Friday is quarterfinal day in both Montreal and Toronto.
Across the past two seasons, Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff have teamed up to win five doubles titles, and even reached the championship match of Roland Garros. They are highest ranked Americans in both singles and doubles. On Friday, these partners and good friends will collide in the singles quarterfinals.
Other men’s and women’s singles quarterfinals on Friday feature both the ATP and WTA singles No.1’s, Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek, as well as Daniil Medvedev and Elena Rybakina.
Plus, due to rain on Thursday, two WTA third round singles matches (Kvitova/Bencic and Samsonova/Sabalenka) will be played on Friday afternoon, with the winners to play each other on Friday evening in the quarterfinals.
Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s most prominent match in both Montreal and Toronto, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule in each city. Friday’s singles play begins at 12:00pm local time in Montreal, and 12:30pm local time in Toronto.
Jessica Pegula (4) vs. Coco Gauff (6) – Second on Court Central in Montreal
Gauff has been a different player since arriving in Washington last week. With Pere Riba and Brad Gilbert joining her coaching team, Coco is 6-0 in matches and 12-0 in sets. The 19-year-old eased her way to the title last week, and on Thursday evening crushed the most recent Major winner, Marketa Vondrousova, by a score of 6-3, 6-0.
Pegula remains one of the most consistent performers on tour, with a record of 39-13 this season. This is her ninth quarterfinal of 2023, and she’s 4-4 in this round. Unfortunately, two of those losses came in the quarterfinals of Majors, where she is now 0-6 lifetime.
These teammates have split two previous meetings. Last year on a hard court in Dubai, Pegula won in straight sets. And just two months ago on grass in in Eastbourne, Gauff won in straight sets. In the rubber match on Friday, Coco should be favored based on her superb recent form. She has been hitting the ball with a ton of confidence, which is a formidable threat coming from such a big ball striker.
Carlos Alcaraz (1) vs. Tommy Paul (12) – Not Before 7:00pm on Center Court in Toronto
Alcaraz escaped quite a messy situation on Thursday night. After splitting the first two sets with Hubert Hurkacz, Carlitos was up 5-2 in the third, with two breaks. But at match point, he started making some loose errors, and allowed Hubi to break back twice. Alcaraz was eventually able to prevail in the deciding tiebreak, extending his win streak to 14 matches, and improving his record this year to 49-4.
Paul achieved his first Major semifinal this past January in Melbourne, and was the runner-up at two ATP events later in the season (Acapulco, Eastbourne). This week he’s already survived two three-setters, both over Argentines (Schwartzman, Cerundolo), and took out fellow American Marcos Giron on Thursday.
These players have also split two prior encounters. Last year in this same tournament, Paul upset Alcaraz 6-3 in the third, in a matchup that lasted three hours and 20 minutes. But this past March in Miami, Carlitos prevailed 6-4, 6-4. In another rubber match on Friday, Alcaraz is the considerable favorite. The Spaniard was far from his best during much of his match on Thursday against Hurkacz, yet still found a way to be victorious. Carlitos’ various weapons should enable him to do the same against Tommy.
Other Notable Matches on Friday:
Mackenzie McDonald vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina – Both of these unseeded players have made a considerable impression this week. McDonald has not dropped a set through three matches, including an upset of sixth-seeded Andrey Rublev. Davidovich Fokina took out Sascha Zverev and Casper Ruud on consecutive days, outlasting Ruud on Thursday in an over three-hour encounter decided by a third-set tiebreak. Two years ago on an indoor hard court in Stockholm, Ale defeated Mackie 7-5 in the third.
Alex de Minaur vs. Daniil Medvedev (2) – Medvedev is now 48-9 on the year, and 31-3 on hard courts. De Minaur is coming off a run to the final last week in Los Cabos. Daniil leads their head-to-head 4-1, though Alex took their most recent meeting 7-5 in the third, which was nine months ago in Bercy.
Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Danielle Collins (Q) – Swiatek overcame Karolina Muchova in three sets after multiple rain delays on Thursday. Collins has won five matches since the beginning of qualifying on Saturday, with victories in the main draw over Svitolina, Sakkari, and Fernandez. Iga is 2-1 against Danielle, though Collins claimed their most important contest, in last year’s Australian Open semifinals.
Gael Monfils (PR) vs. Jannik Sinner (7) – Monfils had barely won any matches after injuring himself at this same event a year ago, but the 36-year-old has been on fire this week, most notably upsetting Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets. Sinner received a walkover on Thursday evening from an injured Andy Murray, and eliminated Matteo Berrettini on Wednesday. Jannik is 3-1 against Gael, with their most memorable encounter being a five-setter at the 2021 US Open, which went to Sinner.
Daria Kasatkina (10) vs. Elena Rybakina (3) – Rybakina beat two Americans to reach this stage (Brady, Stephens). Kasatkina is yet to drop a set in her first three matches in Montreal, and she is 2-1 against Elena.
Friday’s full Order of Play for the WTA is here, and the ATP is here.
