2018 Roland Garros – Day Nine Men’s Preview

2018 ROLAND GARROS

DAY 9 MEN’S NOTES

Monday 4 June

Round of 16 Top Half

Featured matches

No. 1 Rafael Nadal (ESP) v Maximilian Marterer (GER)

No. 3 Marin Cilic (CRO) v No. 18 Fabio Fognini (ITA)

No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) v No. 9 John Isner (USA)

No. 6 Kevin Anderson (RSA) v No. 11 Diego Schwartzman (ARG)

On court on Monday…

Rafael Nadal, who marked his 32nd birthday yesterday, will hope to continue his celebrations by recording his 234th Grand Slam match-win to claim sole ownership of 3rd place on the all-time list for most match-wins at the majors, ahead of Jimmy Connors. He faces Roland Garros debutant Maximilian Marterer in the 2nd match on Court Philippe Chatrier, who could become both the 8th German man to reach the quarterfinals here in the Open Era, and the first Roland Garros debutant to reach the last 8 since Nadal himself in 2005.

18 seed Fabio Fognini, who takes to Chatrier this afternoon against No. 3 seed Marin Cilic, is aiming to join his countryman Marco Cecchinato in the last 8, after Cecchinato defeated David Goffin in the round of 16 on Sunday. Should he do so, it will be just the 2nd time in the Open Era that 2 Italian men have reached the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam. Fognini is yet to defeat a Top 5 player at a major, and will also need to end a 5-match losing streak against Top 5 opposition at Tour-level if he is to complete a wonderful Italian Grand Slam renaissance.

Juan Martin del Potro and John Isner face off for the 11th time in the 3rd match on Court Suzanne Lenglen – but it will be their first clay court encounter. The Argentinian former US Open champion is looking to reach his 3rd Roland Garros quarterfinal – Guillermo Vilas, who reached 9 quarterfinals here, and 3-time Roland Garros quarterfinalist Guillermo Canas are the only Argentinian men in the Open Era to have reached the quarterfinals of the men’s singles here more often. Isner meanwhile, could become the first American man to reach the last 8 here in 15 years – after Andre Agassi reached the last of his 9 quarterfinals here in 2003.

2017 US Open finalist Kevin Anderson will look to become the first South African man to reach the Roland Garros quarterfinals since Cliff Drysdale in 1967 when faces No. 11 seed Diego Schwartzman on Lenglen. Victory today will also see Anderson climb the list for most Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances by a South African man and most Roland Garros match-wins by a South African man. But Schwartzman will be eyeing records of his own too – he is aiming for a 2nd Grand Slam quarterfinal in his last 3 Grand Slams, which would see him become the 8th Argentinian man in the Open Era to reach multiple Grand Slam quarterfinals.

1 RAFAEL NADAL (ESP) v MAXIMILIAN MARTERER (GER)

Head-to-head: first meeting

Marterer is bidding to become the 11th man in the Open Era to reach the quarterfinals on his Roland Garros debut – and the first since Nadal, who reached the last 8 here in 2005 before going on to win his first Grand Slam title.

Nadal and Marterer are the last 2 lefthanders left in the draw. Both have already defeated a lefthander at Roland Garros this year – Nadal defeated Guido Pella and Marterer defeated No. 24 seed Denis Shapovalov in the 2nd round. Nadal is the only lefthander to have won a Grand Slam title since Goran Ivanisevic at 2001 Wimbledon.

Nadal has a 27-3 win-loss record against lefthanders at the Grand Slams and a 94-15 win-loss record against fellow lefthanders at Tour-level overall. Marterer has a 3-1 win-loss record against lefthanders at the Grand Slams and a 3-3 win-loss record against fellow lefthanders at Tour-level overall.

Nadal has lost a clay court match to a player ranked as low as No. 70 Marterer on just 4 occasions – most recently in the final at 2013 Vina Del Mar, when he fell to No. 73 Horacio Zeballos. Nadal has also lost a Grand Slam match to a player ranked as low as Marterer on 4 occasions – when he fell to players ranked No. 100 or lower in 4 consecutive years at Wimbledon from 2012-15.

NADAL v MARTERER

32 Age 22

1 ATP Ranking 70

78 Titles 0

233-34 Career Grand Slam Record 5-2

82-2 Roland Garros Record 3-0

899-187 Career Record 14-23

411-36 Career Record – Clay 8-10

26-2 2018 Record 14-9

22-1 2018 Record – Clay 8-4

19-11 Career Five-Set Record 1-0

3 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0

219-140 Career Tiebreak Record 7-10

4-1 2018 Tiebreak Record 6-4

10-time champion NADAL is bidding to record his 900th Tour-level match-win today.

Nadal is bidding to record his 234th Grand Slam match-win and claim sole ownership of 3rd place on the list for most Grand Slam match-wins ahead of Jimmy Connors.

Most Grand Slam match-wins (all-time)

Rank	Player	Grand Slam win-loss
1.	Roger Federer	332-52
2.	Novak Djokovic	244-40
3=	Jimmy Connors Rafael Nadal	233-49 233-34
5.	Andre Agassi	224-53

Nadal is bidding to reach his 12th Roland Garros quarterfinal and equal the record for most appearances in the last 8 here in the Open Era. Novak Djokovic reached his 12th quarterfinal here by defeating Fernando Verdasco in the round of 16 on Sunday.

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

Nadal is bidding to reach his 34th Grand Slam quarterfinal and join Ivan Lendl in 5th place on the list for the most Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances in the Open Era.

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??*

Nadal is bidding to extend his current streak of 34 consecutive completed sets won at Roland Garros. He surpassed his previous longest streak of 32 consecutive completed sets won here in 2007-09 in his 3rd round victory against Richard Gasquet. Only Bjorn Borg, who won 41 consecutive sets here in 1979-81, has recorded a longer streak of consecutive sets won at Roland Garros.

