Canadian No.1 Felix Auger-Aliassime has thrilled crowds in his home country on back-to-back days in Montreal. On Friday, he faces Roland Garros finalist Casper Ruud, who outlasted Roberto Bautista Agut on Thursday in a marathon match that went well over three hours. Other ATP action in Montreal includes Washington champion Nick Kyrgios taking on Halle champ Hubi Hurkacz in a rematch from the Halle semifinals.
Coco Gauff has survived two extremely dramatic affairs in as many days, ousting both Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka in third-set tiebreaks. In the quarterfinals, she plays a two-time champion of this event, Simona Halep. Toronto’s matches on Friday also feature Jessica Pegula and Karolina Pliskova, both of whom reached the semifinals or better of this tournament a year ago.
Each day, this preview will analyze the two most intriguing matchups, while highlighting other notable matches on the schedule. Friday’s play gets underway at 12:00pm local time in Montreal and 1:00pm in Toronto.
Coco Gauff (10) vs. Simona Halep (15) – 1:00pm on Centre Court in Toronto
Between Wednesday and Thursday, Gauff spent exactly six hours on court during the heat of the early afternoon, in two physically and emotionally taxing matches. By contrast, Halep spent less than half that time on court across those two days, and is yet to drop a set this week. And their three previous encounters have all been straight-set victories for Simona. She prevailed on grass three years ago at Wimbledon, on a hard court this year at Indian Wells, and on clay this year in Madrid. And considering Halep will be the far fresher player on Friday, there’s not much evidence to suggest a different result in her fourth meeting with Coco.
Casper Ruud (4) vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime (6) – Not Before 2:00pm on Court Central in Montreal
What will Ruud have left after a three-set match that lasted nearly three-and-a-half hours? Auger-Aliassime had a much easier time on Thursday, avenging a loss from less than a week ago in the Los Cabos semifinals over Cam Norrie. Casper and Felix have split four previous meetings at all levels: two at Challenger events, and two at Masters 1000 events such as this. Three years ago in Miami on a hard court, Auger-Aliassime won in three sets. Last year in Madrid on clay, Ruud prevailed in straights. Accordingly, a hard court would seem to favor Felix, especially considering his superior serving abilities. Most of Casper’s big results have come on clay, though he did reach the final of Miami earlier this year. I expected the Canadian to play nervously at this event, as Auger-Aliassime was only 3-3 lifetime here ahead of this week, and had lost four of his last six matches since June. But Felix has embraced the spotlight of playing in front of a packed Canadian stadium, and should be favored over a depleted Ruud on Friday.
Other Notable Matches on Friday:
Nick Kyrgios vs. Hubert Hurkacz (8) – Between singles and doubles, Kyrgios is 13-0 over the last 10 days. Hurkacz saved a match point on Thursday, eventually defeating Albert Ramos-Vinolas in a third-set tiebreak. Earlier this year in Halle when he played Nick, Hubi also prevailed in a third-set tiebreak.
Karolina Pliskova (14) vs. Qinwen Zheng – Both players were victorious after tough three-setters on Thursday: Pliskova over Maria Sakkari and Qinwen over Bianca Andreescu. This is their first career meeting.
Friday’s full Order of Play is here.
