Monday features the conclusion of third round ATP singles action, as well as all eight round of 16 matches in the WTA singles draw.

The top two women’s singles players in the world both face resurgent mothers on Monday.  Four-time Major champion Iga Swiatek takes on three-time Major champ Angelique Kerber, while two-time Major champ Aryna Sabalenka squares off against 2018 WTA Finals champ Elina Svitolina.  The WTA round of 16 also includes two other mothers who have won Majors, Naomi Osaka and Victoria Azarenka, as well as reigning US Open champ Coco Gauff.

Monday’s third round ATP singles action is headlined by defending champion Daniil Medvedev, recent Madrid champ Andrey Rublev, and three-time Monte Carlo champ Stefanis Tsitisipas.

Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s two most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule.  Monday’s play begins at 11:00am local time.

Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Angelique Kerber – Not Before 3:00pm on Center Court

Swiatek is now an awesome 34-4 this season, and 10-1 on clay, with her only loss on this surface coming in the semifinals of Stuttgart at the hands of Elena Rybakina.  The Madrid champion is on an eight-match winning streak, and as per usual did not drop a set in her first two rounds.  Iga is a two-time champion in Rome, and has not lost a completed match here since 2020.

Clay is most certainly Kerber’s weakest surface, but she has been rather dominant through three rounds, winning all six sets she’s played.  Angie lost six of her first seven matches upon returning from child birth at the start of this season, yet has now taken six of her last nine.  She arrived in Rome just 10-10 lifetime at this event, though she did make a semifinal all the way back in 2012.

Swiatek is 2-0 against Kerber, with both matches taking place on hard courts.  That includes a three-set victory two years ago at Indian Wells, and a straight-setter at the beginning of this season in the United Cup.  On Iga’s best surface, she’s a considerable favorite to make it 3-0 against Angie.

Elina Svitolina (16) vs. Aryna Sabalenka (2) – Not Before 8:30pm on Center Court

Sabalenka is 22-6 on the year, and seemed to rediscover her mojo in Madrid, pulling out four three-setters before falling to Swiatek in the final in a third-set tiebreak.  Rome has not been too kind to Aryna thus far in her career, as she arrived with a losing record at this WTA 1000 event.  But she comfortably defeated Dayana Yastremska on Sunday in straight sets.

Svitolina went on quite a tear a year ago upon returning from maternity leave.  She promptly won a title in Strasbourg, then reached the quarters at Roland Garros, and then reached the semis at Wimbledon.  But her form has cooled in 2024, with a record of just 14-8.  However, Elina won back-to-back titles in Rome back in 2017 and 2018, and she easily claimed her first two matches here during this fortnight.

Sabalenka leads their head-to-head 2-1, most recently defeating Svitolina in last year’s Roland Garros quarterfinals by a score of 6-4, 6-4.  While Elina has aimed to play more aggressively since her return to the sport a year ago, she cannot match the aggression of Aryna, who should be able to dictate play and advance on Monday.

Other Notable Matches on Monday:

Naomi Osaka vs. Qinwen Zheng (7) – This tournament marks the first time in over two years that Osaka has won three completed matches at the same event.  She’s yet to drop a set, and already defeated two top 20 players (Kostyuk, Kasatkina) on one of her weakest surfaces.  Qinwen has understandably underperformed since the life-changing achievement of reaching her first Major final this past January in Melbourne, with a record of just 7-6.  Two years ago in San Jose on a hard court, Naomi won their only prior meeting in three sets.

Felix Auger-Aliassime (18) vs. Alex de Minaur (9) – Auger-Aliassime is trying to build on the momentum of advancing to the Madrid final, though de Minaur has been the far better player in 2024, which a record of 24-9.  Felix is 3-1 against Alex at all levels, but the Australian took their only meeting on clay.

Stefanos Tsitsipas (6) vs. Cameron Norrie (27) – Tsitsipas survived a grueling battle on Saturday against an in-form Jan-Lennard Struff, prevailing 6-4 in the third.  Stefanos is 1-1 against Cam, though the Greek’s victory came on clay.

