) and the semifinals at Acapulco (l. Juan Martin del Potro), but lost in the 3rd round at the Australian Open (l. Hyeon Chung).

Zverev is bidding to win his 34th Tour-level match this year. He has won more Tour-level matches than any other player in 2018, ahead of Thiem (32), Nadal (26), Del Potro (26) and Fabio Fognini (25).

At 21 years 51 days, Zverev is looking to become the youngest Grand Slam men’s singles champion since Del Potro won the US Open aged 20 years 355 days, and the youngest Roland Garros men’s singles champion since Nadal won the title here in 2007 aged 21 years 7 days. (NB Age calculated at the end of the tournament) (see Preview page 4)

Zverev is seeded No. 2 here – his highest seeding at a Grand Slam. This is the first time that a player other than the ‘Big 4’ has been among the top 2 seeds at Roland Garros since 2005, when Federer and Andy Roddick were seeded No. 1 and No. 2 respectively, and the first time at Grand Slam since the 2006 Australian Open, when Federer and Roddick were also the top 2 seeds. (see Preview page 4)

Zverev’s older brother Mischa Zverev reached the 3rd round here – making them just the 2nd pair of brothers to reach the 3rd round at Roland Garros in the same year in the Open Era after Gene and Sandy Mayer in 1979. Mischa fell to No. 6 seed Kevin Anderson in 4 sets on Saturday.

Zverev rose to a career-high ranking of No. 3 in November 2017, becoming the youngest player to break the Top 3 since Djokovic in 2007. He plays here at the same ranking.

Zverev is a former junior world No. 1. He was named 2013 ITF Junior World Champion and went on to win the boys’ singles title at the 2014 Australian Open (d. Stefan Kozlov). As well as finishing runner-up in the boys’ singles at 2013 Roland Garros (l. Christian Garin), he helped Germany reach the 2013 Junior Davis Cup Final (l. Spain).

Zverev is coached by his father, Alexander Zverev Sr. His physical trainer is Jez Green and his physio is Hugo Gravil.

KHACHANOV is bidding to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam for the first time. This is his 2nd appearance at Roland Garros and his 7th Grand Slam overall.

Khachanov is bidding to become the 9th Russian man to reach the quarterfinals at Roland Garros in the Open Era – and the first since Mikhail Youzhny in 2010. He would also become just the 2nd Russian man to reach the quarterfinals at a major since Youzhny at the 2013 US Open, after Andrey Rublev, who reached the last 8 at the US Open last year.

Khachanov adavanced to the round of 16 for the 2nd straight year after defeating Andreas Haider-Maurer 76(0) 63 63 and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 62 76(7) 67(0) 63 in the opening 2 rounds here, before ending a 4-match losing streak against Top 20 opposition by defeating world No. 16 Lucas Pouille 63 75 63 in the 3rd round.

By reaching the round of 16 here Khachanov has equalled his best Grand Slam result. He also reached the round of 16 here last year, defeating Nicolas Jarry, Tomas Berdych and John Isner before falling to No. 1 seed Andy Murray in the last 16. At 21 years 21 days, he was the youngest man to reach the round of 16 here since Marin Cilic (20 years 252 days) in 2009.

If he wins today Khachanov will play either No. 7 seed Dominic Thiem or No. 19 seed Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals. He is tied 1-1 with Nishikori in their previous meetings but has never played Thiem.

Khachanov warmed up for Roland Garros by reaching the 3rd round at Monte Carlo-1000 (l. Rafael Nadal) and Barcelona (l. David Goffin). He lost in the 1st round at Madrid-1000 (l. Dusan Lajovic) and Rome-1000 (l. Philipp Kohlschreiber).

Khachanov’s best result in 2018 is winning the title at Marseille, defeating Pouille in the final. He also reached the quarterfinals at Auckland (l. Juan Martin del Potro) and Montpellier (l. Goffin), and the 3rd round at Miami-1000 (l. Kevin Anderson), but fell in the 2nd round at the Australian Open (l. Del Potro).

Khachanov is bidding to record his first victory against a Top 5 player on his 6th attempt. His career-best victory came when No. 9 Nishikori retired in the 2nd round at 2017 Halle due to a left hip injury. The highest-ranked player he has defeated in a completed match is No. 10 Goffin in the 3rd round at 2017 Barcelona, and the highest-ranked player he has defeated at a Grand Slam is No. 14 Berdych in the 2nd round here last year.

Khachanov is bidding to record 4 consecutive Tour-level match-wins for the 3rd time in his career – and for the first time on clay. His only previous streaks of 4 or more Tour-level wins came in his 2 Tour-level title victories – at 2016 Chengdu (d. Albert Ramos-Vinolas) and at Marseille this year.

