For the right to potentially face reigning French Open champion Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals, Coco Gauff and Ons Jabeur clash in an intriguing quarter-final battle on Tuesday.
The American third seed comfortably dispatched Elisabetta Cocciaretto in her fourth-round tie, while Jabeur also prevailed in straight sets, sending Denmark's Clara Tauson packing.
Match preview
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None of Julia Avdeeva, Tamara Zidansek or Dayana Yastremska laid out any roadblocks in front of Gauff during the 20-year-old's opening three Roland Garros contests of the year, and Sunday's fourth-round tie with Italian world number 51 Cocciaretto was no different.
Displaying her phenomenal athleticism and working her beleaguered foe across the court with an array of vicious shots, Gauff required just one hour to post a 6-1 6-2 victory, thereby making the French Open quarter-finals for the fourth year running.
Not since the days of Martina Hingis has a younger woman achieved that feat, and the numbers underlined Gauff's ruthless dominance against Cocciaretto - striking 19 winners compared to the Italian's seven - and she dropped just one of her six points at the net.
As she continues to go to great lengths to improve her service game, the US Open holder double-faulted on five occasions over the weekend but was not made to regret those mistakes, and a third-straight Grand Slam quarter-final now lies in wait for the 2022 runner-up.
However, either side of finishing second best to Swiatek two years ago, Gauff was defeated by Barbora Krejcikova in the 2021 quarter-finals before losing again to the former in the 2023 last eight, leaving her with a few wrongs to right against one of her frequent foes.
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In contrast, Jabeur does not arrive for Tuesday's quarter-final with a 100% set record at Roland Garros so far - being taken to three by Camila Osorio in her second-round tie - but that 1-6 result is the only miniscule blot on the notebook for the trailblazing Tunisian so far.
After coming through a hard-fought battle with former US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez, Jabeur faced 2002-born Tauson of Denmark in the last 16 and got the job done 6-4 6-4 in one hour and 35 minutes, ending the with 28 winners compared to the Dane's 14.
A second straight Roland-Garros quarter-final now awaits the Tunisian, as well as a seventh Grand Slam last-eight battle overall - equalling Amanda Coetzer's all-time African record in women's singles competitions - but she has been unable to shake the perpetual major bridesmaid tag so far.
In addition to losing the last two Wimbledon finals and the 2022 US Open trophy match, Jabeur fell to Beatriz Haddad Maia's superiority in the 2023 French Open quarter-finals and also lost at this stage at Wimbledon 2021 and the 2020 Australian Open, leaving her with some demons to exorcise.
Should the world number nine manage to do just that against Gauff, either Swiatek or current Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova - whom she has a bone to pick with - will be lying in wait for a semi-final showdown of epic proportions.
Tournament so far
Coco Gauff:
First round: vs. Julia Avdeeva 6-1 6-1
Second round: vs. Tamara Zidansek 6-3 6-4
Third round: vs. Dayana Yastremska 6-2 6-4
Round of 16: vs. Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-1 6-2
Ons Jabeur:
First round: vs. Sachia Vickery 6-3 6-2
Second round: vs. Camila Osorio 6-3 1-6 6-3
Third round: vs. Leylah Fernandez 6-4 7-6[5]
Round of 16: vs. Clara Tauson 6-4 6-4
Head To Head
WTA Finals (2023) - Group stage: Gauff wins 6-0 6-1
German Open (2022) - Semi-finals: Jabeur wins 7-6[4] 6-2
French Open (2021) - Last 16: Gauff wins 6-3 6-1
Charleston Open (2021) - Quarter-finals: Jabeur wins 6-3 6-3
Italian Open (2020) - First round: Gauff wins 6-4 6-3
Top Seed Open (2020) - Quarter-finals: Gauff wins 4-6 6-4 6-1
Since Gauff burst onto the WTA Tour scene just after turning 15, the American has engaged in six top-level battles with Jabeur and has often had the Tunisian's number, coming up trumps on four occasions compared to two for the world number nine.
One of those four successes coincidentally came in the fourth round of the 2021 French Open, in which Gauff dropped just four games en route to the quarter-finals, while she almost whitewashed Jabeur during their only meeting in the 2023 season at the WTA Finals.
It is not all doom and gloom for Jabeur as far as the head-to-head is concerned, though, as the two-time Wimbledon finalist did emerge triumphant at the 2022 German Open and 2021 Charleston Open - the latter of which was fought on clay.
We say: Gauff to win in three sets
As is the case with most of Gauff's opponents, Jabeur can expect to win some cheap points off of the youngster's serve and can certainly give the American a brilliant run for her money with her terrific shot-making.
However, the 20-year-old's athletic prowess is second to none, and if Tuesday's quarter-final ends up going the distance, we can only picture Gauff marching onto the semis.
Ben Knapton
