10 Things to Know, Day 9: Dimitrov nearing "Slam quarterfinal Slam"

Trivia: Going into today, players from five of the seven continents of the world are still in the singles draws at Roland Garros. Which two continents are missing?

The last spots in the Roland Garros quarterfinals are up for grabs. Three major champions with 20 majors between them—Novak Djokovic, Petra Kvitova and Sofia Kenin—are all among the Chatrier line-up today.

Djokovic is trying to reach his 11th straight quarterfinal at Roland Garros. He’s already the only man in the Open Era to reach 10 straight quarterfinals at Roland Garros, from 2010 to 2019.

Djokovic’s opponent, Karen Khachanov, has now made it to the second week all four times he’s played here. He reached the fourth round in his first two main draw appearances in 2017 and 2018, and then his first (and so far only) Grand Slam quarterfinal here in 2019 (falling to Dominic Thiem).

Khachanov is 0-7 against No. 1s. That’s 0-1 against Djokovic, 0-5 against Rafael Nadal and 0-1 against Andy Murray. He’s only won one set, during a 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3) loss to Nadal at the 2018 US Open.

Stefanos Tsitsipas plays Grigor Dimitrov—the only player in the Top 20 he’s never played before. There are two players in the Top 20 that Dimitrov has never played—Tsitsipas, obviously, and Khachanov.

So far this tournament, Dimitrov has played No. 103, No. 102 and No. 101—now, No. 6. He played No. 103 Gregoire Barrere first round, No. 102 Andrej Martin second round and No. 101 Roberto Carballes Baena third round.

Dimitrov is trying to become the 10th active men’s player to have reached the quarterfinals of all four Majors. The first nine are the Big 3, Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Juan Martin del Potro, Marin Cilic, Kei Nishikori and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

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Kenin’s trying to reach her first quarterfinal on clay. She’s won tour-level titles on the other surfaces (hard, grass) but she’s never been to a tour-level quarterfinal on clay. She plays Fiona Ferro today.

Petra Kvitova’s a win away from just her second Roland Garros quarterfinal. She was a semifinalist here in 2012. She’s been to multiple quarterfinals at all of the majors except for Roland Garros.

Kvitova’s also a win away from returning to the Top 10. The former No. 2 fell out of the Top 10 after the Australian Open this year, but she’s been hovering just outside at No. 11 or No. 12 ever since.

Yesterday’s Trivia: Sebastian Korda was trying to become the first American man to reach the quarterfinals of Roland Garros since Andre Agassi in 2003.