Khachanov reached a career-high ranking of No. 29 in August last year. He plays here at No. 38.

Khachanov has played Davis Cup for Russia since 2013 and has a 2-6 win-loss record in the competition. Russia will play Belarus in a Europe/Africa Zone Group I first round relegation play-off on 14-15 September.

Khachanov entered the men’s doubles event here with Ilya Ivashka. The pair fell to No. 3 seeds Henri Kontinen/John Peers 63 62 in the 1st round.

Khachanov won the boys’ doubles silver medal alongside Andrey Rublev at the 2014 Youth Olympic Tennis Event in Nanjing, China. The pair fell to Orlando Luz/Marcelo Zormann in the gold medal match.

Khachanov is coached by Vedran Martic.

7 DOMINIC THIEM (AUT) v NO. 19 KEI NISHIKORI (JPN)

Head-to-head: Nishikori leads 2-0

2015 Halle Grass (O) R32 Nishikori 76(4) 75

2016 Rome-1000 Clay (O) QF Nishikori 63 75

A 3rd meeting for the 2 players and their 2nd on clay, but their first at a Grand Slam. Nishikori has won both their previous encounters in straight sets.

THIEM v NISHIKORI

24 Age 28

8 ATP Ranking 21

10 Titles 11

40-17 Career Grand Slam Record 72-31

15-4 Roland Garros Record 18-7

203-117 Career Record 346-162

106-35 Career Record – Clay 84-33

32-8 2018 Record 15-7

23-5 2018 Record – Clay 11-4

4-5 Career Five-Set Record 17-6

2 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 2

76-69 Career Tiebreak Record 103-76

9-6 2018 Tiebreak Record 4-3

THIEM is bidding to reach the quarterfinals here for the 3rd straight year. This is his 5th straight Roland Garros appearance and his 18th Grand Slam overall.

Thiem is bidding to reach his 3rd Grand Slam quarterfinal and take sole ownership of 2nd place on the list for most Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances by an Austrian player – man or woman.

Most Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances by an Austrian player (all-time)

Player	No. of appearances
Thomas Muster	9
Dominic Thiem??	*3??*
Tamira Paszek Judith Wiesner	2 2

Thiem is bidding to record his 16th match-win here and equal Jurgen Melzer in 2nd place on the list for most matches won by an Austrian man at Roland Garros.

Most matches won by an Austrian man at Roland Garros (all-time)

Rank	Player	Roland Garros win-loss
1.	Thomas Muster	32-13
2.	Jurgen Melzer	16-13
3=	Hermann Artens Dominic Thiem	15-6 15-4
5.	Franz-Wilhelm Matejka	9-3

Thiem advanced to the round of 16 here by defeating qualifier Ilya Ivashka 62 64 61, Stefanos Tsitsipas 62 26 64 64 and Matteo Berrettini 63 67(5) 63 62 in the opening 3 rounds.

If he wins today Thiem will face either No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev or Karen Khachanov in the quarterfinals. He leads Zverev 4-2 in their previous meetings but has never faced Khachanov.

Last year here Thiem equalled his best Grand Slam performance by reaching the semifinals, where he lost to eventual champion Rafael Nadal in straight sets. He also reached the semifinals in 2016, losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.

Thiem is aiming to record his 33rd match-win of the season today. He is in 2nd place on the list for most matches won in 2018, behind Alexander Zverev, who is bidding for his 34th match-win of 2018 today.

Thiem warmed up for Roland Garros by winning the title at Lyon, where he defeated Gilles Simon in the final for his 200th Tour-level match-win. He also reached the final at Madrid-1000 (l. Alexander Zverev) and the quarterfinals at Monte Carlo-1000 (l. Nadal) and Barcelona (l. Tsitsipas), but lost his opening match at Rome-1000 (l. Fabio Fognini).

Thiem is one of 3 players – alongside Nadal and Zverev – to have won multiple clay court titles this season. In addition to his victory at Lyon, he also won the title at Buenos Aires in February (d. Aljaz Bedene).

For the 2nd straight year, Thiem is the only player to have defeated Nadal on clay prior to Roland Garros. His victory against Nadal in the quarterfinals at Madrid-1000 ended both Nadal’s 21-match winning streak on clay and his streak of 50 straight sets won on clay. It was the first time Nadal had dropped a set on clay since Thiem’s victory against him in the quarterfinals at 2017 Rome-1000.