Nadal is bidding to equal Margaret Court’s all-time record for most singles titles at the same Grand Slam event. Court won 11 Australian women’s singles titles between 1960 and 1973. (see Preview page 1)

Nadal is bidding to further extend his record for the most men’s singles Grand Slam titles at any one event. He won the title here in 2005-08 and 2010-14, making him the only man in history to have won 5 titles in a row at Roland Garros, before winning his 10th title here last year, defeating Stan Wawrinka in the final. He did not drop a set during the tournament – the 3rd time he had won the title here without dropping a set.

Nadal advanced to the round of 16 here after defeating lucky loser Simone Bolelli 64 63 76(9) in the 1st round, Guido Pella 62 61 61 in the 2nd round and Gasquet 63 62 62 in the 3rd round.

By reaching the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the 40th time, Nadal became just the 6th player in the Open Era to reach the last 16 at a major on 40 or more occasions – after Roger Federer (60 appearances), Connors (43), Djokovic (43), Andre Agassi (42) and Lendl (42).

By winning his opening 3 matches here, Nadal improved to a 107-2 win-loss record in best-of-five-set matches on clay. His only defeats came at Roland Garros – in the round of 16 in 2009 (l. Robin Soderling) and the quarterfinals in 2015 (l. Novak Djokovic).

If he wins today Nadal will play No. 6 seed Kevin Anderson or No. 11 seed Diego Schwartzman in the quarterfinals. He leads both men 5-0 in their previous meetings.

Nadal is the leading performer in Roland Garros history. He has an 82-2 win-loss record at Roland Garros, ahead of Roger Federer (65-16), Djokovic (63-12) and Guillermo Vilas (58-17). This is Nadal’s 14th successive Roland Garros and his 52nd appearance at a major.

Nadal is one of only 3 players to have won multiple clay court titles this year along with Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev. He won his 11th titles at both Monte Carlo-1000 (d. Kei Nishikori) and Barcelona (d. Stefanos Tsitsipas). He also won the title at Rome-1000 (d. Alexander Zverev), but lost to Thiem in the quarterfinals at Madrid-1000.

Nadal has a 22-1 win-loss record on clay so far this year. Only Thiem (24-5) has won more Tour-level clay court matches in 2018. Nadal’s defeat to Thiem at Madrid-1000 ended his 21-match winning streak on clay, during which he set the Open Era record for most consecutive sets won on a single surface with 50, surpassing John McEnroe’s 49 consecutive sets on carpet in 1984.

Nadal is bidding to win his 57th career clay court title at Roland Garros. By winning his 50th clay court title at 2017 Monte Carlo-1000, he set an Open Era record for the most career clay court titles ahead of Vilas (49).

Also in 2018, Nadal reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, where he retired in the 5th set of his match with Marin Cilic due to a right leg injury. He withdrew from Acapulco, Indian Wells-1000 and Miami-1000 as a result of the injury.

Nadal is seeded No. 1 at Roland Garros for the 4th time in his career. He was also seeded No. 1 here in 2009, 2011 and 2014. It is the 3rd consecutive Grand Slam where he has been seeded No. 1 and the 12th time overall that he has been the No. 1 seed at a major.

Nadal returned to world No. 1 for the first time since July 2014 in August last year. Since then, he has remained at No. 1 for all but 5 weeks, when he was overtaken by Federer. He dropped to No. 2 after losing in the quarterfinals at Madrid-1000, but regained the No. 1 ranking after winning the title at Rome-1000. He must successfully defend his title here to remain at No. 1 when the new rankings are published on Monday 11 June.

Nadal has played Davis Cup for Spain since 2004. He won both his rubbers as Spain defeated Germany 3-2 in the World Group quarterfinals in Valencia in April and has a 29-5 overall win-loss record in the competition. Spain will play France in the semifinals in Lille on 14-16 September.

Nadal is coached by Carlos Moya, who won the title here in 1998, and Toni Nadal.

MARTERER is bidding to reach the quarterfinals on his Roland Garros debut and record his best Grand Slam performance. This is his 3rd Grand Slam overall.

Marterer is bidding to join compatriot Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals here and become the 8th German man in the Open Era to reach the quarterfinals at Roland Garros – and only the 3rd since 1996 (when Bernd Karbarcher and Michael Stich both reached the last 8 here) after Tommy Haas in 2013 and Zverev this year.

If Marterer wins today and joins Zverev in the last 8, 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.

Marterer advanced to the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the first time by defeating Ryan Harrison 61 63 75, No. 24 seed Denis Shapovalov 57 76(4) 75 64 and lucky loser Jurgen Zopp 62 61 64 in the opening 3 rounds here.

By reaching the round of 16 here, Marterer has recorded his best Grand Slam performance. His previous best performance at a major is reaching the 3rd round on his Australian Open debut this year, recording his first Tour-level match-wins by defeating Cedrik-Marcel Stebe and Fernando Verdasco in the opening 2 rounds, before losing to Tennys Sandgren. He fell in the 1st round at his only other Grand Slam appearance – as a qualifier at the 2017 US Open (l. Donald Young).

If he wins today Marterer will play No. 6 seed Kevin Anderson or No. 11 seed Diego Schwartzman in the quarterfinals. He is tied at 1-1 in his previous meetings with Schwartzman but has never played Anderson.

Last year here, Marterer fell in the 2nd round of qualifying (d. Brydan Klein, l. Simone Bolelli). It was the only time he has attempted to qualify here.

Prior to coming here, Marterer recorded his best Tour-level result by reaching the semifinals at Munich (l. Kohlschreiber). He also recorded his first Tour-level match-win on clay in a 2nd round finish at Budapest (d. Viktor Troicki, l. Yannick Maden) and reached the 2nd round at Lyon (l. Cameron Norrie), but fell in the 1st round at Marrakech (l. Robert Carballes Baena). He failed to qualify at Monte Carlo-1000.

