Second seed Aryna Sabalenka takes on unseeded Sloane Stephens in the Roland Garros fourth round. This is the first time that Sabalenka has reached this stage at Roland Garros. It's a big week ahead for the 25-year-old who could end this French Open as the new world number one. Sabalenka holds that position in the live rankings but current world number one Iga Swiatek is hot on her heels. The second seed has already had one clay court triumph this year and reached another final. Three matches have been played by her so far in this Roland Garros tournament. All three were won without a set being dropped. Three previous matches have been played against Stephens and all of them won. None of the previous matches were played on clay. If winning this match, Sabalenka will face either Elina Svitolina or the ninth seeded Daria Kasatkina.
Sloane Stephens may not be seeded but the American is a former Roland Garros finalist. That feat was achieved five years ago and she's since reached two more Roland Garros quarter finals. The 30-year-old began this Grand Slam ranked 30th but is 38th in the live rankings. That's because Stephens also got to the last eight here in 2022 so has a lot of points to defend. Winning this match would take her up as high as 28th in the live rankings. The American has won one clay court title this year but it was a lower level WTA 125 event with no top 100 ranked players beaten. So far in this tournament, the American has only dropped one set and beat 16th seeded Karolina Pliskova in round one. This won't be easy for Sabalenka but she looks in top form and can win this in two sets. A bet on over 18.5 games might also be a winner.