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

Serena Williams is one win away from advancing to her first French Open quarterfinal since 2016.

The three-time champion at Roland Garros will play in one of two seeded matchups on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Sunday.

The seventh-seeded Williams takes on No. 21 Elena Rybakina in the third match on Chatrier. The two players have never met head-to-head.

Victoria Azarenka, the No. 15 seed, opens the slate of four matches on Chatrier against No. 31 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who knocked out the third seed Aryna Sabalenka in the third round.

If Williams and Azarenka win, they will face off in what should be the most notable quarterfinal clash in the women's draw.

Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev are in line for a quarterfinal showdown as well. The pair of top-five seeds both need to win Sunday against seeded foes, and they are both expected to advance.

The full schedule for Sunday's matches at Roland Garros can be found here on the tournament's official website.

Predictions

Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka Set Up Quarterfinal Showdown

Williams and Azarenka are the two most experienced players left in the women's draw.

If they square off in the final eight, it would be a rematch of the three-set epic won by Azarenka in the 2020 U.S. Open semifinals.

The fourth round is a rare destination for both of their opponents at Roland Garros. Pavlyuchenkova has a quarterfinal appearance from 2011, and Rybakina will be playing in her first fourth-round match at a major.

Azarenka is the only one of the two higher seeds with previous experience versus her Sunday foe. The No. 15 seed is 5-1 versus Pavlyuchenkova.

The only win that Pavlyuchenkova owns over Azarenka was through a second-set retirement in the round of 16 of the 2015 tournament in Cincinnati.

Azarenka won the most recent clash between the players in convincing fashion in 2019, and she is coming off her strongest performance of the tournament, a 6-2, 6-2 win over Madison Keys.

Pavlyuchenkova took advantage of Sabalenka's inexperience deep into majors by blanking her in the third set. She will not face a similar situation against Azarenka, who should put her away on one of the first chances to do so.

Williams has not faced Rybakina, but she will be the No. 21 seed's toughest opponent by far at Roland Garros. Rybakina defeated three unseeded opponents after Petra Kvitova withdrew from the tournament following the first round.

Williams fended off a handful of challenges in the opening three rounds, including a comeback from 1-4 down to Danielle Collins to win in straight sets Thursday.

If she continues to battle through the tough moments, Williams should surge past Rybakina and set up the star-studded showdown in the final eight.

Stefanos Tsitsipas Cruises into Final 8

Tsitsipas won nine of the 10 sets he played in over three rounds.

The only loss in that group was in the first set to John Isner, who is notoriously tough to break on serve.

The fifth-seeded man rebounded well from that dropped set by winning three in a row to close out the American.

Tsitsipas has not lost a set in two matches against Pablo Carreno Busta. One of those matches produced a straight-set win on clay.

Carreno Busta experienced a fairly easy run into the fourth round with victories over a trio of unseeded players. He will take a significant step up for his clash with the Greek.

The 12th-seeded Spaniard did not fare well against the toughest competition in the buildup to Paris. He lost to Casper Ruud and Rafael Nadal. He beat Diego Schwartzman in Barcelona, but that was his only victory over a top 20 player in four events.

Carreno Busta has the potential to take a set off Tsitsipas, but it seems unlikely that he will capture three against the No. 5 seed.

Statistics obtained from ATPTour.com and WTATennis.com.