Earlier this year, Thiem reached the semifinals at Doha, where he gave a walkover to Gael Monfils due to a viral infection, the quarterfinals at Rio de Janeiro (l. Fernando Verdasco) and Acapulco (l. Juan Martin del Potro), and the round of 16 at the Australian Open (l. Tennys Sandgren).

Thiem is bidding to defeat a Top 30 player at a Grand Slam for the 7th time. He has a 6-12 win-loss record against Top 30 players at the majors overall and a 3-4 win-loss record against Top 30 opposition at Roland Garros.

Clay is Thiem’s best surface, with 106 of his 203 Tour-level victories coming on the surface. By contrast, he has an 84-71 win-loss record on hard courts and a 13-11 win-loss record on grass.

Thiem reached a career-high ranking of No. 4 in November 2017. He plays here at No. 8.

Thiem has played Davis Cup for Austria since 2014 and has a 7-5 win-loss record in the competition overall. Austria will play Australia in the World Group play-offs in Graz on 14-16 September.

Thiem is a former junior world No. 2. He reached the boys’ singles final at Roland Garros as No. 14 seed in 2011, losing to Bjorn Fratangelo 36 63 86. As well as reaching the junior Roland Garros final, Thiem’s best junior result is winning the 2011 Orange Bowl.

Thiem joined the Austrian military as part of the country’s mandatory national service for 6 months from November 2014-April 2015, but continued to play on Tour during that time.

Thiem is coached by Gunter Bresnik. His physio is Alex Stober.

NISHIKORI is bidding to reach the quarterfinals here for the 3rd time and equal his best Roland Garros performance. He reached the last 8 here in 2015 (l. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga) and last year (l. Andy Murray). This is his 8th appearance at Roland Garros and his 33rd Grand Slam overall.

Nishikori is bidding to reach his 8th Grand Slam quarterfinal. Last year here, Nishikori reached his 7th Grand Slam quarterfinal to take sole ownership of the all-time record for most last 8 Grand Slam appearances by a Japanese man ahead of Jiri Satoh. Among all active players, he is in joint-12th place on the list for most Grand Slam quarterfinals reached.

Nishikori advanced to the round of 16 here for the 5th time after defeating 3 French players in the opening 3 rounds, improving his win-loss record against French players at Roland Garros to 6-2. He defeated wild card Maxime Janvier 76(0) 64 63 in the 1st round on Sunday, Benoit Paire 63 26 46 62 63 in the 2nd round on Wednesday and Gilles Simon 63 61 63 in the 3rd round on Friday.

Nishikori’s victory against Paire in the 2nd round improved his win-loss record in 5-set matches at Roland Garros to 3-1, with his only defeat in a 5-set match here coming against Tsonga in the quarterfinals in 2015. He has a 17-6 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.

If he wins today Nishikori will face either No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev or Karen Khachanov in the quarterfinals. He has a 1-1 win-loss record against both Zverev and Khachanov in their previous meetings.

This is Nishikori’s first Grand Slam appearance since 2017 Wimbledon. He missed both the 2017 US Open and 2018 Australian Open due to a right wrist injury which ended his 2017 season.

At the 2014 US Open, Nishikori became the first Asian male to contest a Grand Slam final after defeating 3 Top 10 players – Milos Raonic, Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic – in consecutive matches before falling to Marin Cilic in the title match.

Nishikori’s best result on clay in 2018 is reaching the final at Monte Carlo-1000 (l. Rafael Nadal). He also reached the quarterfinals at Rome-1000 (l. Djokovic), but lost his opening matches at Barcelona, where he retired due to a wrist injury after losing the 1st set against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, and Madrid-1000 (l. Djokovic).

Also in 2018, Nishikori reached the semifinals at New York (l. Kevin Anderson) and the 3rd round at Miami-1000 after receiving a 1st round bye (l. Juan Martin del Potro), but fell in the 1st round at Acapulco (l. Denis Shapovalov). He also won the title at the Dallas Challenger (USA) (d. Mackenzie McDonald).

Nishikori is bidding to defeat a Top 10 player at Roland Garros for the first time on his 4th attempt. He has lost all 3 of his previous meetings with Top 10 opponents here. The highest-ranked player he has defeated at Roland Garros is No. 26 Paire in the 3rd round in 2013. He has an 8-13 win-loss record against Top 10 opposition at the Grand Slams overall.

Nishikori has won 3 of his last 4 meetings against Top 10 opposition. His only defeat in that time came against No. 1 Nadal in the final at Monte Carlo-1000 this year. He has a 7-12 win-loss record against Top 10 opposition on clay and a 35-57 win-loss record against Top 10 opposition at Tour-level overall.

