Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal's one and only defeat at Roland Garros came at the fourth round stage in 2009 to Robin Soderling, but it would be a major surprise if Juan Moncao pulled off the same feat on Monday. Reuters

Where to watch: Coverage of day nine's play at Roland Garros begins at 5 a.m. ET on ESPN2, before switching to the Tennis Channel at 10 a.m. A live stream will be available throughout the day on ESPN3.

Preview: After Novak Djokovic survived a two-set hole against Andreas Seppi on Sunday, his main rival for the French Open crown, Rafael Nadal, will be hoping for smoother progress in his fourth round outing.

The six-time French Open champion's opponent on Court Suzanne Lenglen on Monday will be Argentine Juan Monaco. The pair have met four times previously, with Monaco's only win coming when Nadal was forced to retire. And, while the 13th seed will have been buoyed by a hard-fought five-set victory over Milos Raonic in the last round, the four and a half hours he spent on court is likely to count against him against a player in Nadal that makes an opponent work like no other.

The pick of the men's matches on day nine may well prove to be fourth seed Andy Murray's contest with home favorite Richard Gasquet. The two are contemporaries in terms of age, but while it was perhaps Gasquet who had the higher expectations as a youngster, Murray has gone on to have the more successful career in the pro ranks so far.

The 17th seed can mix it with the best on his day, but has often been criticized for a lack of mental toughness. Gasquet has also come asunder by a lack of conditioning in the past, as testified by the fact that Murray has twice come from two sets down to overcome the Frenchman.

But with the Scot having specific fitness issues of his own and Gasquet prevailing the last time the pair met, last month in Rome, the Paris crowd may well be celebrating come the end.

While the No. 1 seed in the men's draw survived his scare on Sunday, the top seeded woman was not so fortunate. And with Victoria Azarenka joining Serena Williams in exiting Roland Garros, Maria Sharapova is now a strong favorite to complete her career Grand Slam come Saturday.

The second seed will be wary of taking anything for granted, but should face few problems against Klara Zakopalova in round four. The 44th ranked Czech may have come out on top in their first meeting when Sharapova was all of 15, but in the two contests since, including in Madrid last month, it has been the Russian who has comfortably prevailed.

After Sloane Stephens' fourth-round exit, Varvara Lepchenko is now the last remaining American in either women's or men's draw. But she may not be for long, with a match awaiting against Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova. Though the fourth seed took her eye of the ball for a set in the last round against Nina Bratchikova, she should have enough focus to allow her considerable talent to prevail over Lepchenko.

There will also be a couple of bonuses for fans on day nine with two intriguing men's matches hung over from Sunday. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga holds a 4-2 final set lead over Stanislas Wawrinka, while Juan Martin Del Potro will begin the fourth set of his clash with Tomas Berdych with a two sets to one advantage.

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