Popcorn matches: Day seven

Serena Williams v Sofia Kenin

After a stuttering first round start, Williams banished doubt with her swift dispatch of Kurumi Nara in the second. Now the 37-year-old has an all-American contest against Sofia Kenin, who was 10 months old and still a resident of her Moscow birthplace when Serena won the US Open in 1999.

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Kenin had a walkover against injured Bianca Andreescu to reach the third round, but was broken six times in her opener against qualifier Giulia Gatto-Monticone, which bodes somewhat terrifyingly for her match with Serena. On paper Kenin could face her doubles partner Andrea Petkovic in the last 16, should the German get past No.9 seed Ashleigh Barty; but it would take a brave forecaster to predict that outcome.

Dominic Thiem v Pablo Cuevas

With two four-setters under his belt from his opening two rounds, nothing yet has come particularly easily at Roland-Garros 2019 for last year’s runner-up Dominic Thiem. At least Thiem’s third-round opponent Pablo Cuevas is likely to provide a less erratic challenge than Alexander Bublik in his previous match – the Uruguayan is not known for his random deployment of underarm serves.

Winner of the doubles here with Luis Horna 11 years ago, Cuevas has spent barely three hours on court so far and is gunning for his first Grand Slam fourth round. Now recovered from a broken foot bone nine months ago, the world No.47 has triumphed in 12 of his last 14 matches on the red dirt, and with five career wins over top-10 players, he could test any lingering uncertainty in Thiem’s game. The Austrian No.4 seed leads their head-to-head 3-2.

Borna Coric v Jan-Lennard Struff

Had the seedings panned out, 13th-seeded Coric would be taking on fellow young gun Denis Shapovalov here. But the Canadian No.20 seed fell at the first hurdle, blitzed in straight sets by Struff. The German 29-year-old is breaking new ground at Roland-Garros by reaching the third round, with a useful clay season to date including the scalps of Grigor Dimitrov, Marin Cilic, David Goffin and most notably Stefanos Tsitsipas in Barcelona. With two further career top-five wins to his name, he is currently standing tall for more reasons than his 6ft5in (196cm) height.

By contrast, Coric's clay season has fallen away somewhat since he reached the quarters in Monte Carlo, especially when he could not convert two match points he held against Roger Federer in Rome. This could be a tight one, with the pair locked at 2-2 in previous meetings against each other.