Day 4 - Match of the day session: A test for Iga

Popular wisdom has it that now is the time to play Iga. She has not reached a final, much less won one, since this time last year and her confidence is at a low ebb. But Raducanu is having none of that. She has played the Pole four times before and not won a set. And in their last meeting, in Melbourne in January, she won only one game. She is preparing to meet “prime” Iga regardless of the defending champion’s recent form.

“I think at the Slams, it's completely different for those top players,” Raducanu said. “They really kind of turn it on in the weeks that really matter.

"So she's a great opponent. I'm not expecting any wavering of level. Given the last times we have played, she's been on every single time.

"It's going to be a really, really difficult match.”

But the Raducanu who walks out on Wednesday is a different player to the one who was pummelled in Australia. This year, she is fitter and injury-free (even if she did feel unwell in the opening match on Monday); she has played 23 matches in 11 tournaments so far (she played 36 matches in total last year) and, with an informal coaching arrangement with Mark Petchey in place since March, she is enjoying life.

Petchey, a former British No.1 and once coach to Andy Murray, has tweaked Raducanu’s serve to develop more power and disguise and the pair are hard at work on her forehand which is, she says, “developing into a weapon”.

And the pressure is all on Iga in this match, not Emma: this is Swiatek’s match to lose and Raducanu’s to play with total freedom.

“It's a match where I can go out and test really just myself and go for my shots,” she said. “I know if I just push the ball, I'm probably going to get eaten. I'm looking forward to that challenge.”

Three to watch on Wednesday

Court 7, third match
Jelena Ostapenko [21] vs Caroline Dolehide 

You just never know with Jelena Ostapenko. She took Paris by storm in 2017 by winning the first title of her career – Roland-Garros (it is best to start at the top). And then she didn’t win another match here for three years. In all, she has amassed nine singles titles and 11 doubles titles but her success has come in fits and starts.

That said, she did win in Stuttgart last month, beating Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka to get her hands on the trophy. She has never played Caroline Dolehide before but the world No.67 has never won a singles crown and her recent results suggest that she is unlikely to get the better of Ostapenko today. But you just never know with Jelena.

Court Philippe-Chatrier, second match
Carlos Alcaraz [2] vs Fabian Marozsan 

This may seem like an obvious pick but, quite simply, you cannot take your eyes off Carlos Alcaraz. When he is playing well, he is a joy to watch. He smiles, he enjoys himself and, by his own admission, he goes in for a bit of showboating if the opportunity presents itself.

When his opponent is playing well, he loves to be the problem solver and it is fascinating to watch him thinking, analysing and, at times, creating magic out of nothing. He may need a little of that on Wednesday: Fabian Marozsan beat him in the third round of Rome two years ago although Alcaraz did get his own back in Indian Wells last year.

Court Suzanne-Lenglen, first match
Zheng Quinwen (8) vs Emiliana Arango 

Zheng Qinwen knows how to win here. Sure enough, she has never got beyond the fourth round in three previous attempts at Roland-Garros but last summer she came back to Court Philippe-Chatrier to win Olympic gold with victory over Donna Vekic. She trains in Barcelona so is no stranger to a clay court and two weeks ago in Rome, she pushed Coco Gauff to the very limit in the Rome semi-final. They were on court for three hours and 32 minutes before Gauff edged through.

She is a warrior, too, then. And everyone else in the locker room has her tipped as a potential champion now. Emiliana Arango, ranked No.85, is not quite in that league but she does love the clay and her idol is Rafa Nadal… but it is still a big ask for her to win on Wednesday.