Friday in Rome, it’s quarter-finals day on both sides of the singles draws, and there’s a lot on the line. For both the men and the women, the number one ranking will be determined by the results of the next few days at Foro Italico. Rafael Nadal needs to win the tournament to recapture the top spot from Roger Federer, as well as to have a chance to be number one following Roland Garros. On the women’s side, Simona Halep needs to advance further than Caroline Wozniacki to remain the number one player, and both women are still alive in the draw. In today’s preview, let’s take a look at the matches scheduled for Friday night in Rome.
Simona Halep vs. Caroline Garcia
Not only will Garcia try to dethrone the world number one, she’ll also be vying for her third straight clay semifinal. That would give the Frenchwoman considerable confidence heading into Paris, where she’ll look to improve upon her quarterfinal appearance from last year. It may actually be Halep who’s more in need of confidence, as she hasn’t made a semifinal since Indian Wells two months ago. Simona has a 3-1 edge in their career head-to-head, but they have never met on clay. They’ve played three times in the past year, and Garcia’s sole victory came in the biggest match of her career. At the Premier Mandatory event in Beijing, Garcia took out Halep in the final. The win also qualified Garcia for her first WTA Finals appearance. Halep has barely had any court time so far this week. She lost just one game to Naomi Osaka, and didn’t play at all yesterday as Madison Keys withdrew due to injury. I wonder if that will help or hurt her this evening, especially against an in-form Garcia who hasn’t dropped a set this week. All things considered, I slightly favor Halep’s chances to grind out a victory on the clay in what should be a good one.
Alexander Zverev vs. David Goffin
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While the eyes of Italy will be on the Nadal/Fognini match to start the day, this last match of the evening is the better match on paper, with two top 10 players facing off. Zverev is on a 13-match winning streak, and won two titles over the past two weeks in Munich and Madrid. A potential match against the king of clay in the final looms over the draw, but Goffin is anything but an easy out. David’s excellent defense and movement could prove challenging for Zverev on the clay. These two do not have much history against each other, as their only previous meeting was two years ago. It is worth noting that Zverev prevailed that day on the clay in Munich. The German is a much more evolved player today. Goffin is yet to play his best in 2018 following his excellent play at the end of 2017. However, his year was sidetracked by the unfortunate eye injury he suffered in the Rotterdam final. Goffin seems due for a big result, and Zverev must be a bit drained in his third straight week of tennis. Zverev showed some signs of fatigue as he struggled to close out Kyle Edmund yesterday, needing eight match points in the second set tiebreak and exhibiting obvious frustration. I’m very curious to see how this quarter-final plays out.