Also in 2018, Marterer reached the quarterfinals at Sofia (l. Mirza Basic) and the 2nd round at both Indian Wells-1000 (l. Tomas Berdych) and Miami-1000 (l. Grigor Dimitrov). He also won the title at the Cherbourg Challenger (FRA) (d. Constant Lestienne).

Marterer is bidding to defeat a Top 10 opponent for the first time on his 3rd attempt. He has never faced a No. 1-ranked player – the highest-ranked player he has faced is No. 4 Dimitrov at Miami-1000 this year. His career-best victory came against No. 16 Schwartzman in the 2nd round at Munich this year and the highest-ranked player he has defeated at a Grand Slam is No. 25 Shapovalov in the 2nd round here this year.

Marterer is bidding to record 4 straight Tour-level match-wins for the first time time in his career. By reaching the round of 16 here, he has recorded 3 consecutive Tour-level match-wins for the 2nd time in his career, having also achieved the feat in his semifinal finish at Munich this year. Prior to the Australian Open this year, he had lost all 14 Tour-level matches he had contested.

Marterer was a good junior player. He reached a career-high junior ranking of No. 12 and reached the semifinals in the boys’ singles at 2013 Wimbledon (l. Hyeon Chung). Alongside Lucas Miedler, he reached the semifinals of the boys’ doubles here in 2013 (l. Christian Garin/Nicolas Jarry), but fell in the 2nd round on his only appearance in the boys’ singles here the same year (d. Simon Friis Sondergaard, l. Borna Coric).

Marterer reached a career-high ranking of No. 67 in May after reaching the semifinals at Munich. He plays here 3 places lower, at No. 70.

Marterer entered the men’s doubles here with Philipp Petzschner. They lost to Daniele Bracciali/Andreas Seppi 26 76(6) 64 in the 1st round.

Marterer is coached by Michael Kohlmann, who is also Germany’s Davis Cup captain.

3 MARIN CILIC (CRO) v NO. 18 FABIO FOGNINI (ITA)

Head-to-head: Cilic leads 2-1

2009 Monte Carlo-1000 Clay (O) R32 Fognini 62 60

2011 Umag Clay (O) SF Cilic 62 62

2011 Beijing Hard (O) R16 Cilic 62 67(1) 63

A first meeting for the pair in nearly 7 years, who have met twice before on clay but never at a Grand Slam.

CILIC v FOGNINI

29 Age 31

4 ATP Ranking 18

17 Titles 6

105-39 Career Grand Slam Record 44-39

23-11 Roland Garros Record 18-9

456-240 Career Record 307-271

113-68 Career Record – Clay 190-132

21-8 2018 Record 25-12

10-4 2018 Record – Clay 17-8

27-13 Career Five-Set Record 18-12

5 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 7

172-148 Career Tiebreak Record 110-92

2018 Tiebreak Record 5-7

CILIC is bidding to reach the quarterfinals here for the 2nd time and become the 3rd Croatian man to reach multiple Roland Garros quarterfinals after Zeljko Franulovic (1969-71) and Goran Ivanisevic (1990, 1992, 1994) are the only Croatian men to have reached the last 8 here on multiple occasions. (NB Franulovic is Croatian-born but represented Yugoslavia throughout his career)

Cilic is looking to reach his 12th Grand Slam quarterfinal and close the gap on Ivanisevic (14 Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances) for most appearances in the last 8 at the majors by a Croatian man.

If he reaches the quarterfinals here for the 2nd time, Cilic will become the 24th man in the Open Era to reach the quarterfinals at all Grand Slams on multiple occasions. He has reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open twice and the last 8 at both Wimbledon and the US Open on 4 occasions.

Cilic advanced to the round of 16 here for the 5th time after defeating James Duckworth 63 75 76(4) in the 1st round on Tuesday, qualifier Hubert Hurkacz 62 62 67(3) 75 in the 2nd round on Thursday and Steve Johnson 63 62 64 in the 3rd round on Saturday. This is his 12th Roland Garros appearance and his 42nd Grand Slam overall.

By reaching the round of 16 at a major for the 20th time, Cilic took sole ownership of the record for most round of 16 appearances at a Grand Slam by a Croatian man, ahead of Ivanisevic. He is the 29th man in the Open Era to reach the round of 16 at a Grand Slam on 20 or more occasions.

Cilic is bidding for his 24th Roland Garros match-win today. By recording his 22nd Roland Garros match-win in the 2nd round here, Cilic took sole ownership of 3rd place on the list for most Roland Garros match-wins by a Croatian man, ahead of Ivanisevic. Niki Pilic (27 Roland Garros match-wins) and Zeljko Franulovic (25) are the only Croatian men to have won here more often. (NB Franulovic and Pilic are both Croatian-born but represented Yugoslavia throughout their careers)

If he wins today Cilic will play No. 5 seed Juan Martin del Potro or No. 9 seed John Isner in the quarterfinals. He leads Isner 7-3 but trails Del Potro 2-10 in their previous meetings.

Last year here Cilic recorded his best Roland Garros result by reaching the quarterfinals, where he fell to Stan Wawrinka in 3 sets. By reaching the quarterfinals for the first time on his 11th attempt, he went 3rd on the list for most attempts to reach the last 8 here in the Open Era. He was also the first Croatian man to reach the quarterfinals here since Mario Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic in 2006.

Cilic is one of 4 Grand Slam champions through to the round of 16 from the 5 to start in the men’s main draw here. He won his first major title at the 2014 US Open, defeating Kei Nishikori in the final. He was the first Croatian to win a Grand Slam title since Ivanisevic at 2001 Wimbledon.

Cilic is bidding to become the 11th man in the Open Era to reach the final at all 4 Grand Slams. As well as winning the title at the 2014 US Open, he has also reached the final at 2017 Wimbledon and the 2018 Australian Open, falling to Roger Federer on both occasions.

