Three singles quarterfinals scheduled for Friday were either not started or not completed, and will be staged at 11:00am on Saturday. For a look at those quarterfinals (Djokovic/Tsitsipas, Rublev/Sonego, and Svitolina/Swiatek), Friday’s preview is here. The winners of those matches will have to play twice in one day. Thankfully, the forecast in Rome looks much dryer on Saturday.
This preview will look at the two singles semifinals that are already set for Saturday. Karolina Pliskova is looking to reach the championship match in Rome for the third consecutive year, but standing in her way is Petra Martic, who is thriving this week with an Italian tennis great as her new coach.
If there was any doubt Rafael Nadal is the favorite for Roland Garros after a few losses this clay season, those doubts should have certainly been erased this week. His consecutive victories over Jannik Sinner, Denis Shapovalov, and Sascha Zverev have all been stellar. On Saturday, Nadal faces a first-time Masters 1000 semifinalist, Reilly Opelka.
Karolina Pliskova (9) vs. Petra Martic – Not Before 12:00pm on Center Court
Over the past two years, this is the only WTA 1000 event where Pliskova has reached the semifinals or better. She is now 14-5 lifetime in Rome, after surviving a tight, dramatic encounter on Friday against Jelena Ostapenko, which was decided in a third set tiebreak. For Petra Martic, this is her best result ever at this level, and comes as a surprise in a season where she was just 4-8 prior to this week. Martic was on a five-match losing streak heading into this event, dating back to February. Hiring Roland Garros champion Francesca Schiavone as her coach has brought renewed confidence to her game.
Pliskova and Martic have split four tour-level meetings. However, their only clay court clash went to Martic in straight sets, which occurred two years ago at the French Open. But at an event of this magnitude, and in a city Pliskova loves to play in, Karolina should be favored to return to the final. As impressive as Petra has been this week, she’s yet to face a player ranked inside the top 30. In fact, Martic hasn’t faced any top 30 opposition since October of last year.
Rafael Nadal (2) vs. Reilly Opelka – Not before 1:00pm on Center Court
Nadal is just two wins away from his tenth title in Rome. And he’ll be strongly favored in his first match against 23-year-old Opelka, who before this tournament only owned two career victories at tour level on this surface. But Reilly is yet to drop a set this week, and has earned solid wins over the likes of Lorenzo Musetti and Aslan Karatsev. And the near-seven-foot-tall American can make any match extremely tight when he’s serving well. He’s averaged 10 aces per set through four matches, and has not been broken, saving all six break points faced. If Opelka can serve like that in the biggest match of his career to date, and force a few tiebreaks, he’s got a shot. Still, Nadal should advance to his 12th final of this event, especially considering he’s never lost a semifinal in Rome.
Other Notable Matches on Saturday:
In the other women’s semifinal, 17-year-old Coco Gauff will play either Elina Svitolina or Iga Swiatek. Gauff was the beneficiary of Ash Barty’s retirement in the quarterfinals. This is the farthest Coco has advanced in her young career at a WTA 1000 event.
The second men’s semifinal will see the winner of Novak Djokovic vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas take on the winner of Andrey Rublev vs. Lorenzo Sonego.
There are also six doubles matches on Saturday’s schedule, including two quarterfinals carried over from Friday. In men’s doubles, Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic have easily been the best team of 2021, with a record of 35-4, and four titles. They are drawn to play John Peers and Michael Venus in the semis, who won three titles in 2020.
In the women’s doubles semifinals, Irina-Camelia Begu and Sara Errani have won three matches this week in their first tournament as a team since 2017. They will face Kristina Mladenovic and Marketa Vondrousova, who had never teamed together before this week.
Saturday’s full Order of Play is here.