Nishikori has won 11 Tour-level singles titles, 2 of which have come on clay – at Barcelona in 2014 (d. Santiago Giraldo) and 2015 (d. Pablo Andujar).

Nishikori is the highest-ranked Japanese man in ATP World Tour Rankings history (since 1973). He had the nickname ‘Project 45’ as a major goal was to get him to No. 45 in the rankings, which would be one spot better than the highest by any Japanese man (Shuzo Matsuoka). His career-high ranking is No. 4, which he achieved in March 2015 after reaching the final at Acapulco, but he plays here ranked No. 21.

Nishikori plays here seeded No. 19 – his lowest Grand Slam seeding since he was also seeded No. 19 at 2012 Wimbledon. It is his lowest seeding at Roland Garros.

Nishikori was born in Shimane, Japan, but moved to Florida aged 14. He is coached by Dante Bottini and trains at the Bollettieri Academy. Michael Chang, who won Roland Garros in 1989, joined his team in 2014.

8 DAVID GOFFIN (BEL) v MARCO CECCHINATO (ITA)

Head-to-head: Goffin leads 1-0

2018 Rome-1000 Clay (O) R32 Goffin 57 62 62

A 2nd meeting for the pair on clay this year, with Goffin having come from a set down to win their match at Rome-1000 last month.

Goffin has never lost to a player ranked as low as No. 72 Cecchinato at Roland Garros. The lowest-ranked player to defeat him here is No. 65 Horacio Zeballos in the 3rd round last year – when Goffinretired in the 3rd round due to a right ankle injury. He has lost clay court matches to players ranked as low as Cecchinato on just 4 occasions – most recently in the quarterfinals at 2017 Umag, where he fell to No. 412 Ivan Dodig.

GOFFIN v CECCHINATO

27 Age 25

9 ATP Ranking 72

4 Titles 1

38-22 Career Grand Slam Record 3-4

14-6 Roland Garros Record 3-1

220-136 Career Record 15-32

65-37 Career Record – Clay 15-26

19-8 2018 Record 11-9

12-4 2018 Record – Clay 11-8

11-4 Career Five-Set Record 1-0

2 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 1

63-68 Career Tiebreak Record 7-9

3-6 2018 Tiebreak Record 4-4

GOFFIN is bidding to reach the quarterfinals here for the 2nd time and equal his best Grand Slam result. In 2016, he became the 2nd Belgian man to reach the last 8 at Roland Garros in the Open Era after Filip Dewulf in 1997-98. He also reached the quarterfinals at the 2017 Australian Open (l. Grigor Dimitrov).

Goffin is bidding to reach his 3rd Grand Slam quarterfinal and join Jean Washer in 2nd place on the list for most Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances by a Belgian man.

Most Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances by a Belgian man (all-time)

Player	No. of appearances
Jacques Brichant	4
David Goffin?? Jean Washer	*3??* 3
Willie de Warzee Filip Dewulf	2 2

Goffin advanced to the 3rd round after defeating Robin Haase 46 46 64 61 60 in his 100th Tour-level clay court match in the 1st round, wild card Corentin Moutet 75 60 61 in the 2nd round and No. 32 seed Gael Monfils 67(6) 63 46 75 63 in the 3rd round.

By recording his 14th Roland Garros match-win in the 3rd round, Goffin took sole ownership of 3rd place on the list for most matches won by a Belgian man at Roland Garros, ahead of Xavier Malisse. Jacques Brichant (31 Roland Garros match-wins) and Philippe Washer (20) are the only Belgian men to have recorded more wins here.

By defeating both Haase and Monfils in 5 sets here, Goffin improved his win-loss record in 5-set matches at Roland Garros to 5-0 and to 11-4 in 5-set matches overall. His victory against Haase was the 2nd time in his career that he has recovered from 0-2 down, having also achieved the feat against Kyle Edmund in the first rubber of the 2015 Davis Cup Final. He saved 4 match points in the 4th set of his victory against Monfils.

If he wins today Goffin will face No. 20 seed Novak Djokovic or No. 30 seed Fernando Verdasco in the quarterfinals. He is tied with Verdasco 3-3 in their previous meetings but trails Djokovic 1-5.

Last year here, Goffin reached the 3rd round, where he retired in the 1st set of his match against Zeballos due to a right ankle injury. This is his 7th Roland Garros appearance and his 23rd Grand Slam overall.

On his Grand Slam debut at 2012 Roland Garros, Goffin became the first lucky loser to reach the round of 16 at a Grand Slam since countryman Dick Norman reached that stage at 1995 Wimbledon and just the 8th lucky loser to reach the round of 16 at a Grand Slam in the Open Era.

