Novak Djokovic remains the heavy favorite on the men’s side, but faces a stiff test in the winningest player in the US Open Series. And the other semifinal is quite an unlikely one. While David Goffin was a semifinalist here a year ago, this is Richard Gasquet’s first Masters 1,000 semifinal since Miami in 2013, as highlighted by Ravi Ubha on Twitter. On the women’s side, the 2009 French Open champion faces the 2019 French Open champion. And in the other semifinal, two Americans will battle to represent the US in the championship match at one of their country’s biggest tournaments.
Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Daniil Medvedev (9)
These are easily the two men who have played at the highest level this week in Cincinnati. Neither has dropped a set or been challenged at all by their opposition. Djokovic owns a 3-1 record against the 23-year-old Russian, but Medvedev claimed their most recent match in Monte Carlo earlier this year. That was at a time when Novak was struggling with his form, which has not been the case of late. Since that loss in Monte Carlo, Djokovic is a stellar 23-2, with his only losses coming on clay at the hands of Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem. Medvedev though is on a similarly impressive tear, with 12 wins within the past three weeks alone. Daniil now leads the ATP with 42 match wins this year. He’s playing today to reach his third final in as many weeks. But taking out Novak Djokovic on a hard court is a tall task nowadays, and all the tennis Medvedev has played these last few weeks has to catch up with him eventually. As excellently as Daniil has been playing against lesser competition, he’s struggled when facing bigger names, such as last week’s Rogers Cup final against Rafael Nadal where he won just three games. I expect Medvedev will be a bit more successful today, but Djokovic remains the favorite.
Ash Barty (1) vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova
Both of these players were forced to come back from a set down yesterday. Barty did so emphatically, winning 12 of the last 14 games. Kuznetsova’s comeback was a bit more complicated, as Karolina Pliskova served for the match in the second set. That was the 34-year-old’s third victory this week over a player ranked 11th or higher. This surprising run follows a rough period in her career where she even considered retirement, as outlined here in a great WTA piece by Courtney Nguyen. This will be Kuznetsova’s first match against Barty, who has fought her way to this semifinal despite not playing her best tennis this week. With Pliskova as well as Naomi Osaka losing yesterday, Barty is guaranteed to regain the No.1 ranking after this tournament. That may free her up and help her up her level. Her all-court game will be a lot for Kuznetsova to handle, especially considering this is the most tennis Svetlana has played in a long time. Barty is the favorite here, but judging by the way Kuznetsova has competed this week, another Sveta upset would not be a total shock.
Other notable matches on Saturday:
Madison Keys (16) vs. Sofia Kenin. Kenin took their only previous meeting 6-4 in the third, which was earlier this year on the clay of Rome.
David Goffin (16) vs. Richard Gasquet (PR). They’ve split their two encounters, both played within the last two years on hard courts.
In the women’s double final, Rogers Cup finalists Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Demi Schuurs (5) vs. Lucie Hradecka and Andreja Klepac (8), who were on a four-match losing streak prior to this week.
