Three years ago in Cincinnati, Daniil Medvedev and Madison Keys won this event, which was the first 1000-level title for each. Now both are just two matches away from winning this tournament for a second time. But in the semifinals, they each face significant opposition, in Stefanos Tsitsipas and Petra Kvitova.
Saturday’s other singles semifinals will see Aryna Sabalenka take on Caroline Garcia and Cameron Norrie against Borna Coric.
Each day, this preview will analyze the two most intriguing matchups, while highlighting other notable matches on the schedule. Saturday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.
Madison Keys vs. Petra Kvitova – 11:00am on Center Court
Both women are playing their best tennis this week, as the fast courts in Cincinnati are rewarding their aggression. Following a pretty terrible 2021 season, Keys got off to an excellent start to 2022, winning 11 matches in January alone. She failed to immediately continue that momentum, but she has been on fire this week. Madison is yet to drop a set, and defeated the two most recent Major singles champions back-to-back (Swiatek, Rybakina). Kvitova went into the grass court season with a losing record on the year, yet has now taken 11 of her last 13 matches. This week, Petra defeated last year’s finalist Jil Teichmann as well as Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur. These two big servers have played eight times since 2013, and they have each won four times. Their most recent meeting was last year at this same event, when Kvitova prevailed in straight sets. But based on recent form, and with a large, partisan crowd on hand for this semifinal, Keys is the favorite to return to the finals in Cincinnati.
Daniil Medvedev (1) vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas (4) – Not Before 3:00pm on Center Court
This is a blockbuster semifinal between two of the top four seeds, and two men who have had their issues in their past. Their first encounter at the 2018 Miami Open ended with both men arguing and the chair umpire stepping between the two. They’ve now played a total of nine times, and Daniil has dominated their rivalry 7-2. However, two of their last four meetings have gone to Tsitsipas. Their most recent battle, in the semifinals of January’s Australian Open, was another fiery one. It included Medvedev screaming at the chair umpire after receiving a visible obscenity warning, calling the umpire “a small cat” for not penalizing Tsitsipas for the illegal coaching he was receiving from his father. His complaints were effective, as later in the match, Stefanos received a coaching warning after a Greek chair umpire was positioned near his player’s box to listen in. Tsitsipas often does not fare well against players he does not like, with his performance against Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon serving as a prime example. And in the absence of Novak Djokovic, Medvedev is the best hard court player in the world, and should be favored to advance.
Other Notable Matches on Saturday:
Caroline Garcia (Q) vs. Aryba Sabalenka (6) – Garcia has already defeated two other top 10 players this week (Sakkari, Pegula). She’s 1-2 against Sabalenka, with all three of their meetings taking place in 2018 on hard courts, including at this event. When they played here, Aryna prevailed 7-5 in the third.
Cameron Norrie (9) vs. Borna Coric (PR) – As Jim Courier highlighted on Tennis Channel, Coric is a whole new player following shoulder surgery, as he’s been serving excellently all week, holding 43 of 45 games this tournament. Borna has defeated three top 20 players this week (Nadal, Bautista Agut, Auger-Aliassime), while Norrie took out Carlos Alcaraz on Friday night in a thrilling three-setter. They have split two prior encounters.
Saturday’s full Order of Play is here.
