The top seeds are still alive in both men’s and women’s singles, though each has a literal tall task ahead of them. Aryna Sabalenka achieved her first Major semifinal last month at Wimbledon, and won the first set of that semi, before Karolina Pliskova took over, closing out the match 6-4 in the third. On Saturday, Sabalenka has a chance to avenge that loss.
Daniil Medvedev was a finalist at the last Canadian Masters in 2019, and has been the winningest hard court player of the last 12 months. But standing in his way is the nearly-seven-feet-tall American John Isner, who is on a nine match win streak on North American hard courts.
The other two singles semifinals feature 2018 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas and three players looking to reach their first 1000-level final.
Each day, this preview will analyze the most intriguing men’s and women’s matchup, while highlighting other notable matches on the schedule. Saturday’s play gets underway at 12:30pm local time with men’s doubles in Toronto, and 1:00pm in Montreal with the first WTA singles semifinal.
Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs. Karolina Pliskova (4) – 1:00pm on Centre Court in Montreal
Pliskova’s victory at The Championships is actually her only win over Sabalenka. The Belarusian claimed their other two previous meetings, which occurred in 2018. Their only prior hard court encounter came three summers ago in Cincinnati, which Aryna won 7-5 in the third. Notably, all three of their matches have been tight three-setters. Pliskova is one of the only players on tour that can match Sabalenka’s power, and she normally possesses a superior serve. But in their Wimbledon semifinal, Aryna actually out-aced the WTA Ace Queen 18-14. She also struck six more winners in that match. The issue was exactly half of Sabalenka’s aces and winners came in the first set, and she was not able to sustain that level in sets two or three. However, Sabalenka has reached top form the last two rounds, including a comfortable straight-set win on Friday over two-time Major champion Victoria Azarenka. This should be another close matchup between these two, especially considering they’re both 4-0 in their last four WTA 1000 semifinals. But I give the slight edge to Sabalenka, who should be able to dictate play a bit more than Pliskova during longer rallies.
Daniil Medvedev (1) vs. John Isner – Not Before 8:00pm on Stadium Court in Toronto
The only time these two players met, it was all Medvedev. At last year’s ATP Cup, the Russian needed only one hour to put away Isner 6-3, 6-1. But I do not think it will be one-way traffic again on Saturday. The 36-year-old American has only dropped one set this week, and that includes wins over three seeded players. He spent much less physical and emotional energy on court Friday than Medvedev. John easily dispatched of Gael Monfils, while Daniil scarcely survived Hubert Hurkacz in a third-set tiebreak. When shaking hands at the net, Medvedev even admitted to Hurkacz that Hubi was the better player on the day. Daniil prefers to stand way back in the court when returning serve, and I’m sure he’ll take another step or two back to defend against Isner’s booming serves. Monfils did the same on Friday, and John was frequently able to take advantage of all the open court. While Medvedev is a better returner than Gael, standing so far back is a dangerous strategy against Isner. The American is competing with a ton of confidence right now, and should be the much fresher player. He has played a lot less tennis this year than Medvedev, and it feels like he’s due for a big result. Upsetting the top seed in a Masters 1000 semifinal would be just that.
Other Notable Matches on Saturday:
Stefanos Tsitsipas (3) vs. Reilly Opelka – Tsitsipas was a finalist the last time this event was held in Toronto three years ago. Opelka is into his second Masters 1000 semifinal, having also achieved this feat earlier this season in Rome. When they met at last summer’s Western & Southern Open, Opelka retired during the first set due to a right knee injury, in their only career meeting.
Jessica Pegula vs. Camila Giorgi – Pegula is having the best season of her career, with a 28-14 record, though this is only her second semifinal of 2021. Giorgi was 17-34 at WTA 1000 events prior to this week, but played some of the best tennis of her career in her last two matches, upsetting both Petra Kvitova and Coco Gauff. Their only tour-level matchup came two years ago in the final of Washington, with Pegula prevailing 6-2, 6-2.
Saturday’s full Order of Play is here.