Goffin warmed up for Roland Garros by reaching the semifinals at Barcelona (l. Rafael Nadal) and the quarterfinals at Monte Carlo-1000 (l. Dimitrov) and Rome-1000 (l. Alexander Zverev). He also reached the 3rd round at Madrid-1000 (l. Edmund).

Elsewhere in 2018, Goffin reached the semifinals at Montpellier (l. Richard Gasquet) and Rotterdam, where he retired in the 2nd set of his match against Dimitrov due to an eye injury. He fell in the 2nd round at the Australian Open (l. Julien Benneteau).

Goffin’s best clay court result is winning the title as a wild card at 2014 Kitzbuhel (d. Thiem). He has also won 3 hard court titles – at 2014 Metz (d. Joao Sousa), 2017 Shenzen (d. Alexandr Dolgopolov) and 2017 Tokyo (d. Adrian Mannarino).

Goffin became the first Belgian man to break the Top 10 in February 2017 after reaching the final at Rotterdam. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 7 in November, but plays here at No. 9.

Goffin has played Davis Cup for Belgium since 2012 and has a 23-6 win-loss record in the competition. He has helped Belgium 2 Davis Cup Finals – in 2015 when Belgium reached the final for the first time since 1904 but fell to Great Britain 3-1 in Ghent, and in 2017 when the team fell to France 3-2 in Lille.

Goffin was taught to play tennis by his father, who is a tennis coach at the Barchon Club in Liege.

Goffin is coached by Thierry van Cleemput.

CECCHINATO is bidding to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam for the first time. This is his 2nd Roland Garros appearance and his 5th Grand Slam overall.

Cecchinato is bidding to become the 9th Italian man to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal in the Open Era.

Italian men in Grand Slam quarterfinals (Open Era)

Player	Grand Slam quarterfinals reached
Martin Mulligan	1970 Roland Garros
Adriano Panatta	1972-73, 1975-77 Roland Garros; 1979 Wimbledon
Paolo Bertolucci	1973 Roland Garros
Corrado Barazzuti	1977 US Open; 1978, 1980 Roland Garros
Cristiano Caratti	1991 Australian Open
Renzo Furlan	1995 Roland Garros
Davide Sanguinetti	1998 Wimbledon
Fabio Fognini	2011, *2018??* Roland Garros
*Marco Cecchinato??*	*2018 Roland Garros??*

Should Cecchinato and Fabio Fognini, who is also through to the round of 16 this year, both reach the quarterfinals, it will be the 2nd time in the Open Era that Italy has had multiple representatives in the quarterfinals of the men’s singles at a Grand Slam. The only other occasion that Italy has had multiple representation in the last 8 at a major is 1973 Roland Garros, when Paolo Bertolucci and Adriano Panatta reached that stage. Fognini was the last Italian man to reach the quarterfinals here in 2011.

At No. 72, Cecchinato is bidding to become the lowest-ranked man to reach the quarterfinals here since No. 80 Ernests Gulbis in 2008. Gulbis is also the last man ranked as low as Cecchinato to reach the round of 16 at Roland Garros – he was also ranked No. 80 when he reached the last 16 here 2 years ago.

Cecchinato advanced to the round of 16 and recorded his first Grand Slam match-wins by defeating Marius Copil 26 67(4) 75 62 10-8 in his first 5-set match, lucky loser Marco Trungelliti 61 76(1) 61 and No. 10 seed Pablo Carreno Busta 26 76(5) 63 61 in the opening 3 rounds here. By defeating Carreno Busta in the 3rd round he recorded his 2nd victory against a Top 20 opponent on his 8th attempt, having also defeated No. 19 Fognini at Munich this year.

With both Cecchinato and Fognini through to the round of 16 here, this is the first time that Italy has had multiple representatives in the round of 16 of the men’s singles here since Corrado Barazzutti and Panatta reached the last 16 in 1976. They are the first Italian men through to the round of 16 here since Andreas Seppi in 2012.

If he wins today Cecchinato will play either No. 20 seed Novak Djokovic or No. 30 seed Fernando Verdasco in the quarterfinals. He has never faced either player.

Last year here, Cecchinato fell in the final round of qualifying. Prior to this tournament, Cecchinato had lost in the 1st round at each of the 4 Grand Slam events he had contested – at the 2015 US Open (l. Mardy Fish), the 2016 Australian Open (l. Nicolas Mahut), 2016 Roland Garros (l. Nick Kyrgios) and 2017 Wimbledon (l. Kei Nishikori).