Cilic warmed up for Roland Garros by reaching the semifinals at Rome-1000 (l. Alexander Zverev) and the quarterfinals at Monte Carlo-1000 (l. Nishikori). He lost his opening match on his title defence in Istanbul (l. Malek Jaziri) and withdrew from Madrid-1000 due to a knee injury.

Also in 2018, Cilic reached his 3rd Grand Slam final at the Australian Open, the semifinals at Pune (l. Gilles Simon) the round of 16 at Miami-1000 (l. John Isner) and the 3rd round at Indian Wells-1000 (l. Philipp Kohlschreiber).

Cilic has won just one of his last 4 matches against Top 20 opposition, with his only win against a Top 20 player in that time coming against No. 11 Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarterfinals at Rome-1000 this year. He has a 69-113 win-loss record against Top 20 opposition overall.

Cilic is bidding to record just his 2nd victory against a Top 20 player at Roland Garros on his 9th attempt. The only Top 20 player he has defeated here is No. 19 Radek Stepanek in the 3rd round in 2009. He has a 1-7 win-loss record against Top 20 opposition here.

Cilic won the only 5-set match he has contested at Roland Garros – he defeated Leonardo Mayer in 5 sets in the 3rd round in 2010. He has a 27-13 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.

Cilic has won 17 career titles including 2 on clay – at 2012 Umag (d. Marcel Granollers) and 2017 Istanbul (d. Milos Raonic).

Cilic reached a career-high ranking of No. 3 after reaching the final at the Australian Open this year. He plays here one place lower at No. 4.

Cilic is the only junior Roland Garros champion through to the round of 16 here from the 5 who started the men’s draw. He won the boys’ singles at 2005 Roland Garros (d. Antal van der Duim) and finished the year at No. 2 in the ITF Junior rankings behind Donald Young, having reached the quarterfinals at the other 3 Grand Slams.

Cilic has played Davis Cup for Croatia since 2006. He defeated Dmitry Popko and Mikhail Kukushkin in Croatia’s 3-1 victory against Kazakhstan in the World Group quarterfinals this year. Croatia host USA in the semifinals in Split on 14-16 September.

Cilic is coached by Ivan Cinkus.

FOGNINI is bidding to reach the quarterfinals here for the 2nd time and equal his best Grand Slam result. This is his 11th appearance at Roland Garros and his 41st Grand Slam overall.

Fognini is bidding to become just the 3rd Italian man in the Open Era to reach multiple Grand Slam quarterfinals.

Most Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances by an Italian man (Open Era)

Player	No. of appearances
Adriano Panatta	6
Corrado Barazzuti	3
*Fabio Fognini??*	*2??*
Paolo Bertolucci	1
Cristiano Caratti	1
Marco Cecchinato	1
Renzo Furlan	1
Martin Mulligan	1
Davide Sanguinetti	1

Should Fognini join Marco Cecchinato – who reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal after defeating David Goffin in the round of 16 on Sunday – in 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.

Fognini advanced to the round of 16 here for the 2nd time after defeating Pablo Andujar 64 62 61, qualifier Elias Ymer 64 61 62 in the 2nd round and No. 16 seed Kyle Edmund 63 46 36 64 64 in the opening 3 rounds. By defeating Edmund in the 3rd round, he ended a 5-match losing streak against Top 20 opposition at the majors.

By defeating Edmund in 5 sets in the 3rd round, Fognini also extended his winning streak in 5-set matches. He has won all 6 of his most recent 5-set matches, having not lost a 5-set match since he fell to Benoit Paire in the 2nd round at the 2017 Australian Open. He has an 18-12 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.

Fognini recorded his best Grand Slam result here in 2011 when he became the first Italian man to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam since Davide Sanguinetti reached the last 8 at 1998 Wimbledon. He gave a walkover to Novak Djokovic in his quarterfinal match with a thigh strain – the first time a player had given a walkover in the quarterfinals of the men’s singles at a Grand Slam since Stefan Edberg pulled out of his quarterfinal match with Thomas Muster at the 1989 Australian Open.

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 Fognini will play No. 5 seed Juan Martin del Potro or No. 9 seed John Isner in the quarterfinals. He leads Isner 2-0 but trails Del Potro 0-1 in their previous Tour-level meetings.

Fognini warmed up for Roland Garros by reaching the semifinals at Geneva (l. Peter Gojowczyk) and the quarterfinals at Rome-1000 (l. Rafael Nadal). He also reached the 2nd round at Monte Carlo-1000 (l. Jan-Lennard Struff), but lost in the 1st round at Munich (l. Cecchinato) and Madrid-1000 (l. Leonardo Mayer).

Fognini’s best result in 2018 is winning his 6th Tour-level title on clay at Sao Paulo (d. Nicolas Jarry). He also reached the semifinals on hard courts at Sydney (l. Daniil Medvedev) and on clay at Rio de Janeiro (l. Fernando Verdasco) and reached the round of 16 at the Australian Open (l. Tomas Berdych).

Fognini is bidding to record his first victory against a Top 5 player at a Grand Slam on his 7th attempt. The highest-ranked player he has defeated at a major is No. 8 Nadal in the 3rd round at the 2015 US Open and the highest-ranked player he has defeated here in No. 15 Gael Monfils in the 2nd round in 2010 – on both of those occasions he came from 0-2 down to win in 5 sets.

Fognini is also bidding to end a 5-match losing streak against Top 5 opposition at Tour-level. He has not defeated a Top 5 player since defeating No. 1 Andy Murray at 2017 Rome-1000. He has a 4-33 win-loss record against Top 5 opposition overall.

Clay is Fognini’s best surface. He has a 190-132 win-loss record on clay, compared to 102-122 on hard courts, 15-16 on grass and 0-1 on carpet.

Fognini has won 6 Tour-level singles titles, all of which have on clay. In addition to his victory at Sao Paulo this year, he also won the titles at 2013 Stuttgart (d. Philipp Kohlschreiber), 2013 Hamburg (d. Federico Delbonis), 2014 Vina Del Mar (d. Leonardo Mayer), 2016 Umag (l. Andrej Martin) and 2017 Gstaad (d. Yannick Hanfmann).

