The ATP singles semifinals will be played on Friday, as will the WTA doubles semifinals.

For the first time ever, a Masters 1000 semifinal features two Chileans.  On Friday afternoon, Alejandro Tabilo, who upset Novak Djokovic earlier this fortnight, will face Germany’s Sascha Zverev.  On Friday evening, Nicolas Jarry, who upset Stefanos Tsitsipas on Thursday, takes on American Tommy Paul, who has already taken out two top 10 seeds, Daniil Medvedev and Hubert Hurkacz.

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 singles play begins at 2:00pm local time.

Alejandro Tabilo (29) vs. Sascha Zverev (3) – Not Before 3:30pm on Center Court

Zverev is now 26-9 on the year, and helped Germany win the United Cup at the start of the season.  However, he has not reached the final of an individual event since last September.  Sascha won this tournament back in 2017, and reached another final the very next year, though hasn’t returned to that round since.  Zverev has won all eight sets he’s played to this stage, but he is 1-5 in his last six Masters 1000 semifinals.

Prior to this tournament, 26-year-old Tabilo had only played in the main draw of seven Masters events, and only once advanced out of the second round.  However, after earning 52 match wins at all levels last season, he’s won 26 more during 2024, so he’s been picking up steam at lower-level events.  Just a week before this tournament began, he won a Challenger title on clay.  Including that run, Alejandro is now on an eight match winning streak.  And just like Zverev, he is yet to drop a set in Rome.

In their first career meeting, of course Zverev is the favorite, with his huge edge in experience on such an occasion.  But as the ATP outlined here, Tabilo has adopted a new psychological approach to his tennis, helping him to remain more relaxed and focused.  If he can continue to play with the same confidence and freedom, against an opponent who often plays nervously in big matches, Alejandro just may pull off another upset.

Nicolas Jarry (21) vs. Tommy Paul (14) – Not Before 8:30pm on Center Court

This is a third Masters 1000 semifinal for Paul, all of which have come within the past year.  But the American is yet to reach a final, as he went down in defeat to Jannik Sinner last summer in Canada, as well as to Daniil Medvedev this past March in Indian Wells.  But unlike those semifinals, Tommy is the higher seed on Friday, and will be expected to win.  He advanced to this round with back-to-back upsets over Medvedev (in two sets) and Hurkacz (in three sets).  His three-setter against Hubi was a dramatic affair that lasted nearly three hours on Thursday afternoon.

Later that evening, Jarry also required three sets, and nearly three hours, to overcome his quarterfinal opponent, Stefanos Tsitsipas.  Nicolas had previously achieved two Masters quarterfinals, also both within this past year, but his win over the Greek breaks new ground in his career.  And just like eventual champion Andrey Rublev in Madrid, Jarry arrived in Rome on a four-match losing streak. 

Paul has twice defeated Jarry, though one of those matches was 10 years ago in the lower levels of tennis, while the other came four years ago in qualifying for Adelaide.  Their only meeting at this level came last year in the second round of Roland Garros, where Nico prevailed in four sets.  But on Friday evening, I give Tommy the slight edge to reach his first Masters 1000 final.  The American’s speed and strong return game will put a lot of pressure on Jarry, who has considerably less time to recover from his grueling quarterfinal than Paul.

Other Notable Matches on Friday:

Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk (8) vs. Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini – Dolehide and Krawczyk are looking to reach their second WTA 1000 final of the year.  The Italian team of Errani and Paolini won a title earlier this season in Linz. 

Xinyu Wang and Saisai Zheng vs. Coco Gauff and Erin Routliffe (3) – Xinyu and Saisai upset the top seeds, Hsieh and Mertens, in the quarterfinals.  This is the first tournament for the partnership of Gauff and Routliffe, though they are individually two of the best doubles players in the world.

Friday’s full Order of Play is here.

Iga Swiatek is one win away from a third Rome title after a 6-4 6-3 win over Coco Gauff in the Italian capital.

The world number one extended her winning streak to eleven matches after her tenth career win against the American.

Swiatek is aiming for a third title in Rome and a second consecutive title after her victory in Rome.

Speaking after the match Swiatek admitted she is excited and proud but is still trying to remain in the present, “For sure I’m excited and happy already with the tournament,” Swiatek said in her press conference.

“I really enjoyed playing today, as well. I’m just proud of myself. I enjoyed all of my matches here. I just didn’t say that before. I don’t know. It’s nice to play a semifinal against a top player, kind of feel like you can play your game and enjoy that.

“Even though it wasn’t easy, I felt like I can play my kind of tennis. Because of that, it was really nice. I’ll just focus on being present.”

Winning breeds confidence and that couldn’t be more true for Swiatek so far as she has the opportunity to hold the three biggest clay court titles.

