Three to See, Day 7: Daniil Medvedev vs. Miomir Kecmanovic; Alizé Cornet vs. Qinwen Zheng; Jannik Sinner vs. Mackenzie McDonald

HIGHLIGHTS: McDonald pushes Sinner to the limit in last summer's Citi Open final

Daniil Medvedev vs. Miomir Kecmanovic

We know how good Medvedev can be. But we’re still discovering how well the 22-year-old Kecmanovic can play, how high he can climb, and what he can bring to the table against the ATP’s elite. The Serb has already risen from No. 78 to a career-high No. 31 this season. He made the fourth round at the Australian Open, and nearly beat Carlos Alcaraz in Miami. What he’s missing is a signature win, and his first meeting with Medvedev would seem to be the moment to get it.

Medvedev is still working his way back after hernia surgery, and he’s doing it on his least-favorite surface. The Russian, who likes to range well behind the baseline, will give Kecmanovic a chance to use his strong forehand to control the rallies. But Medvedev will also find ways to disrupt Kecmanovic’s fairly meat-and-potatoes approach. Before the tournament, when Medvedev’s physical status was in question, I picked Kecmanovic to make the semifinals from this quarter. Medvedev has looked better than I thought he would in Paris so far, but I’ll stick with the Serb. Winner: Kecmanovic

Alizé Cornet vs. Qinwen Zheng

Was Zheng’s three-set win over Simona Halep, in which she ran away with the last two sets, a star-is-born moment? It had that vibe. Zheng is 19 and has shown flashes of talent through the spring—she beat Sloane Stephens and nearly beat Angelique Kerber and Karolina Muchova. But her ground-stroke onslaught against Halep was still an eye-opener. Zheng had the power advantage in that matchup, and she should have it again when she faces Cornet. What she won’t have is the 32-year-old Frenchwoman’s experience—Cornet has reached the fourth round here twice before—or her crowd support. The Parisian fans were a big part of her night-match win over Jelena Ostapenko, who had to cover her ears to block them out.

As with Kecmanovic, we don’t know how good Zheng can be yet, or if she’s ready to show us. This is the first time Cornet will face her, and she may need time to adjust and find out what works best against her. But if there’s a way, I’m guessing this versatile veteran will find it in time. Winner: Cornet

Jannik Sinner vs. Mackenzie McDonald

With four men and six women in the third round, this has been a pretty successful French Open for the U.S. so far. The third round is also the farthest that McDonald, a California hard-courter, has ever gone in Paris. Now he’ll make a jump up in weight class. The 11th-seeded Sinner is only 20, but he has already been to the quarterfinals and the fourth round at Roland Garros, where he lost to Rafael Nadal both times. Sinner will be favored to get back to the fourth round again; but in his only other meeting with McDonald, in the Citi Open final last summer, the American pushed him to the limit before falling 7-5 in the third set.

Even if the scores aren’t as close this time, the rallies between these two clean ball-strikers should be fun. Winner: Sinner