Fognini reached a career-high ranking of No. 13 in March 2014. He plays here at No. 18.

Fognini reached the quarterfinals of the boys’ singles here in 2004, falling to eventual champion Monfils. He also reached the last 8 at the 2004 Junior Australian Open.

Fognini has played Davis Cup for Italy since 2008 and has a 28-13 overall win-loss record in the competition. He won all 3 of his rubbers in Italy’s 3-1 World Group first round victory against Japan this year, contesting a total of 14 sets over the weekend and defeating both Taro Daniel and Yuichi Sugita in 5 sets in his singles rubbers. He won one of his 3 rubbers as Italy fell to France 3-1 in the World Group quarterfinals in April.

Fognini is coached by Franco Davin.

5 JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO (ARG) v NO. 9 JOHN ISNER (USA)

Head-to-head: Del Potro leads 6-4

2008 Washington Hard (O) QF Del Potro 64 64

2009 Indian Wells-1000 Hard (O) R16 Del Potro 76(4) 76(3)

2011 Memphis Hard (I) R32 Del Potro 64 63

2013 Washington Hard (O) FR Del Potro 36 61 62

2013 Cincinnati-1000 Hard (O) SF Isner 67(5) 76(9) 63

2016 Queen’s Grass (O) R32 Isner 76(2) 64

2016 Stockholm Hard (I) R32 Del Potro 64 76(6)

2017 Montreal-1000 Hard (O) R64 Del Potro 75 75

2017 Paris-1000 Hard (I) QF Isner 64 67(5) 64

2018 Miami-1000 Hard (O) SF Isner 61 76(2)

An 11th meeting for the pair, but their first on clay or at a Grand Slam.

DEL POTRO v ISNER

29 Age 33

6 ATP Ranking 10

22 Titles 13

82-32 Career Grand Slam Record 64-39

17-7 Roland Garros Record 17-9

410-162 Career Record 375-230

77-31 Career Record – Clay 69-57

26-6 2018 Record 16-10

5-2 2018 Record – Clay 8-4

7-9 Career Five-Set Record 8-17

2 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 2

145-103 Career Tiebreak Record 375-232

8-5 2018 Tiebreak Record 19-16

DEL POTRO is bidding to become just the 3rd Argentinian man to reach the quarterfinals at Roland Garros on 3 or more occasions. Guillermo Vilas (1975-80, 1982-83, 1986) and Guillermo Canas (2002, 2005, 2007) are the only Argentinian men to have reached the last 8 here on 3 or more occasions.

Del Potro is looking to record his 18th Roland Garros match-win and take sole ownership of 5th place on the list for most Roland Garros match-wins by an Argentinian man.

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

Rank	Player	Roland Garros win-loss
1.	Guillermo Vilas	58-17
2.	Gaston Gaudio	21-9
3.	David Nalbandian	20-8
4.	Martin Jaite	19-9
5=	Jose Luis Clerc Guillermo Coria Juan Martin del Potro	17-9 17-7 17-7

Should Del Potro and Diego Schwartzman, who is also through to the round of 16 this year, both reach the quarterfinals, it will be the first time that Argentina has had multiple representatives in the quarterfinals of the men’s singles at Roland Garros since 2005, when Canas and Mariano Puerta reached the quarterfinals here. Del Potro was the last Argentinian man to reach the quarterfinals here in 2012.

Del Potro advanced to the round of 16 by defeating wild card Nicolas Mahut 16 61 62 64, Julien Benneteau 64 63 62 and No. 31 seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas 75 64 61 in the opening 3 rounds here.

With both Del Potro and Schwartzman through to the round of 16 here, this is the first time that Argentina has had multiple representatives in the round of 16 of the men’s singles here since 2012, when Del Potro and Juan Monaco reached the last 16 here.

If he wins today Del Potro will face No. 3 seed Marin Cilic or No. 18 seed Fabio Fognini in the quarterfinals. He leads Cilic 10-2 and Fognini 1-0 in their previous Tour-level meetings.

Last year here, on his first Roland Garros appearance since 2012, Del Potro reached the 3rd round, falling to No. 1 seed Andy Murray in straight sets.

Del Potro’s best performance at Roland Garros is reaching the semifinals in 2009, where he lost to eventual champion Roger Federer in 5 sets. It was his first semifinal finish at a Grand Slam.

Del Potro’s best Grand Slam performance is winning the 2009 US Open (d. Federer). He has reached at least the quarterfinals at all 4 Grand Slams. He is one of 4 Grand Slam champions through to the round of 16 from the 5 that started the men’s singles main draw here.

Del Potro is competing at his 5th consecutive Grand Slam event – his longest streak of Grand Slam appearances since he appeared at 9 straight majors in 2011-13. This is his 8th Roland Garros and his 34th major overall.

By defeating Mahut in the 1st round to record his 80th Grand Slam match-win, Del Potro became just the 3rd Argentinian man to record 80 match-wins at the majors. Guillermo Vilas (139 Grand Slam match-wins) and David Nalbandian (86) are the only Argentinian players to have won more often at the majors than Del Potro.

Del Potro warmed up for Roland Garros by reaching the 3rd round at both Madrid-1000 (l. Dusan Lajovic) and Rome-1000, where he retired in the 2nd set against David Goffin due to a leg injury.

Del Potro’s best result in 2018 is winning the title at Indian Wells-1000 where, as No. 6 seed, he defeated Federer to win his first Masters-1000 title. He also won the title at Acapuldo (d. Kevin Anderson), reached the final at Auckland (l. Roberto Bautista Agut) and the semifinals at Miami-1000, where his defeat to today’s opponent ended a 15-match winning streak. He reached the 3rd round at the Australian Open (l. Tomas Berdych).

