It’s Quarterfinal Saturday in Cincinnati, with the singles finals to be played on Monday in this Olympic year.
Last week in Montreal, Andrey Rublev upset World No.1 Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals. On Saturday in Cincinnati, they meet again in the same round. And in another high-profile ATP quarterfinal, 2021 champion Alexander Zverev faces American Ben Shelton.
WTA No.1 Iga Swiatek also faces imposing opposition on Saturday, in teenage sensation Mirra Andreeva. And Aryna Sabalenka takes on fellow top 10 seed Liudmila Samsonova.
Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s two most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule. Saturday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.
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Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Mirra Andreeva – 11:00am on Center Court
Swiatek is now 54-6 this season, and is 6-0 in finals (including the United Cup, a team event). After surviving a three-setter in her opening round, she easily overcame Marta Kostyuk on Friday. Iga is looking to reach the semifinals in Cincy for the second consecutive year.
Andreeva is 25-11 in 2024, and this is her second WTA 1000 quarterfinal. The 17-year-old has accumulated three strong victories this week, over Emma Navarro, Karolina Pliskova, and Jasmine Paolini.
This is the first of what may become many career meetings between the WTA’s current best player, and a potential future Major champion. While Andreeva has enough confidence and variety to pull off the upset on Saturday, especially on such a fast-playing court, Swiatek still must be favored based on her superb record this year.
Jannik Sinner (1) vs. Andrey Rublev (5) – Not Before 1:00pm on Center Court
A week ago in Canada, Rublev took advantage of a physically compromised Sinner, who has been battling a hip injury, and was playing his second match of the day. Andrey went on to lose the final to Alexei Popyrin, yet has bounced back nicely this week with a pair of straight-set victories. Jannik also won his first match in straights, then received a walkover on Friday from Jordan Thompson.
Sinner is a modest 4-3 lifetime in Cincinnati, while Rublev is 10-6. Andrey went all the way to the championship match here in 2021, losing to Sascha Zverev.
Overall Sinner is 5-3 against Rublev, and 3-2 on hard courts. Prior to last week in Montreal, the Italian had taken their last three matches in straight sets. And in this quarterfinal rematch, I expect a fresher Sinner to avenge last week’s loss.
Other Notable Matches on Saturday:
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Aryna Sabalenka (3) vs. Liudmila Samsonova (10) – Samsonova actually leads their head-to-head 2-1, which includes a three-set victory last summer in Montreal.
Alexander Zverev (3) vs. Ben Shelton (12) – Zverev leads the ATP with 51 match wins this season. Shelton is 30-18 on the year, as he vies for his first Masters 1000 semifinal. This is their first career meeting.
Jessica Pegula (6) vs. Leylah Fernandez – Pegula is playing for a second WTA 1000 title in as many weeks, after winning two matches on Friday due to rain on Thursday. Fernandez has already earned impressive wins this week over Elena Rybakina and Diana Shnaider. Earlier this year in Miami, Jess defeated Leylah in straight sets.
Hubert Hurkacz (5) vs. Frances Tiafoe – Hurkacz eliminated Italy’s Flavio Cobolli in three sets early in the day on Friday, while Tiafoe played well beyond 1:00am local time on Saturday morning, beating Jiri Lehecka on a sixth match point after almost three hours of play. Hubi is 3-2 against Frances, and has taken their last three encounters.
Saturday’s full Order of Play is here.
