The men’s singles semifinals will be played on Friday, as well as the women’s doubles semis.
Carlos Alcaraz is two wins away from becoming the first man to defend the Madrid Open title since Rafael Nadal in 2014. But on Friday, he faces a surging Borna Coric, who is looking to reach his second Masters 1000 final within the past 12 months, after winning the title in Cincinnati last summer.
The other men’s semifinal sees a qualifier play a lucky loser for the first time in Masters semifinal history.
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 1:00pm local time.
Carlos Alcaraz (1) vs. Borna Coric (17) – Not Before 4:00pm on Manolo Santana Stadium
Alcaraz is 27-2 in 2023, 9-0 on clay, and 19-0 in his last 19 matches in his home country. He’s defeated three straight seeds in straight sets to advance to this semifinal: Grigor Dimitrov, Sascha Zverev, and Karen Khachanov. And Carlitos is celebrating his 20th birthday on Friday.
Coric had a losing record on the year before arriving in Madrid, but perhaps this semifinal run will turn his year around. His biggest test came against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, when he got quite lucky, as a dead net cord winner at 5-5 in the third-set tiebreak went his way. Outside of this run and his Cincinnati run last August, Borna had failed to advance beyond the second round in his last 17 Masters 1000 appearances.
This is the first career meeting between Carlitos and Borna. Of course, Alcaraz is a considerable favorite. He is a generational talent, playing in his home country, and on arguably his best surface. But it will be interesting to see if Coric can use his impressive backhand to counteract the Spaniard’s superior forehand.
Jan-Lennard Struff (LL) vs. Aslan Karatsev (Q) – 8:00pm on Manolo Santana Stadium
Struff has now won 33 matches this season at all levels, just a year after he missed the entire clay court season due to a right foot injury. At the age of 33, the German is into his first Masters 1000 semifinal, after winning four consecutive three-setters, including a quarterfinal victory on Thursday evening over Stefanos Tsitsipas. However, Jan-Lennard is a dismal 1-9 lifetime in ATP semifinals.
Before this tournament began, Karatsev was 2-7 at tour level this year. Yet since the start of qualifying, he’s won seven matches, six of which were in straight sets. His most impressive upset was over good friend and second-seeded Daniil Medvedev.
This is a first Masters semifinal for both men, and a rematch from… the same tournament? Indeed, these two met just 10 days ago in the last round of qualifying in this very event, with Aslan prevailing in straight sets. That match doesn’t even officially count in their head-to-head, so this will technically be their first career meeting.
Players who meet twice within the same tournament, usually ones with round-robin play, often split those matches. But based on their form these past two weeks, and the fact that Struff’s quarterfinal was much more strenuous and went late into the evening, I favor Karatsev to advance to Sunday’s final.
Other Notable Matches on Friday:
Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula (1) vs. Marta Kostyuk and Elena-Gabriela Ruse – Gauff and Pegula have already won two titles this season. Kostyuk and Ruse are a semi-regular partnership who are yet to face a seeded team this fortnight.
Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia (OSE) vs. Leylah Fernandez and Taylor Townsend – This is Azarenka and Haddad Maia’s first tournament as a team. This is the fourth event for the partnership of Fernandez and Townsend, and their second time advancing to the semifinals, after reaching the championship match in Miami.
Friday’s full Order of Play is here.
