Internazionali d’Italia Daily Preview: Major Champs Swiatek and Kerber Meet in the Fourth Round - UBITENNIS

Internazionali d’Italia Daily Preview: Major Champs Swiatek and Kerber Meet in the Fourth Round

By Matthew Marolf
7 Min Read

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 31st 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 30th-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.

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