French Open 2013: Top Seeds Who Will Cruise Through Quarterfinals

There have been several upsets thus far at the 2013 French Open, but there are three elite players remaining who shouldn’t have any trouble advancing past the quarterfinals.

While fourth-round play has yet to completely finish, it’s safe to say that these top seeds will advance without much of a test. Going forward, the competition will be much more fierce, but an overwhelming amount of talent and experience will guide them up to the semifinals—and potentially beyond.

So while some of the better players remaining will have tough tests advancing further, which will cruise through the quarterfinals?

Here’s a glance at three players who are guaranteed to be in the semifinals.

Rafael Nadal

Rafa will celebrate his 27th birthday in style on Monday if he can top Kei Nishikori in the fourth round at the French Open. He’ll face off against either Stanislas Wawrinka or Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinals if he does. Winning in the fourth round and quarterfinals shouldn’t be much of an issue for the seven-time champ.

The No. 3 seed at Roland Garros, Nadal has been good, but not great, to start the tournament. While he’s defeated the first three opponents he’s played thus far, he has dropped a pair of sets against two of them.

While Nadal is looking to win his eighth French Open title, he’ll need to clean up his game before taking on Nishikori, as B/R’s Patrick Clarke recently wrote. As Clarke notes, Nadal had just 11 more points than Fabio Fognini in his third-round victory.

But we are talking about Nadal, who is the best clay player in the world right now. He entered the French Open with a 31-2 record on clay this season, winning five tournaments while finishing second twice thus far. Nishikori doesn’t have the experience or ability to beat a player like Nadal.

Nishikori has only made it to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam once throughout his professional career, coming last year at the Australian Open. Nishikori has won his first three matches of the tournament relatively easily but will have the toughest test of his career against Nadal.

Serena Williams

Serena Williams has had a cakewalk through the first four rounds at Roland Garros and her success is sure to continue when she takes on Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals. The No. 1 seed on the women’s side of the tournament is a lock for the semifinals.

Williams has yet to be tested this year at the French Open, which is expected considering her No. 1 seed. She’s won each of her first four matches in straight sets, only losing 10 games thus far.

Williams has won at the French Open just once in her career, and that came more than 10 years ago. Since losing in the third round in 2008, she’s failed to make it to the semifinals and was upset in the first round a year ago.

If Williams is going to win her second French Open title, she needs to be careful against Kuznetsova. Kuznetsova has been very successful thus far and has won a pair of matches against ranked opponents. She recently took out Angelique Kerber, the No. 8 seed, in the fourth round. But her winning streak is bound to come to an end against Williams.

The two have only faced off once on clay throughout their careers. Kuznetsova was victorious over Williams in the quarterfinals of the 2009 French Open, winning 7-6, 5-7, 7-5. In order for Kuznetsova to make it two in a row against the No. 1 seed, she’s going to have to play her best game. Even then, an upset is unlikely.

Novak Djokovic

Philipp Kohlschreiber doesn’t stand a chance against the No. 1 men’s tennis player in the world, Novak Djokovic. Djokovic is much too talented for any sort of upset to occur just yet—we’ll wait until the semifinals for Djokovic to potentially fall.

Djokovic has yet to be tested at Roland Garros this year. He’s defeated each of his three opponents in straight sets and only lost seven games in his most recent matchup against Grigor Dimitrov.

The No. 1 seed at the French Open has had an unbeatable serve thus far, which is one thing that Kohlschreiber is going to have a tough time defending. He’s won at least 75 percent of first-serve points in each of the first three rounds.

Djokovic has had a mixed bag of results on clay this year, winning at Monte Carlo but falling in the second round and quarterfinals at the Madrid and Rome Open, respectively. The French Open is the only Grand Slam that he’s never won, and Kohlschreiber is one opponent standing in the way of his first.

Kohlschreiber has plenty of experience at Roland Garros, this being the ninth time he’s played the tournament. He has been far from successful, though, as he has only made it to the fourth round once in his career. He did, however, get the best of Djokovic at the French Open in 2009 in the third round. That won’t happen this year.

Djokovic would face Tommy Haas or Mikhail Youzhny in the quarterfinals. The Joker is 5-3 against Haas and Youzhny in his career, winning all four of the matchups on clay, two against each potential quarterfinal opponent.