Del Potro is bidding to record his 27th Tour-level match-win today. He is in joint-3rd place on the list for most Tour-level match-wins in 2018 with Rafael Nadal, who is also looking to record his 27th match-win of 2018 today. Only Alexander Zverev (34) and Dominic Thiem (33) have won more matches this year.

Del Potro is bidding to record 4 straight match-wins on clay for the first time since he reached the quarterfinals here in 2012. By reaching the round of 16 here, he has recorded 3 straight match-wins on clay for the first time since 2017 Rome-1000, where he defeated Grigor Dimitrov, Kyle Edmund and Kei Nishikori before falling to Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals.

Del Potro is bidding to end a 3-match losing streak against Top 10 players on clay. He has not defeated a Top 10 player on clay since defeating No. 9 Nishikori in the 3rd round at Rome-1000 last year. He has a 6-13 win-loss record against Top 10 players on clay and a 9-19 win-loss record against Top 10 players at the Grand Slams.

Del Potro has won 22 career singles titles, including 4 on clay. He won the titles at 2008 Stuttgart (d. Richard Gasquet), 2008 Kitzbuhel (d. Jurgen Melzer) and twice at Estoril, in 2011 (d. Fernando Verdasco) and 2012 (d. Gasquet). His other 18 titles have come on hard courts.

Del Potro underwent left wrist surgery in March 2014 and made his comeback in January 2015. He contested 2 events in 2015 before having further surgery on his left wrist. He made his return from a 3rd wrist surgery at 2016 Delray Beach.

Del Potro returned to the Top 10 for the first time since August 2014 after reaching the final at Auckland this year. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 4 in January 2010, and plays here 2 places lower at No. 6.

Del Potro helped Argentina to its first Davis Cup title in November 2016, when the team defeated Croatia 3-2 in the Final in Zagreb. Del Potro won both of his singles rubbers, including coming from 0-2 down for the first time in his career against Marin Cilic in the 4th rubber to win in 5 sets. He has a 16-6 win-loss record in the competition overall.

Del Potro is a 2-time Olympic medallist in men’s singles. He won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Tennis Event in London, defeating Djokovic in the bronze medal match after falling to Federer in the semifinals. He then won a silver medal at the 2016 Olympic Tennis Event in Rio, defeating Nadal in the semifinals before falling to Murray in the gold medal match.

Del Potro reached the quarterfinals of the boys’ singles here in 2005, falling to Murray.

Del Potro was a member of the ITF 14 and under South American team in Europe in 2001 and 2002, funded by the Grand Slam Development Fund.

Del Potro is currently without a coach.

ISNER is bidding to become the first American man to reach the quarterfinals at Roland Garros since Andre Agassi in 2003. Agassi is the only American man to reach the last 8 here since 1996, when Pete Sampras and Jim Courier reached the quarterfinals here.

By reaching the round of 16 here, Isner has equalled his best Roland Garros result. He also reached the round of 16 here in 2014 (l. Tomas Berdych) and 2016 (l. Andy Murray). He is one of only 2 Americans, along with Jack Sock in 2015, to reach the round of 16 here since Robby Ginepri in 2010. Only 6 different Americans have reached the round of 16 at Roland Garros in the last 20 years – Isner, Sock, Ginepri, Andy Roddick (2009), Agassi (1999, 2001-03) and Michael Russell (2001).

Isner is bidding to reach the quarterfinals and equal his best Grand Slam performance. He reached the quarterfinals as No. 28 seed at the 2011 US Open (l. Murray).

Isner reached the round of 16 after defeating wild card Noah Rubin 63 76(7) 76(7), Horacio Zeballos 67(8) 76(4) 76(2) 62 and Pierre-Hugues Herbert 76(1) 64 76(4) in the opening 3 rounds here.

If he wins today Isner will play No. 3 seed Marin Cilic or No. 18 seed Fabio Fognini in the quarterfinals. He leads Fognini 2-0 but trails Cilic 3-7 in their previous Tour-level meetings.

Last year here Isner reached the 3rd round (l. Karen Khachanov). This is his 10th appearance at Roland Garros and his 40th Grand Slam appearance overall.

Isner’s 67 64 64 36 18-16 defeat to Paul-Henri Mathieu in 2012 set a record for the longest match at Roland Garros in terms of games and the 34-game 5th set was the longest in Roland Garros history. At 5 hours 41 minutes it was also the 2nd longest Open Era match at Roland Garros in terms of duration.

Isner became the first man to take Rafael Nadal to 5 sets at Roland Garros in 2011, losing 64 67(2) 67(2) 62 64 in the 1st round. He has a 2-4 win-loss record in 5-set matches at Roland Garros and an 8-17 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.

Isner warmed up for Roland Garros by reaching the quarterfinals at Houston (l. Steve Johnson), Madrid-1000 (l. Alexander Zverev) and Lyon (l. Cameron Norrie). He fell in the 2nd round at Rome-1000 after receiving a 1st round bye (l. Albert Ramos-Vinolas).

Isner’s best result in 2018 is winning his first Masters-1000 title at Miami-1000 (d. Alexander Zverev). At 32 years 11 months, he became the oldest first-time Masters-1000 champion and, at No. 17, the lowest-ranked Miami champion since No. 18 Jim Courier in 1991.

Prior to winning the title at Miami-1000, Isner won just two Tour-level matches in 2018 – in USA’s Davis Cup World Group 1st round victory against Serbia (d. Laslo Djere) and in a 2nd round finish at Delray Beach (d. Radu Albot, l. Peter Gojowczyk). He lost his opening match at all other Tour-level events he contested prior to Miami-1000 – including at the Australian Open (l. Matthew Ebden).

Isner is bidding to record 4 straight Tour-level match-wins on clay for the 4th time in his career. His longest clay court winning streak came in 2012, when he won 4 straight Davis Cup rubbers on clay followed by a semifinal finish at 2012 Houston on his next Tour-level appearance on clay. He also achieved the feat in winning the title at 2013 Houston and in reaching the semifinals at 2017 Rome-1000.