Cecchinato warmed up for Roland Garros by winning his first Tour-level title as a lucky loser at Budapest (d. John Millman). He became the first lucky loser to win a Tour-level title since Leonardo Mayer at 2017 Hamburg. He also reached the 2nd round as a qualifier at Monte Carlo-1000 (l. Milos Raonic), at Munich (l. Marton Fucsovics) and as a wild card at Rome-1000 (l. today’s opponent), but fell in the 1st round at Geneva (l. Seppi).

Also in 2018 Cecchinato fell in the 1st round as a qualifier at Buenos Aires (l. Horacio Zeballos) and Rio de Janeiro (l. Carreno Busta), and as a direct acceptance at Quito (l. Gerald Melzer) and Sao Paulo (l. Sebastian Ofner). He also won the title on clay at the Santiago Challenger (CHI) (d. Carlos Gomez-Herrera) and the semifinals at the Marbella Challenger (ESP) and the Alicante Challenger (ESP). Of the 17 events he has contested at any level in 2018, 14 have been on clay.

Cecchinato is bidding to record 4 consecutive match-wins at Tour-level for the 2nd time in his career. The only previous occasion he has achieved the feat was earlier this year, when he recorded 6 consecutive Tour-level match-wins from his title victory at Budapest through to his 2nd round finish at Munich. All 15 of his Tour-level match-wins to date have come on clay.

Cecchinato is bidding to record his first victory against a Top 10 player at the 4th attempt. He has lost all 3 previous meetings against Top 10 opposition, with his career-best victory coming against No. 11 Carreno Busta in the 3rd round here.

Cecchinato entered the men’s doubles here with Marton Fucsovics. The pair lost to No. 1 seeds Lukasz Kubot/Marcelo Melo 64 75 in the 1st round.

Cecchinato is coached by Simone Vagnozzi. His fitness trainer is Umberto Ferrara.

20 NOVAK DJOKOVIC (SRB) v NO. 30 FERNANDO VERDASCO (ESP)

Head-to-head: Djokovic leads 10-4

2005 US Open Hard (O) R32 Verdasco 61 46 67(2) 64 64

2006 AMS Hamburg Clay (O) R32 Verdasco 64 63

2007 Roland Garros Clay (O) R16 Djokovic 63 63 76(1)

2007 AMS Madrid Hard (I) R32 Djokovic 67(7) 63 63

2009 Monte Carlo-1000 Clay (O) QF Djokovic 62 46 63

2009 US Open Hard (O) QF Djokovic 76(2) 16 75 62

2009 Beijing Hard (O) QF Djokovic 63 16 61

2010 Monte Carlo-1000 Clay (O) SF Verdasco 62 62

2010 Rome-1000 Clay (O) QF Verdasco 76(4) 36 64

2013 Beijing Hard (O) R16 Djokovic 75 26 62

2015 Australian Open Hard (O) R32 Djokovic 76(8) 63 64

2016 Doha Hard (O) R16 Djokovic 62 62

2017 Doha Hard (O) SF Djokovic 46 76(7) 63

2017 Australian Open Hard (O) R128 Djokovic 61 76(4) 62

A 15th Tour-level meeting between these 2 players and their 6th at a Grand Slam. Djokovic has won 4 of their previous 5 Grand Slam meetings, including a straight sets victory at this stage here 11 years ago. However, Verdasco leads their head-to-head on clay 3-2.

Verdasco has not beaten the Serb for more than 8 years, his last triumph coming in the quarterfinals at Rome-1000 in 2010. He did, however, hold 5 match points during their semifinal at 2017 – the only match since then in which Verdasco has won a set – but Djokovic recovered and went on to win the tournament.

DJOKOVIC v VERDASCO

31 Age 34

22 ATP Ranking 35

68 Titles 7

243-40 Career Grand Slam Record 102-59

62-12 Roland Garros Record 31-14

796-170 Career Record 503-373

199-51 Career Record – Clay 218-132

13-7 2018 Record 16-12

10-4 2018 Record – Clay 10-6

28-9 Career Five-Set Record 24-21

4 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 5

222-129 Career Tiebreak Record 199-201

4-5 2018 Tiebreak Record 4-7

2016 champion DJOKOVIC is bidding to record his 200th Tour-level clay court match-win today.

Djokovic is bidding to reach his 12th Roland Garros quarterfinal and set the record for most appearances in the last 8 here in the Open Era. Rafael Nadal, who plays his round of 16 match on Monday, is also bidding to achieve the feat.

