Mal's Picks
	Washington Former ATP Tour pro MaliVai Washington is providing ESPN.com with in-depth analysis during the French Open. Washington, a tennis analyst for ESPN, reached the 1996 Wimbledon final.

This year's French Open has been one of the most interesting Grand Slam tournaments in a long time. It's one of the few events when you have a lot of players who have never been in the finals of a Grand Slam.

I love this type of event. At some point, every great champion wins their first major, and that opportunity looms for six of the eight guys left in this field.

Juan Carlos Ferrero (11), Spain, vs. Andre Agassi (4), United States
This is one of the must-see matches in the quarterfinals. For the third consecutive year, Ferrero has reached this round at Roland Garros.

Every potential winner of a major has to fight through a match where they're kind of down and out a little bit, it's a five-set struggle, or he wins a match he shouldn't have. Ferrero's fourth-round match against Gaston Gaudio, where he was down two sets to love against a good clay-court player, was such a match. But Ferrero gutted it out. The thing is, his opponent, Agassi, faced the same situation. And Agassi fought it out and won in five sets.

These players, unfortunately, won't meet in the finals because they might be the best two players left in the tournament. The fact that Agassi was down at one point to Paul-Henri Mathieu lets other players know that Agassi's vulnerable. He was playing a guy who found himself in the fourth round against The Great Andre Agassi, and he gets a little tight. Agassi is experienced enough to let a young player hit through a couple of sets to see if the young guy has the guts to win, and Mathieu didn't have it.

Agassi will have to respect Ferrero's ability on clay. He's lost the past two years to eventual champion Kuerten in the semifinals. You get the feeling that maybe he's due with Kuerten out of the tournament.
Pick: Ferrero in five

Sebastien Grosjean (10), France, vs. Marat Safin (2), Russia
Grosjean is a player who is able to feed off of his home crowd. This is on stadium court. Grosjean excels on his home court. Some players fold under that pressure, but he thrives on it. When they walk out onto that court there will be a big uproar, and it won't be for Safin.

Of any match in the tournament, Safin needs to be as mentally focused as he possibly can. And everyone knows his mental toughness on the court is not his asset. His ability to hit his way out of trouble and use his power are his biggest assets -- not his will to battle in down times in a match. If Grosjean can get on top early, and get the crowd rowdy, he could roll through this match.
Pick: Grosjean in four

Guillermo Canas (15), Argentina, vs. Albert Costa (20), Spain
Costa impressed me with his win over defending champion Gustavo Kuerten. I've never seen him hit the ball so cleanly, and I've never seen Kuerten on the defense so much on a red-clay court. It also was impressive that Costa beat Kuerten at what Kuerten does best. If Costa can continue to play like that, he can win this tournament. If he plays that type of tennis, he can certainly beat Canas.

Costa finds himself where he's been in the past -- the quarterfinals. This is one of the matches in a player's career that makes a big difference. It could put him into the semifinals of a Grand Slam event for the first time. That puts a major in his grasp in the future. But if he loses in the quarters he might look back on this match for the rest of his life saying "that was my opportunity. That match against Canas is the one I needed to win."

But Canas is coming off the best victory of his career, beating the No. 1 player in the world and the top seed Lleyton Hewitt in four sets. Canas is going to walk onto the court feeling very confident in his ability.

They play very similar games. Both are clay-court specialists. This comes down to the player who executes the best and handles the emotion of the moment the best. It comes down to the player who can physically handle the demands of this type of match that will undoubtedly consist of long, drawn-out baseline rallies.
Pick: Costa in five sets

Andrei Pavel (22), Romania, vs. Alex Corretja (18), Spain
The first time I ever saw Pavel play, he lost a five-set match to Yevgeny Kafelnikov at the Aussie Open. I said to myself, "Why isn't this player in the top 20?" Pavel can produce tennis that could have him compete with the top 15 -- but he only does it a couple of times a year. He did it last year at the Tennis Masters Series in Montreal, and he's doing it this year at the French Open. I never would have expected him to beat Tommy Haas.

He's playing an excellent clay-court player in Corretja, who has been to the finals at Roland Garros two times before. Corretja knows what it takes to win the quarterfinals of a major. Pavel doesn't because he's never done it before.

Of all of the quarterfinal matches, this is one of the ones to watch.
Pick: Corretja in four

Clay is one of those surfaces where you have to be willing to stay out there and battle. Get mud in your mouth and all over your shirt. That's what the French Open is about -- not only who can play good tennis but also who can persevere.