With all four women’s quarterfinals to be contested, and six of the top 10 men’s seeds in action, Wednesday offers a stellar Order of Play. Ash Barty has won her last 14 matches on red clay, but no woman owns more Madrid Open titles than Petra Kvitova. And in another WTA quarterfinal between seeded players, Aryna Sabalenka and Elise Mertens, who are friends and frequent double partners, will collide on the singles court.
On the men’s side, the remaining second round matches will be completed. Five-time champion Rafael Nadal will make his 2021 Madrid Open debut, against a fast-rising 17-year-old Spaniard who idolizes the King of Clay. In addition, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Sascha Zverev, Diego Schwartzman, and Roberto Bautista Agut all face dangerous opposition.
Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the two most prominent matches of the day, and note the other intriguing matchups on the schedule. Wednesday’s play will begin at 11:00am local time.
Ash Barty (1) vs. Petra Kvitova (9) – Not Before 1:00pm on Manolo Santana Stadium
This will be the tenth meeting between Barty and Kvitova, though only their second on clay, and their first on this surface in nearly a decade. Their rivalry has been friendly, while also quite even and streaky. The first four matches went to Kvitova, while the next four went to Barty. And most recently, Petra prevailed in three sets last February in Doha. Their only meeting on this surface occurred at the 2012 French Open, when a 16-year-old, inexperienced Barty was ranked 332nd in the world.
Barty is now a superb 34-6 since the start of last year, while Kvitova is 32-7 lifetime in Madrid. As successful Petra has been in the high altitude of this event, Barty’s recent form makes her the favorite. Ash has claimed 15 of her last 17 deciding sets, and taken all nine of her matches this year against top 20 players. In what could be a tight match against the world No.12, Barty should have the confidence required to advance.
Rafael Nadal (1) vs. Carlos Alcaraz (WC) – Not Before 3:00pm on Manolo Santana Stadium
What a day this will be for Carlos Alcaraz. On the day of his 18th birthday, he’ll face his idol for the first time, at his country’s biggest tournament. These two Spaniards practiced together earlier this year at the Australian Open, but stepping into the Magic Box against Rafael Nadal will be a very different experience for the teenager.
Over the past two years, Alcaraz has quickly risen up the rankings. When the tour restarted last August, he was ranked outside the top 300. But he’s since won three Challenger titles on clay, and is now approaching the top 100. Carlos has already been anointed as Spain’s next great player, so this may be an intergenerational match we may look back on for years to come.
Nadal got off to a slow start this clay season, losing in the quarterfinals of Monte-Carlo to Andrey Rublev in a subpar performance. But Rafa rebounded strongly the very next week in Barcelona, saving a match point to overcome Stefanos Tsitsipas in a magnificent final. And while Madrid has easily been Nadal’s least successful stop during the European clay swing, he’s still 50-9 at this event, with five titles. As fascinating as this matchup is, an Alcaraz victory feels far-fetched.
Other Notable Matches on Wednesday:
Aryna Sabalenka (5) vs. Elise Mertens (13) – Sabalenka leads their head-to-head 4-2, which includes wins in their last three matches. However, Mertens prevailed in their only previous clay court encounter, three years ago in Lugano. Both players own recent victories over Simona Halep, and it was Mertens who upset the two-time Madrid champion just yesterday.
Belinda Bencic (8) vs. Paula Badosa (WC) – They played on clay a few weeks ago in Charleston, with Badosa winning in three sets. The 23-year-old from Spain also upset Ash Barty at that same event.
Karolina Muchova vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – Muchova defeated Naomi Osaka two rounds ago, and last night played until nearly midnight, in a grueling three-setter with Maria Sakkari. Pavlyuchenkova has also earned consecutive victories over seeded players, in Karolina Pliskova and Jennifer Brady. Anastasia claimed their only prior encounter, in 2019 on a hard court.
Daniil Medvedev (2) vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina – Medvedev is a combined 0-8 in his career between Madrid, Rome, and Roland Garros. The 21-year-old Spaniard just recently reached the quarterfinals in Monte-Carlo, and won the clay event last year in Chile.
Sascha Zverev (5) vs. Kei Nishikori – Zverev has been dealing with an elbow injury, and has lost three of his last five matches. Nishikori earned a solid win yesterday over Karen Khachanov. Sascha is 2-1 against Kei, though their only match on clay went to Nishikori.
Stefanos Tsitsipas (4) vs. Benoit Paire – Tsitsipas started the clay season on a nine-match winning streak, but is coming off his emotional loss to Rafael Nadal in Barcelona. Just yesterday, Paire ended a seven-match losing streak. When they played this past March in Acapulco, Stefanos dropped just four games.
Diego Schwartzman (7) vs. Aslan Karatsev – This is a rematch from February’s Australian Open, when Karatsev upset Schwartzman in straight sets, on the way to the semifinals in his first-career Major. Diego won a clay title earlier this season in his home country of Argentina, while Karatsev has reached finals in both Dubai and Belgrade.
Roberto Bautista Agut (9) vs. John Isner – The Spanish veteran advanced to the semifinals of this event in 2014, but is only 5-5 here since that time. Isner has only played eight matches this year, one of which was a loss to Bautista Agut in Miami, a match decided by a third-set tiebreak.
Wednesday’s full Order of Play is here.