Isner is bidding to end a 9-match losing streak against Top 10 opposition at the majors. Since defeating No. 5 Andy Roddick at the 2009 US Open – his only Grand Slam victory against a Top 10 player – he has lost all subsequent meetings with Top 10 players at the majors. He has a 1-10 win-loss record against Top 10 opposition at the Grand Slams.

Isner re-entered the Top 10 for the first time since May 2014 after winning the title at Miami-1000, equalling his career-high ranking of No. 9. He plays here one place lower at No. 10.

Isner plays here seeded No. 9 – his joint-highest seeding at a Grand Slam. He was also seeded No. 9 at the 2012 US Open and 2014 Wimbledon.

Isner won his only clay court title as No. 5 seed at 2013 Houston (d. Nicolas Almagro), setting a tournament record of 64 aces. He has won 13 Tour-level singles titles overall.

Isner has played Davis Cup for USA since 2010 and has a 15-11 win-loss record in singles. He has won both rubbers he has played this year as USA recorded victories against Serbia and Belgium. USA travels to Croatia the World Group semifinals on 14-16 September.

Isner is coached David MacPherson and Rene Moller.

6 KEVIN ANDERSON (RSA) v NO. 11 DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN (ARG)

Head-to-head: Anderson leads 2-0

2015 Australian Open Hard (O) R128 Anderson 76(5) 75 57 64

2016 Nice Clay (O) R16 Anderson 76(4) 63

A 3rd Tour-level meeting for the pair, but their first in over 2 years. Anderson won their previous Grand Slam meeting, at the 2015 Australian Open, and their previous clay court meeting, at 2016 Nice.

ANDERSON v SCHWARTZMAN

32 Age 25

7 ATP Ranking 12

4 Titles 2

59-35 Career Grand Slam Record 16-15

17-8 Roland Garros Record 7-4

294-209 Career Record 91-88

55-47 Career Record – Clay 51-46

23-8 2018 Record 21-12

6-3 2018 Record – Clay 16-6

10-9 Career Five-Set Record 2-3

2 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 0

172-142 Career Tiebreak Record 21-34

17-6 2018 Tiebreak Record 2-5

ANDERSON is bidding to reach the quarterfinals here for the first time and record his best Roland Garros result. This is his 9th Roland Garros appearance and his 36th Grand Slam overall.

Anderson is bidding to reach the quarterfinals and become the first South African man to reach the last 8 at Roland Garros since Cliff Drysdale in 1967.

Anderson is looking to become the 6th different South African man to reach the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and the first in the Open Era.

South Africans in Roland Garros quarterfinals

Year	Player	Eventual Finish
1927	Louis Raymond	Quarterfinalist
1927	Patrick Spence	Semifinalist
1947-1952	Eric Sturgess	Runner-up 1947, 1951, Semifinalist 1948-50, 1952
1959	Ian Vermaak	Runner-up
1964-1967	Cliff Drysdale	Quarterfinalist 1964, 1967, Semifinalist 1965-66

Anderson is bidding to reach his 3rd Grand Slam quarterfinal and join Drysdale in 5th place on the list for most Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances by a South African man.

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

Player	No. of appearances
Eric Sturgess	12
Cliff Drysdale	10
Johan Kriek	6*
Wayne Ferreira	5
Kevin Anderson?? Brian Norton	*3??* 3
Kevin Curren Vernon Kirby Ray Moore Louis Raymond Patrick Spence	2* 2 2 2 2

* Kriek and Curren both reached further quarterfinals while competing under the flag of USA

Anderson is bidding to record his 18th Roland Garros match-win and equal Wayne Ferreira in 4th place on the list for most matches won by a South African man at Roland Garros. (see table overleaf)

Most matches won by a South African man at Roland Garros

Rank	Player	Roland Garros win-loss
1.	Eric Sturgess	32-6
2.	Bob Hewitt	21-14
3.	Cliff Drysdale	20-8
4.	Wayne Ferreira	18-13
5.	Kevin Anderson	17-8

Anderson advanced to the round of 16 here after defeating Paolo Lorenzi 61 62 64 in his 100th Tour-level clay court match in the 1st round, Pablo Cuevas 63 36 76(5) 64 in the 2nd round and Mischa Zverev 61 67(3) 63 76(4) in the 3rd round.

By reaching the round of 16 here, Anderson has equalled his best Roland Garros result. He also reached the round of 16 here in 2013, where he became the first South African man to reach that stage since Ferreira in 1996, and 2014 – falling to David Ferrer on both occasions, and last year, when he retired with a left thigh injury in the 2nd set of his match with Marin Cilic.

If he wins today Anderson will play No. 1 seed Rafael Nadal or Maximilian Marterer in the quarterfinals. He trails Nadal 0-5 in their previous meetings and has never played Marterer.

Anderson reached his first Grand Slam final at the 2017 US Open, losing to Rafael Nadal in 3 sets. He was the first South African in a Grand Slam singles final since Kevin Curren at the 1984 Australian Open and the oldest first-time finalist at a major since Niki Pilic at 1973 Roland Garros. At No. 32, he was also the lowest-ranked Grand Slam finalist since No. 38 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the 2008 Australian Open.

Anderson warmed up for Roland Garros by reaching his first Masters-1000 semifinal at Madrid-1000 (l. Dominic Thiem) – having previously lost all 10 of the Masters-1000 quarterfinals that he had contested. He lost his opening matches at the only other clay court events he has contested this year – at Estoril (l. Stefanos Tsitsipas) and at Rome-1000, where, in his 500th Tour-level match, he retired after losing the 1st set of his match against Aljaz Bedene with a leg injury.

Anderson’s best result in 2018 is winning his 4th Tour-level title at New York (d. Sam Querrey). Also in 2018, he reached the finals at Pune (l. Gilles Simon) and Acapulco (l. Juan Martin del Potro) and the quarterfinals at Indian Wells-1000 (l. Borna Coric) and Miami-1000 (l. Pablo Carreno Busta). He fell in the 1st round at the Australian Open (l. Kyle Edmund).

