French Open 2021: Wednesday Schedule and Predictions for Roland Garros Bracket

Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev all have an easier path to the 2021 French Open final than they have had at previous majors. 

Each of the single-digit seeds in the men's singles draw will not have to go through Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic to reach the final.

Additionally, none of them will face Dominic Thiem in the bottom half of the bracket after the fourth-seeded Austrian was knocked out in the first round at Roland Garros. 

On Wednesday, Medvedev, Tsitsipas and Zverev have a chance to assert their dominance in their respective sections of the draw. Medvedev will have all the focus on him in the lone night match on Court Philippe Chatrier. 

Aryna Sabalenka and Serena Williams are the top-seeded women playing on Wednesday. They are the only top 10 seeds left in the bottom half of the women's singles draw. 

Sabalenka and Williams could be on a collision course for a quarterfinal clash as long as they avoid the upsets that took out Bianca Andresscu, Kiki Bertens and Johanna Konta in their half of the draw.

Wednesday's full schedule at Roland Garros can be found here on the tournament's official website. 

Predictions

Zverev, Medvedev, Tsitsipas Breeze into 3rd Round

The top seeds left in the bottom part of the men's bracket should go through a fairly easy Wednesday in Paris. 

Zverev was the only member of the trio to be tested in the first round, as he went to five sets with fellow German Oscar Otte. The sixth-seeded German looked much better after the third set began. He won 18 of the 22 games played in that stretch and shut out Otte in the fifth set. 

If the same Zverev from the third, fourth and fifth sets shows up Wednesday, he should breeze past qualifier Roman Safiullin.

Tsitsipas faces an opponent of similar quality in the form of Pedro Martinez, who spent most of the clay-court buildup to Roland Garros on the challenger circuit. Martinez is 4-8 in 2021 and only has one win over a player that was inside the top 50 of the world rankings. 

Medvedev faces the toughest matchup of the trio against American Tommy Paul, who is 52nd in the world rankings. 

Before his first-round win, Medvedev did not own a main-draw win on the Paris clay, so his status as a potential winner could come into question the most. 

Medvedev and Paul have never met head-to-head and the 24-year-old American could be at a disadvantage on the Roland Garros surface. Paul suffered defeats to Roberto Batista Agut and Andrey Rublev in Madrid and Rome, respectively, and only won five games against Tsitsipas in a straight-set loss in Lyon, France. 

If Medvedev and Tsitsipas keep winning, they would face off in the quarterfinal, with the winner could potentially face Zverev in the semifinals. 

Sabalenka, Serena Get Closer to Quarterfinal Showdown

Sabalenka and Williams have to be viewed as the two favorites to emerge from the bottom half of the bracket. 

No. 2 seed Naomi Osaka withdrew from the event Monday, and 11th-ranked Petra Kvitova also announced her departure from Roland Garros. 

Andreescu, Bertens and Konta were upset in the opening round, which leaves Sabalenka, Williams and Belinda Bencic as the only top-10 seeds in that half of the draw. 

Sabalenka faces a tough test against fellow Belarussian Aliaksandra Sasnovich to close out the play on Court Suzanne Lenglen, but she should move into the third round. 

Sabalenka has been one of the best players on the clay court circuit this season. She won in Madrid, lost in the Stuttgart final to Ashleigh Barty and was eliminated in the round of 16 in Rome against Coco Gauff. Even in her clay-court losses, Sabalenka played decent tennis. She pushed Barty to three sets in Germany and lost the first set to Gauff 7-5. 

Williams has an easier task on paper against 33-year-old Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu, who made it out of the first round twice at majors since 2019 and has a 6-10 career mark at Grand Slams. Although Williams has not advanced past the third round at Roland Garros in her last two appearances, she should be in good shape against a player with little Grand Slam success. 

If Williams continues to win, Sabalenka may be the first seeded player she faces in Paris. Elena Rybakina is the only other seeded woman left in her section.

Statistics obtained from ATPTour.com and WTATennis.com.