For the fifth time at Grand Slam level, Swiss stars Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka, will face each other tonight. They will battle for a semi-final spot at Roland Garros.
Join The Roar for live score of the match from around 12:00am AEST. Tonight is the 19th match between two of the best players to have come from Switzerland.
In the other 18 they have been dominated by Roger Federer, who is chasing his 18th Grand Slam title at the French Open. He has won 16 of the 18 battles between him and Wawrinka and 14 of the last 16 matches since 2009.
Amazingly the two wins for Stan came at the Monte Carlo Masters in 2009 and 2014. At every other venue, that has hosted a match between the two, Federer has been victorious.
This includes two matches at the French Open where Federer has not lost a set. They have also faced each other once this year with Federer winning 6-4 6-2 at the Rome Masters a couple of weeks ago.
In the previous five matches before that, between the end of 2012 and 2014, each player won a set during the contest.
Wawrinka has certainly made the matches closer in the last few years after having more success on the circuit. This match promises to be the same because of scheduling.
Wawrinka, who finished his match on Sunday, plays Federer who has only had half a day to recover from his four set win over Gael Monfils.
How that impacts Federer, who has struggled with recovery in recent events, will be fascinating. If he is slow out of the blocks then Wawrinka will pounce and run away with the match.
If that happens it could be hard for Federer to come back. Wawrinka, if he is to win, needs to serve well and hit plenty of winners with his backhand.
In his losses to Federer he has won less than 50 per cent of second serves that go in. That needs to improve, and reach around 60 per cent, if he is to win.
In his two wins, at Monte Carlo, he had that at 56 and 59 per cent respectively in the match. Wawrinka also needs to use his backhand, which is his strength, to hit plenty of winners.
Troubling Federer into mistakes, with the weapon, will be vital today. This promises to be a fantastic contest between two mates who desperately want to win another Grand Slam title.
Federer is the favourite, heading into the match, and he looks to be too strong for Wawrinka.
The world number 8’s form the world number two isn’t great, and while he will win sets tonight, he will just fall short of a first semi-final at Roland Garros.
PREDICTION – Federer 3-2.
Start: 12:00am AEST
Head to head: Federer 16 Wawrinka 2
Last meeting: 2015 Rome Masters – Federer 6-4 6-2
Odds: Federer 1.44 Wawrinka 2.75
TV: Fox Sports – Live
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