French Open 2021: Monday Roland Garros Schedule and Bracket Predictions

The most successful men's clay-court player in history faces one of the sport's rising stars for the second consecutive year at Roland Garros on Monday. 

Rafael Nadal is blazing another clear path to the men's singles final and he will have to go through 19-year-old Jannik Sinner yet again. 

Nadal has not dropped a set at the French Open since the 2019 men's singles final and he beat Sinner in straight sets in last year's quarterfinals. 

Since then, Sinner surged up the rankings and earned the No. 18 seed for his second main-draw entry in Paris. 

The Nadal-Sinner match is the only contest between seeded players in the men's draw on Monday after Roger Federer withdrew from the tournament on Sunday. That allowed Matteo Berretini to move into the final eight. 

There will be two seeded showdowns on the women's side on Monday. Both of them feature American players. Coco Gauff takes on Ons Jabeur, while Sofia Kenin faces Maria Sakkari. Sloane Stephens will play in an unseeded match versus Barbora Krejcikova. 

The full order of play for Monday's matches at Roland Garros can be found here on the tournament's official website. 

Predictions

Jannik Sinner Gives Rafael Nadal His Toughest Test Of Tournament

Nadal has a trio of straight-set wins at the 2021 French Open, but he has been tested throughout the process. 

Alexei Popyrin pushed Nadal to a third-set tiebreak in the first round and Cameron Norrie earned a few breaks off the Spaniard. 

Popyrin and Norrie were not able to finish off any of their sets against Nadal because of his terrific shot-making and some unforced errors of their own. 

Sinner is more equipped to challenge Nadal because of his stature on the ATP Tour circuit. That does not mean he will upset the No. 3 seed, but he has a chance to end his set winning streak. 

The Italian enters Monday's match off his best performance yet in Paris. He swept Mikael Ymer in straight sets and he won two of the sets by three games or more. 

Sinner pushed Nadal to a first-set tiebreak in their final eight clash a year ago. That tournament served as Sinner's coming out party on the Grand Slam stage. 

The 19-year-old lost to Nadal in Rome in May, but there was only a four-game differential over two sets. 

Sinner produced a trio of victories over top 20 players from the clay-court buildup to Paris, so he should come in with a good amount of confidence. 

Nadal should win the match, but his consecutive set streak will likely be under threat from one of the rising stars of the men's game. 

Sofia Kenin Battles Through Showdown With Maria Sakkari

Each of the three singles matches between Kenin and Sakkari went three sets. 

Even the doubles match they played against each other in Abu Dhabi earlier this season was a marathon that ended with a 10-7 third set in favor Kenin and Alja Tomljanovic. 

Both of Kenin's head-to-head wins over the Greek occurred at the early stages of the U.S. Open and Wimbledon in 2018. Sakkari got the best of Kenin in the singles portion of the Abu Dhabi tournament. 

Kenin owns the edge in experience over Sakkari. She won the 2020 Australian Open and reached the final of last year's French Open. 

The fourth-seeded American is battle tested in a handful of ways. She got through a pair of three-set matches to reach the fourth round and knows what it takes to reach the final stages of a Grand Slam. 

Sakkari previously reached the fourth round at the Australian and U.S. Opens last season, but she fell in both of those matches. 

The fourth-round contests against Serena Williams and Petra Kvitova both went the distance, but Sakkari only won five games in the third sets. Sakkari needs to prove she can finish a match against one of the top competitors in the field. 

Until Sakkari shows she can do that, Kenin has to be viewed as the favorite to advance. If the American wins, she will set up a 2020 final rematch in the quarterfinals against Iga Swiatek.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.

Statistics obtained from ATPTour.com and WTATennis.com.