Wednesday’s play is highlighted by two blockbuster quarterfinals between the top seed and the seventh seed in both the ATP and WTA singles draws.
In a rematch from the final of the Paris Masters six months ago, Novak Djokovic looks to avenge his shocking loss at the hands of Holger Rune. And after two straight-set losses to Elena Rybakina at big hard court events this season, Iga Swiatek looks to defeat the Wimbledon champion on clay.
Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s two most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule. Wednesday’s play begins at 11:00am local time.
Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Holger Rune (7) – 1:00pm on Center Court
Djokovic is now 20-3 on the year, after beating Cam Norrie in straight sets on Tuesday. Amazingly, this is now the 17th consecutive year that Novak has advanced to the quarterfinals or better in Rome, having never failed to do so in his career. He is 13-3 in his previous 16 quarterfinals in Rome, and is appearing in his 91st Masters 1000 quarterfinal overall.
Rune required three full hours on Tuesday to defeat qualifier Alexei Popyrin. He is now 25-9 this season, and 11-2 across the last six weeks on European clay. Holger is 2-0 in his prior Masters 1000 quarterfinals.
Their first meeting took place two years ago at the US Open, when Rune first made a name for himself by taking a set off Djokovic during Novak’s campaign for the calendar-year Grand Slam. They next met in November of 2022 in the final of Bercy, when Holger upset Novak 7-5 in the third. In the rubber match on Wednesday, it’s hard not to favor Djokovic at this event. Novak has looked pretty sharp despite the elbow injury that forced him to miss Madrid, and will be the much fresher player on this day.
Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Elena Rybakina (7) – Not Before 8:30pm on Center Court
Swiatek is 28-5 this season, and 12-1 on clay. She’s also on a 13-match winning streak in Rome, and hasn’t even lost a set since the 2021 round of 16 against Barbora Krejcikova, who went on to win Roland Garros just a few weeks later.
Rybakina is 27-7 on the year, and 6-2 on clay. She has not dropped a set yet this fortnight, though she did receive a retirement after just seven games in her second match. Elena is now 7-2 lifetime in Rome, and this is the farther she’s ever been at a WTA 1000 event on clay.
Rybakina is 2-1 against Swiatek, with those victories coming this year at the Australian Open and Indian Wells. Their other prior encounter took place two years ago in Ostrava, where Swiatek prevailed in straights. Their first meeting on clay should favor Swiatek, though considering the confidence Rybakina has built up against Iga this year, a third straight victory would not be a shocker.
Other Notable Matches on Wednesday:
Paula Badosa vs. Jelena Ostapenko (20) – Ostapenko has defeated two straight seeds to reach this quarterfinal (Krejcikova, Kasatkina), but is 0-2 in previous Rome quarterfinals. Badosa outlasted Karolina Muchova in an over three-hour fourth round match on Tuesday. Paula leads their head-to-head 2-1, and claimed their only meeting on clay in straight sets, which occurred three years ago at Roland Garros.
Casper Ruud (4) vs. Francisco Cerundolo (24) – Ruud easily dispatched of Laslo Djere in just over an hour on Tuesday, while Cerundolo spent over twice that amount of time on court, defeating Jannik Sinner in three. Francisco is 2-1 against Casper overall, and 2-0 on clay, which includes a straight-set victory just a few weeks ago in Barcelona.
Wednesday’s full Order of Play is here.