Coco Gauff (3) vs. Paula Badosa – Gauff has lost most of the confidence she had last summer, and she required three sets to beat a lucky loser in the last round, after losing the second set 6-0.  Badosa has not been fully healthy for some time now, but this is the first tournament she has won three matches at since this same event a year ago.  And Paula leads their head-to-head 3-1.

Alexandre Muller (Q) vs. Andrey Rublev (4) – Rublev is now on a seven-match winning streak, after barely advancing in his opening round here over Marcos Giron by a score of 7-5 in the third.  Muller upset the 31^st seed, Arthur Fils, on Saturday to reach the third round of a Masters 1000 tournament for the first time.   

Hamad Medjedovic (Q) vs. Daniil Medvedev (2) – Medvedev claimed two tight sets in the last round against Jack Draper.  Medjedovic is a 19-year-old from Serbia who eliminated 30^th-seeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. 

Maria Sakkari (5) vs. Victoria Azarenka (24) – Both of these players are 19-8 on the year, though Sakkari won her first two matches in Rome in straights, while both of Azarenka’s matches went the distance.  However, Vika is 2-0 against Maria.

Monday’s full Order of Play is here.

This year’s Miami Open Grigor Dimitrov overcame Terence Atmane 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 to reach the fourth round at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia at Rome Foro Italico for the first time since 2020.

Atmane saved a break point in the first game. Dimitrov broke serve in the third game at 30 and held serve at love to take a 3-1 lead. Atmane broke back in the sixth game at deuce to draw level to 3-3. Atmane saved a break point in the 11^th game to hold serve. Both players held on serve en route to tie-break. Atmane went up a 2-0 with an early mini-break in the tie-break, but Dimitrov won seven of the next eight points with three mini-breaks to take the mini-break 7-3. Dimitrov went up a break in the sixth game and sealed the win on his third match point after 1 hour and 44 minutes. 

“For the past five days I have been playing lefties, so it will be nice to ge a righty, but it is what is. It was a very difficult match. Probably one of the most difficult matches this year. The conditions were so difficult. I rolled my ankle on my side, there was not much clay left. You have to adapt and today that is what I did. I played an OK game and that was enough but at the same time I am not happy with where my game is at, but I keep winning matches like this and that is what counts”, said Dimitrov. 

Dimitrov set up a fourth round match against Taylor Fritz, who beat Sebastian Korda 6-3 6-4. Fritz has improved his record on clay this season after reaching the final in Munich and the semifinal at the Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid. 

Fritz won 90% of his first serve points and hit 16 winners to improve to 2-0 in his head-to-head matches against Korda. 

Fritz earned the only break point in the eighth game to win the first set 6-3. The second set went on serve until the seventh game, when Fritz broke serve at love to take a 4-3 lead. Korda saved three match points, as he was serving to stay in the match in the ninth game. Fritz served out the win on his sixth match point. 

Portugal’s Nuno Borges saved a match point to beat Francesco Passaro 4-6 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (7-4) after 3 hours and 5 minutes.  Borges has become the first Portuguese player to reach the Round of 16 in a Masters 1000 tournament. 

Borges broke serve at love in the third game and held serve at 15 to take a 3-1 lead. Passaro converted his third break point in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. Passaro sealed the first set 6-4 with a break at 15 in the 10^th game. 

Borges earned the only two break points in the fifth game of the second set but Passaro saved them. Both players went on serve en route to tie-break. Borges went up a 3-0 lead, but Passaro pulled the mini-break back to draw level to 3-3. Passaro earned a match point at 7-6, but Borges saved it with a forehand. The Portuguese player sealed the second set 10-8 on his fourth set point. 

The third set also went on serve en route to tie-break. Borges went up a mini-break to take a 4-3 lead. Passaro pulled back on serve for 4-5, but Borges won the final two points to clinch the tie-break 7-4.

Borges will take on either Alexander Zverev or Luciano Darderi. 

