Thiem, produced the best shot of the event against Monfils, faces Khanchanov in the quarterfinal at Roland Garros.

Dominic Thiem may or may not win at Roland Garros in 2019, he can, however, approach the quarterfinal against Karen Khachanov with his head held high and the warm fuzzy feeling of producing the best and most scintillating shot of the tournament.

Thiem has improved consistently during the tournament.

Dominic Thiem, after three consecutive four-set wins against the lesser opponents, won the fourth round in straight and took out the super athletic and highly talented Frenchman, Gael Monfils, for a berth, against Karen Khachanov, in the quarterfinals.

Karen Khachanov is enjoying the best slam results of his career.

The quarterfinal is the all-time best showing by Khachanov in a slam, and he worked hard and played tough in the fourth against the eighth seed, and crowd favorite, Juan Martin Del Potro to earn the quarterfinal berth. The match between Del Potro and Khachanov was a slug fest from the baseline, won 7-5, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 by Khachanov.

Dominic Thiem versus Karen Khachanov.

The head to head record favors Khachanov 1-0. The lone win by Khachanov was in the semifinal, on the fast hard courts, at the Paris Masters last year. Karen Khachanov went on to win the Paris Masters with a powerful performance against Novak Djokovic in the final.

The clay, however, is the natural surface for Thiem’s long back-swing, and Dominic Thiem’s powerful performance, against Monfils, makes him the favorite against Karen Khachanov in the quarterfinal.