It’s Quarterfinal Friday in Cincinnati, featuring the reigning ATP and WTA singles champions from all four Majors.
To start off the day, it will be a meeting between the two most recent WTA Major champions, as Roland Garros champ Iga Swiatek takes on Wimbledon champ Marketa Vondrousova. And in another blockbuster WTA quarterfinal, it’s a battle between top five seeds, and a rematch from a dramatic Wimbledon semifinal last month, with Australian Open champ Aryna Sabalenka facing three-time Major runner-up Ons Jabeur.
The men’s quarterfinals are headlined by Australian and French Open champ Novak Djokovic playing American No.1 Taylor Fritz, as well as US Open and Wimbledon champ Carlos Alcaraz squaring off against one of the sport’s most winningest players of the season.
Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s two most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule. Friday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.
Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Marketa Vondrousova (10) – 11:00am on Center Court
Swiatek earned her 52nd victory of the season on Thursday, rebounding nicely after losing the first set to Qinwen Zheng. Iga’s advanced to the quarterfinals or better at all six WTA 1000 tournaments she’s entered this year. But she’s just 4-4 lifetime at this event, and could be vulnerable to an upset on the fast courts of Cincinnati.
Vondrousova has avoided suffering a letdown after the life-altering event that was winning her first Major title last month at Wimbledon. She’s now claimed 12 of her last 13 matches, and has won all six sets she’s played this week. Marketa is vying for her second WTA 1000 semifinal, and her first in three years.
Their only previous meeting took place at the autumn edition of Roland Garros in 2020. On that day, Swiatek easily prevailed 6-1, 6-2. A much more competitive match should be expected on Friday, but I still give the top seed the edge to reach her first semifinal in Cincinnati.
Ons Jabeur (5) vs. Aryna Sabalenka (2) – Not Before 7:00pm on Center Court
In the Wimbledon semifinals last month, Sabalenka won the first set in a tiebreak, and was just two games from victory before Jabeur came roaring back to win in three. For Ons, it was her third comeback from a set down to defeat a Major champion that fortnight, after also taking out Bianca Andreescu and Elena Rybakina. For Sabalenka, it was a fifth loss in six Major semifinal appearances, with all five losses occurring in three sets.
That was easily the highlight of what has been a trying season for Jabeur, as she’s battled multiple injuries throughout 2023, and is just 24-10 on the year. Sabalenka is a strong 43-9 this season, And 23-4 on hard courts. Aryna is playing for her third semifinal in Cincinnati, while Ons is looking for her first.
Overall Sabalenka leads their head-to-head 3-2, and has won both of their hard court encounters. That includes an extended affair at last year’s WTA Finals, which went to 7-5 in the third, after Jabeur was just two points from victory during the second set tiebreak. On this surface, Aryna is the favorite to prevail again on Friday.
Other Notable Matches on Friday:
Hubert Hurkacz vs. Alexei Popyrin (LL) – Hurkacz has taken out last year’s finalists in back-to-back days: Borna Coric and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Popyrin lost to fellow Australian quarterfinalist Max Purcell in qualifying, and then won three-setters over two other unseeded players for his deepest run at a Masters tournament to date. Hubi is 2-0 against Alexei, with both matches taking place within the last few years at Indian Wells.
Karolina Muchova vs. Marie Bouzkova – Muchova has already survived a trio of three-setters to this stage, two against seeded players (Haddad Maia, Sakkari). Bouzkova upset Montreal champ Jessica Pegula in the last round. Four years ago in Miami, Karolina defeated Marie in straight sets.
Carlos Alcaraz (1) vs. Max Purcell (Q) – Alcaraz endured over three hours of tennis across multiple rain delays on Thursday to avenge his loss from last week to Tommy Paul. Earlier in the day, Purcell eliminated Stan Wawrinka in straight sets, his startling 47th victory of the season at all levels. The 25-year-old Australian has reached six hard court finals in 2023 at Challenger events, and is set to debut inside the top 50.
Jasmine Paolini (Q) vs. Coco Gauff (7) – Outside of her loss to doubles partner Jessica Pegula last week, Gauff is now 8-0 across the last three weeks, and 16-0 in sets. After losing the first set on Thursday, Paolini received a retirement from Elena Rybakina to reach her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal. Two years ago in Adelaide, Coco defeated Jasmine in three sets.
Adrian Mannarino vs. Sascha Zverev (16) – Mannarino has not dropped a set through three matches this week, and won the grass court event in Newport last month. On Thursday, Zverev earned his first victory over Daniil Medvedev in four tries this season, at a tournament the German won in 2021. Sascha is a dominant 7-0 against Adrian, with six of those contests on hard courts.
Taylor Fritz (9) vs. Novak Djokovic (2) – Djokovic is now 35-5 on the year, and on Thursday night extended his record to 19-0 against Gael Monfils, the most times in the Open Era anyone has ever lost to another player without a win. Fritz is 45-18 in 2023, just one victory shy of the most wins he’s ever had in a season. But this is another lopsided head-to-head, which Novak leads 6-0.
Friday’s full Order of Play is here.