Thiago Monteiro beat Miomir Kecmanovic 6-2 4-6 7-6 (8-6) to become the first Brazilian player to reach the fourth round of a Masters 1000 tournament since Thomaz Bellucci in Rome. Monteiro will take on either Ben Shelton or Zhang Zhizhen in the fourth round. 

Sunday features third round matches from both the ATP and WTA singles draws.

Center Court play on Sunday is headlined by top-seeded Novak Djokovic and second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka.  But the two most intriguing matches of the day are on other courts, between other seeded players.  On Grand Stand Arena, Danielle Collins, a two-time WTA champion this year, takes on Caroline Garcia, winner of the 2022 WTA Finals.  And on Court Pietrangeli, it’s a battle between two Americans with possible Olympic qualification ramifications: Taylor Fritz and Sebastian Korda.

Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s two most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule.  Sunday’s play begins at 11:00am local time.

Taylor Fritz (11) vs. Sebastian Korda (24) – Third on Court Pietrangeli

While far from a clay court specialist, eight of Fritz’s 20 wins this season have now come on this surface.  And half of his four appearances in the semifinals of Masters have also come on clay.  In addition to advancing to the semis of Madrid last week, Taylor advanced to the final of Munich last month.  He ousted Italy’s Fabio Fognini in straight sets on Friday. 

Korda has never advanced beyond the third round of a Masters 1000 tournament on clay, with his only semifinal at this level coming last fall on a hard court in Shanghai.  He is just 3-3 this year on clay, after requiring nearly three hours to overcome Italy’s Flavio Cobolli in his opening round.  That was Sebastian’s first-ever victory at this event.

Their only prior encounter also occurred at a Masters tournament on clay, with Fritz winning two tight sets two years ago in Monte Carlo.  Taylor is a clear favorite to prevail again on Sunday, though playing a similarly-ranked fellow countryman is never easy.  And there’s even more on the line in an Olympic year. 

Only the top four ranked American men, as of the week after Roland Garros, will qualify for the Paris Olympics.  Fritz will certainly qualify, as he’s the No.1 American man.  But Korda currently sits at No.5, just 50 points behind No.4, Frances Tiafoe.  With a victory on Sunday, Korda would move into a tie with Tiafoe, who has been struggling of late and is already out of this tournament.  So Sebastian will be extra motivated, as well as feeling extra pressure, in this contest.

Danielle Collins (13) vs. Caroline Garcia (22) – Fourth on Grand Stand Arena

Collins has announced this will be her last year on tour, and what a season she’s having.  Danielle is 29-8 in 2024, having won back-to-back titles in Miami and Charleston.  She reached the fourth round of Madrid last week, and is looking to match that result on Sunday, her best-ever at a clay court WTA 1000 event.

Garcia is just 14-11 in 2024, as for the past year she has failed to maintain her amazing form from the last six months of the 2022 season.  But she did reach a semifinal on clay last month in Rouen, where she lost to Sloane Stephens in straight sets.  Caroline’s best result in Rome came in 2018, when she advanced to the quarterfinals.

These are two of the sport’s most aggressive ball strikers.  Collins loves to use her vicious backhand to finish points, while Garcia stands further within the baseline to return serve than any other top player.  Based on recent form, and with Danielle having dominated their head-to-head 4-0, which includes a straight-set victory recently in Miami, Collins should be favored to make it 5-0 against Garcia.

Other Notable Matches on Sunday:

Dayana Yastremska (32) vs. Aryna Sabalenka (2) – Sabalenka came back from a set down in her opening round against Katie Volynets, though Aryna owns a surprisingly subpar record in Rome of 5-5.  Yastremska was a surprise semifinalist this past January at the Australian Open, but has gone just 5-7 ever since.  However, Dayana leads their head-to-head 3-0.

Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Alejandro Tabilo (29) – Djokovic easily prevailed in his opening round, and thankfully is feeling well after a water bottle fell from a fan’s bag above him and struck him in the head while exiting the court on Friday night.  Tabilo was a champion to start the season in Auckland on a hard court, and was the runner-up a month later in Santiago on clay.  This is their first career meeting.

Sunday’s full Order of Play is here.