Three to See, Roland Garros Day 9: Rune vs. Cerundolo; Gauff vs. Schmiedlova; Zverev vs. Dimitrov

MATCH POINT: Cerundolo's win over Fritz

Holger Rune vs. Francisco Cerundolo

Rune and Cerundolo, two of this year’s breakout clay-courters, have been heading for a clash all spring. The Dane reached three finals, in Monte Carlo, Munich and Rome, while the Argentine made the final in Lyon and the quarters in Barcelona and Rome.

As those results suggest, the eighth-ranked Rune is a notch or two above the 23rd-ranked Cerundolo in the ATP pecking order right now. He has a better serve, better backhand, and is more comfortable at net. But Cerundolo is better where it counts most on clay: with this topspin forehand. Can that single shot make the difference in this one? I think it will get him a set, in what should be an entertaining and competitive early day match in Lenglen. Winner: Rune

Coco Gauff vs. Anna Schmiedlova

The raw numbers don’t look good for Schmiedlova. She’s ranked 94 spots below Gauff—No. 6 to No. 100. In their only previous match, last year in Madrid, Gauff won 6-0, 6-2.

But Schmiedlova has played some exceptionally efficient tennis in Paris so far, upsetting 11th-seeded Veronika Kudermetova 6-3, 6-1 in the first round, and winning her two other matches easily as well. Now she’ll take a step up, into Chatrier, for a meeting with last year’s runner-up. Gauff has been getting better with each round over the past week, and she’ll have the edge in this one in all of the relevant athletic categories. Schmiedlova’s best hope may be that the American has a letdown after beating Mirra Andreeva in their highly-scrutinized third-round encounter. Winner: Gauff

Alexander Zverev vs. Grigor Dimitrov

Opportunity suddenly abounds for these two veterans. The top seed in their quarter, Daniil Medvedev, is long gone, and the winner of this match will play either Tomas Martin Etcheverry or Yoshihito Nishioka for a place in the semifinals.

Each of these guys is playing like they know it. Dimitrov, who made the final in Geneva last week, has yet to drop a set in Paris. While Zverev did surrender one in his last match, it was to a quality opponent in Frances Tiafoe. Head-to-head, the German leads the Bulgarian 3-1, and he won their only clay contest in straight sets.

Dimitrov is a popular older player with more style than Zverev, and he may get the French night-session crowd on his side because of it. But Zverev has already played two evening sessions, he made the semifinals here last year, and he’s looking comfortable in best-of-five on this surface right now. If Dimitrov has flashes of inspiration, Zverev can wait them out. Winner: Zverev