Most Roland Garros quarterfinal appearances (Open Era)

Player	No. of appearances
*Novak Djokovic*	*12??*
*Rafael Nadal*	*12??*
Roger Federer	11
Andre Agassi	9
Guillermo Vilas	9

Djokovic is also looking to reach his 9th consecutive Roland Garros quarterfinal and equal Roger Federer’s Open Era record for most consecutive appearances in the last 8 here. (see table overleaf)

Most consecutive Roland Garros quarterfinal appearances (Open Era)

Player	No. of appearances
Roger Federer	9
*Novak Djokovic*	*9??*
Jimmy Connors	7
Ivan Lendl	6
Rafael Nadal	6
Guillermo Vilas	6

Djokovic is bidding to reach his 40th Grand Slam quarterfinal and close the gap on Jimmy Connors in 2nd place on the list for the most Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances in the Open Era. Nadal could also climb the list if he reaches the quarterfinals on Monday.

Most Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances (Open Era)

Player	No. of appearances
Roger Federer	52
Jimmy Connors	41
*Novak Djokovic*	*40??*
Andre Agassi	36
Ivan Lendl	34
*Rafael Nadal*	*34??*

Djokovic advanced to the round of 16 here after defeating qualifiers Rogerio Dutra Silva 63 64 64 and Jaume Munar 76(1) 64 64 in the opening 2 rounds and No. 13 seed Roberto Bautista Agut 64 67(6) 76(4) 62 in his 250th clay-court match the 3rd round. He has never lost in the round of 16 here.

By reaching the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the 43rd time, Djokovic has equalled Connors in 2nd place on the list for most round of 16 appearances at the majors in the Open Era. Only Federer (60 appearances) has appeared in the last 16 at the majors more often.

If he wins today Djokovic will play No. 8 seed David Goffin or Marco Cecchinato in the quarterfinals. He has a 5-1 win-loss record against Goffin, but has never played Cecchinato.

Last year here, Djokovic reached the quarterfinals (l. Dominic Thiem). It was his earliest exit at Roland Garros since 2010, when he also reached the quarterfinals (l. Jurgen Melzer). This is his 14th consecutive appearance at Roland Garros and his 53rd Grand Slam overall.

Djokovic became the 8th man in history to win all 4 Grand Slam events by winning his first Roland Garros title in 2016, defeating Andy Murray in the final. It was his 12th Grand Slam crown – to add to his triumphs at the Australian Open in 2008 (d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga), 2011 (d. Murray), 2012 (d. Nadal), 2013 (d. Murray), 2015 (d. Murray) and 2016 (d. Murray), Wimbledon in 2011 (d. Nadal), 2014 (d. Federer) and 2015 (d. Federer) and the US Open in 2011 (d. Nadal) and 2015 (d. Federer).

Djokovic is bidding to become the first man in the Open Era – and only the 3rd man in history – to win each of the 4 Grand Slams twice. Roy Emerson and Rod Laver are the only men to have won each Grand Slam on 2 or more occasions. [NB While Laver completed the feat in 1969, some of the titles were won before the start of the Open Era] (see Preview page 3)

Djokovic warmed up for Roland Garros by reaching the semifinals at Rome-1000 (l. Nadal) and the 3rd round at Monte Carlo-1000 (l. Thiem). He fell in the 2nd round at Barcelona (l. Martin Klizan) and Madrid-1000 (l. Kyle Edmund).

Also in 2018, Djokovic reached the round of 16 at the Australian Open (l. Hyeon Chung) but lost his opening matches at both Indian Wells-1000 (l. Taro Daniel) and Miami-1000 (l. Benoit Paire). He did not play between the Australian Open and Indian Wells-1000 due to elbow surgery. It is the first time since 2006 that Djokovic has failed to win a Tour-level title prior to Roland Garros.

Djokovic is bidding to extend a 15-match winning streak against lefthanders at the majors. He has not lost to a lefthanded player at a Grand Slam since losing to Nadal in the final here in 2014. Only 3 lefthanded players have defeated Djokovic at a major – Nadal (on 9 occasions), Jurgen Melzer here in 2010 and today’s opponent at the 2005 US Open. He has a 29-11 win-loss record against lefthanders at the Grand Slams overall.

Djokovic plays here seeded No. 20 – his lowest Grand Slam seeding since he was also seeded No. 20 at the 2006 US Open. It is his lowest seeding at Roland Garros.

Djokovic dropped out of the Top 20 for the first time in more than 11 years in May this year. He plays here ranked No. 22 – his lowest ranking since October 2006.

13 of Djokovic’s 68 Tour-level singles titles have come on clay, compared with 51 on hard courts and 4 on grass.