Anderson is bidding for his 24th Tour-level match-win of 2018. He is in 6th place on the list for most Tour-level match-wins this year – behind Alexander Zverev (34), Thiem (33), Del Potro (26), Nadal (26) and Fabio Fognini (25).

Anderson plays here at a career-high ranking of No. 7, which he achieved after reaching the semifinals at Madrid-1000.

Anderson is seeded here at No. 6 – his highest Grand Slam seeding. He was unseeded at Roland Garros last year.

Anderson’s best clay court performance is reaching the final at 2013 Casablanca (l. Tommy Robredo). He has reached the semifinals at 3 further clay court events.

Anderson has won 4 Tour-level titles, but none have come on a clay court. He won his first career title in his hometown at 2011 Johannesburg (d. Somdev Devvarman), at 2013 Delray Beach (d. Marinko Matosevic), 2015 Winston-Salem (d. Pierre-Hugues Herbert) and New York this year.

Anderson received travel grants from the ITF Grand Slam Development Fund to play junior events in 2004.

Anderson is coached by Brad Stine.

SCHWARTZMAN is bidding to reach the quarterfinals here for the first time and equal his best Grand Slam result. This is his 5th Roland Garros appearance and his 16th Grand Slam overall.

Schwartzman is bidding to reach his 2nd Grand Slam quarterfinal and become the 8th Argentinian man in the Open Era to reach multiple Grand Slam quarterfinals. Guillermo Vilas (19 major quarterfinal appearances), Juan Martin del Potro (10), David Nalbandian (10), Guillermo Coria (4), Guillermo Canas (3), Juan Ignacio Chela (3) and Jose Luis Clerc (2) are the only Argentinian men to reach the last 8 at the majors on multiple occasions.

Should Schwartzman and Del Potro, who is also through to the round of 16 this year, both reach the quarterfinals, it will be the first time that Argentina has had multiple representatives in the quarterfinals of the men’s singles at Roland Garros since 2005, when Canas and Mariano Puerta reached the quarterfinals here. Del Potro is the last Argentinian man to reach the quarterfinals here in 2012.

Schwartzman advanced to the round of 16 here after defeating wild card Calvin Hemery 61 63 61, qualifier Adam Pavlasek 61 63 61 and Borna Coric 75 63 63 in the opening 3 rounds. His victory against Pavlasek was his 50th Tour-level match-win on clay.

With both Schwartzman and Del Potro through to the round of 16 here, this is the first time that Argentina has had multiple representatives in the round of 16 of the men’s singles here since 2012, when Del Potro and Juan Monaco reached the last 16 here.

By reaching the round of 16 here, Schwartzman has recorded his best Roland Garros performance. His previous best result here was reaching the 3rd round last year, recording back-to-back match wins at a Grand Slam for the first time by defeating Andrey Rublev and Stefano Napolitano, before falling to Novak Djokovic in 5 sets. He has a 2-3 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.

If he wins today Schwartzman will play No. 1 seed Rafael Nadal or Maximilian Marterer in the quarterfinals. He is tied at 1-1 with Marterer and trails Nadal 0-5 in their previous meetings.

Schwartzman’s best Grand Slam performance is reaching the quarterfinals at the 2017 US Open. He defeated No. 5 seed Marin Cilic and No. 16 seed Lucas Pouille before falling to No. 12 seed Pablo Carreno Busta in the last 8.

Schwartzman warmed up for Roland Garros by reaching the 3rd round at Madrid-1000 (l. Nadal) and the 2nd round at Monte Carlo-1000 (l. Richard Gasquet) and Rome-1000 (l. Benoit Paire). He lost his opening matches at both Barcelona (l. Stefanos Tsitsipas) and Munich (l. Marterer).

Schwartzman’s best result in 2018 is winning the title on clay at Rio De Janeiro (d. Fernando Verdasco). He also reached the quarterfinals on clay at Buenos Aires (l. Aljaz Bedene), the round of 16 at the Australian Open (l. Nadal) and the 3rd round at Miami-1000 (l. Milos Raonic).

Schwartzman is bidding to defeat a Top 10 player on clay for the first time. He has lost all 10 of his previous clay court matches against Top 10 opposition. The highest-ranked player he has defeated on clay is No. 17 Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the 2nd round at 2017 Madrid-1000.

Schwartzman is bidding to defeat a Top 10 player at a Grand Slam for the 2nd time. He has a 1-5 win-loss record against Top 10 opposition at the majors, with his career-best victory at a Grand Slam coming against 7 Cilic in the 3rd round at the 2017 US Open. He has a 2-16 win-loss record against Top 10 opponents at Tour-level overall.

Clay is Schwartzman’s best surface. 51 of his 91 Tour-level match-wins have come on clay, compared to 40 Tour-level match-wins on hard courts and none on grass.

Schwartzman has won 2 Tour-level titles – both of which have come on clay. As well as winning the title at Rio De Janeiro this year, he also won the title at 2016 Istanbul. He recovered from a set and 2-5 down against Grigor Dimitrov and was awarded the match while leading 5-0 in the 3rd set when Dimitrov was given a game penalty for smashing his rackets for the 3rd time in the match.

Schwartzman reached a career-high ranking of No. 12 after reaching the 2nd round at Rome-1000 this year, and plays here at the same ranking.

Schwartzman entered the men’s doubles here with Guido Pella. The pair defeated wild cards Antoine Hoang/Ugo Humbert 63 63 in the 1st round but fell to No. 5 seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah 64 76(4) in the 2nd round.

Schwartzman is coached by former world No. 15 Juan Ignacio Chela, who reached the quarterfinals here in 2004 and 2011. His physical trainer is Nicolas Sec.

****All Statistics courtesy of ITF?Grand Slam Media