However since her win in Madrid, Swiatek had admitted she hasn’t had time to analyze the significance of her performances as she has her eyes on the future, “Honestly, I didn’t have much time to analyze it and to think about it,” Swiatek reflected.

“It’s like you win a tournament and you go straightaway to another place. It’s hard to sometimes really think about the past when you constantly have to focus on the future.

“I think this match gave me confidence that I can win even though I’m not feeling the best way or I’m stressed at the beginning. I can still get the score back. Maybe I’m less worried before matches because I know even if I’m going to be in trouble, I’ll be able to recover from it maybe if I’m going to work hard.

“This is the kind of feeling that I have. Overall, as I said, it’s not like I had so much time to analyze it. Yeah, I’ll still get some lessons from it, but you need some time to digest, as well, and I feel like I didn’t have that.”

The matches keep on coming for Swiatek as she will take on either Danielle Collins or it will be a rematch of the Madrid final against Aryna Sabalenka.

Thursday features the last two ATP singles quarterfinals, as well as both WTA singles semifinals.

The women’s singles semifinals in Rome are highly-anticipated, with the top three players in the world advancing this far at a WTA event for the first time in over a decade.  And joining them is the WTA’s winningest player of the last two months.  World No.1 Iga Swiatek and World No.3 Coco Gauff will reignite the most prolific (yet one-sided) rivalry of the last few years, while World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka and the red-hot Danielle Collins square off in a rematch from two weeks ago in Madrid.

Also on Thursday, the final two ATP singles quarterfinals will be staged.  Hubert Hurkacz faces Tommy Paul, and Stefanos Tsitsipas plays Nicolas Jarry.

Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s two most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule.  Thursday’s play begins at 1:00pm local time.

Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Coco Gauff (3) – Not Before 3:00pm on Center Court

Since their first encounter, three years ago at this same event, Swiatek and Gauff have played 10 times, with Iga claiming nine of 10 in straight sets.  Coco’s sole victory came last August on a fast hard court in her home country, part of a career-changing summer for the American, as she went on to claim her first Major title.  They met twice more in 2023 after Cincinnati, with Swiatek obviously winning comfortably on both occasions.  This is their first matchup of 2024.

For the third year in a row, Iga is putting together a stellar season.  She is 36-4, having won the United Cup, Doha, Indian Wells, and Madrid.  Swiatek is currently on a 10-match win streak, and has not dropped a set through four rounds in Rome.

Gauff’s level has simmered after her red-hot summer of 2023, and has not won a title since the first week of 2024 in Auckland.  She has already survived two three-setters this fortnight, before taking out Australian Open finalist Qinwen Zheng in straight sets on Tuesday.  Coco is just 1-4 in WTA 1000 semifinals, though her only win did come against Iga in the aforementioned Cincinnati contest.

And considering Swiatek is 11-4 in this round at this level, she is certainly a solid favorite in this semifinal.  With Coco currently lacking her best tennis, and with Iga playing confidently on her favorite surface, there is no evidence indicating an upset on Thursday afternoon.

Danielle Collins (13) vs. Aryna Sabalenka (2) – Not Before 8:30pm on Center Court

Just two weeks ago in the Madrid round of 16, Sabalenka came from a set down to beat Collins in three.  That was an extremely notable win for Aryna, as she had been unperforming ever since securing her second Major title in January.  She went on to lose a remarkably dramatic championship match in Madrid to Swiatek. 

For Collins, that loss to Sabalenka ended her 15-match winning streak, after taking back-to-back titles in Miami and Charleston.  And it remains her only loss out of her last 20 matches.  Danielle has been completely dominant thus far in Rome, winning all seven sets she’s played by a score of 6-4 or better, and spending just five hours on court, compared to over seven hours for Aryna.

But this is another head-to-head that has been completely one-sided.  Sabalenka is 5-0 against Collins, though three of those matches have now gone the distance.  Despite the back issue that was clearly bothering Aryna earlier in this tournament, she still must be favored to advance in this big-hitting affair.

Other Notable Matches on Thursday:

Hubert Hurkacz (7) vs. Tommy Paul (14) – Hurkacz came back from a set down against Sebastian Baez in the last round to complete a career set of Masters 1000 quarterfinals.  Paul is yet to drop a set, and ousted defending champion Daniil Medvedev on Tuesday.  Hubi and Tommy have split two previous meetings, both on hard courts.

Stefanos Tsitsipas (6) vs. Nicolas Jarry (21) – Tsitsipas lost just three games to ninth-seeded Alex de Minaur in the fourth round.  Jarry arrived in Rome on a four-match losing streak, and has benefitted from a kind draw to this stage, with his opposition having an average ranking of No.90.  However, he is 3-2 against Stefanos.

Thursday’s full Order of Play is here.