Djokovic reunited with former coach Marian Vajda ahead of the clay court season.

Lefthander VERDASCO is bidding to reach the quarterfinals here for the first time on his 15th Roland Garros appearance and go top of the Open Era list for the most attempts before reaching the quarterfinals here.

Attempts to reach Roland Garros quarterfinals (Open Era)

Player	No. of attempts
*Fernando Verdasco??*	*15??*
Richard Gasquet	13
Tommy Haas	12
Marin Cilic	11
Marcelo Filippini Mikhail Youzhny	10 10

At 34 years 207 days Verdasco is bidding to become the oldest man to reach the quarterfinals at Roland Garros since Tommy Haas, who reached the quarterfinals here aged 35 years 67 days in 2013. He would be the 7th-oldest male quarterfinalist at Roland Garros in the Open Era, after Pancho Gonzales (1968), Istvan Gulyas (1971), Haas, Andres Gimeno (1972), Jimmy Connors (1987) and Ken Rosewall (1969). (NB Age calculated at the end of the tournament)

Verdasco advanced to the round of 16 here after defeating Yoshihito Nishioka 67(4) 64 63 67(3) 75 for his 100th Grand Slam match-win in the 1st round, qualifier Guido Andreozzi 63 62 62 in the 2nd round and No. 4 seed Grigor Dimitrov 76(4) 62 64 in the 3rd round.

By defeating Nishioka in 5 sets in the 2nd round here, Verdasco improved his win-loss record in 5-set matches at Roland Garros to 5-5 and to 24-21 in 5-set matches overall.

If he wins today Verdasco will play No. 8 seed David Goffin or Marco Cecchinato in the quarterfinals. He is tied 3-3 in previous meetings with Goffin but has never faced Cecchinato.

By reaching the round of 16 here for the 7th time Verdasco has equalled his best Roland Garros performance – he also reached this stage in 2007 (l. today’s opponent), 2008 (l. Rafael Nadal), 2009 (l. Nikolay Davydenko), 2010 (l. Nicolas Almagro), 2014 (l. Andy Murray) and last year, when he fell to Kei Nishikori in 4 sets.

Verdasco’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the semifinals as No. 14 seed at the 2009 Australian Open, losing to Nadal 67(4) 64 76(2) 67(1) 64 in 5 hours 14 minutes.

Verdasco’s victory against Dimitrov in the 3rd round here was his 350th Tour-level clay court match. He has a 218-132 Tour-level win-loss record on clay, compared to 231-199 on hard courts, 45-34 on grass and 9-8 on carpet.

Prior to coming here, Verdasco reached the 2nd round at Monte Carlo-1000 (d. Pablo Cuevas, l. Marin Cilic) and Madrid-1000, where he defeated Paolo Lorenzi in the 1st round to record his 500th Tour-level match-win before falling to Leonardo Mayer. He lost in the 1st round at both Houston (l. Denis Kudla) and Rome-1000 (l. Damir Dzumhur).

Verdasco’s best result in 2018 is reaching the final on clay at Rio de Janeiro (l. Diego Schwartzman). He also reached the round of 16 at Miami-1000 (l. Pablo Carreno Busta) and the 3rd round at Indian Wells-1000 (l. Taylor Fritz), but fell in the 2nd round at the Australian Open (l. Maximilian Marterer).

Verdasco has won 4 of his last 5 matches against Top 30 opposition at the Grand Slams, with his only defeat in that time coming against No. 9 Nishikori here last year. He has a 21-34 win-loss record against Top 30 players at the majors overall.

Verdasco is seeded at a Grand Slam for just the 2nd time in the last 3 years – since 2015 Roland Garros, the only other Grand Slam at which he has been seeded is 2017 Wimbledon, where he was No. 31 seed. His highest-seeding at a major is No. 7 – at both 2009 Wimbledon and 2010 Roland Garros.

Verdasco has played at every Grand Slam event since making his debut at 2003 Wimbledon. This is his 60th straight major – putting him in 3rd position on the list of most consecutive Grand Slams played in history behind Roger Federer (65) and Feliciano Lopez, who contested his 65th straight major here this year. (see Preview page 11)

Verdasco has won 7 Tour-level singles titles, most recently at 2016 Bucharest. Five of his titles have come on clay.

Verdasco is a former Top 10 player, having reached a career-high ranking of No. 7 in April 2009. He plays here at No. 35.

Verdasco is coached by Nacho Truyol. His fitness trainers are Javier Bustos and Jose Maria Castillo.

****All statistics courtesy of ITF/Grand Slam Media

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2018 Roland Garros – Day Eight Men’s Preview