A busy Monday features the completion of third round singles action in men’s singles, as well as all fourth round matches in the women’s singles draw.
Six weeks ago at Indian Wells, Belinda Bencic upset Coco Gauff in a tight three-setter. And just six weeks before that, Gauff defeated Bencic in three sets at the Australian Open. On Monday, we get the rubber match in the fourth round of the Madrid Open.
Earlier this month in Monte Carlo, Lorenzo Musetti upset three-time and defending champion Stefanos Tsistipas in the quarterfinals. Monday also provides us with a rematch of that contest.
In other action, the top two women’s seeds, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, will both play their fourth round matches. Plus, Australian Open champ Madison Keys faces Olympic silver medalist Donna Vekic. And Indian Wells champ Jack Draper takes on Italy’s Matteo Berrettini.
Each day, this preview will analyze the two most intriguing matchups, while highlighting other notable matches on the schedule. Monday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.
Belinda Bencic vs. Coco Gauff (4) – 11:00am on Arantxa Sanchez Stadium
In addition to their two aforementioned 2025 encounters, Gauff and Bencic also split two earlier meetings. Four years ago in Adelaide, Bencic won 6-2 in the third. Two years ago in Washington, Gauff won 6-1, 6-2. This will be their first match on clay.
Gauff is 16-6 on the year, though she’s just 6-4 at WTA 1000 level, and just 7-4 lifetime in Madrid. This fourth round appearance matches her best result at this event. Coco came from a set down to claim a tight three-setter in her opening round against Dayana Yastremska, before defeating fellow American Ann Li in straight sets.
Bencic is a slightly-better 21-7 on the year, which is impressive considering she only returned to the court six months ago after giving birth to her first child. Belinda was a semifinalist here back in 2019, and is 11-5 in Madrid. She has already eliminated two top 20 seeds this past week, most notably outlasting Beatriz Haddad Maia in a third-set tiebreak on Saturday.
With Gauff’s second serve proving to again be undependable at times, and with Bencic having just defeated her last month on a similarly-slow court at Indian Wells, I give Belinda the slight edge on Monday.
Stefanos Tsitsipas (17) vs. Lorenzo Musetti (10) – Not Before 8:00pm on Manolo Santana Stadium
In the Monte Carlo quarterfinals, Tsitsipas decisively claimed the first set 6-1, before Musetti came back to claim the second and third. The difference maker in that match was break point conversions: Lorenzo saved 14 of 17 break points, while Stefanos only saved three of six. That marked the Italian’s first victory over the Greek, after losing their first five matches, all but one of which occurred on clay.
After a notable 2024 season, Musetti got off to a slow start in 2025 on hard courts, but is now 6-1 on clay. He advanced all the way to the final in Monte Carlo, thanks to four three-set victories, before running out of steam in the final against Carlos Alcaraz. In his opening round here, Lorenzo defeated Tomas Etcheverry in straights, though he’s just 3-3 lifetime in Madrid.
With his loss to Musetti in Monte Carlo, Tsitsipas dropped out of the top 10, and is down to his lowest ranking in nearly seven years. Stefanos has struggled at big events of late: he now hasn’t advanced beyond the quarterfinals at a Masters 1000 tournament in over a year, and he’s lost four of his last five matches at Majors. Tsitsipas is 12-6 in Madrid, after a comeback victory on Saturday over recent Madrid finalist Jan-Lennard Struff.
In what should be another tight matchup on Monday evening, I favor Musetti to prevail again. He’ll find confidence in having just beaten Tsitsipas a few weeks ago, and as per Tennis Abstract, Stefanos is 0-7 in his last seven matches against top 20 players.
Other Notable Matches on Monday:
Diana Shnaider (13) vs. Iga Swiatek (2) – Swiatek comfortably overcame Linda Noskova in the last round, while Shnaider thumped a recently-returning Anastasija Sevastova 6-0, 6-0. This is their first career meeting.
Madison Keys (5) vs. Donna Vekic (19) – Keys has not dropped a set through two rounds. Vekic won a three-setter over the 11th seed, Emma Navarro, on Saturday. Madison is 3-1 against Donna, which includes a three-set victory just last month at Indian Wells.
Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs. Peyton Stearns – A year ago at Indian Wells, Stearns was just one point away from upsetting Sabalenka, before eventually losing in a third-set tiebreak. Peyton already upset 15th-seeded Amanda Anisimova during this fortnight. Aryna required three sets to put away Elise Mertens on Saturday.
Jack Draper (5) vs. Matteo Berrettini (30) – Draper beat Tallon Griekspoor in straights in his opening round on Saturday, while Berrettini had to come from a set down to beat Marcos Giron, though Matteo appeared to reinjure his oblique during that contest. Jack leads their head-to-head 2-0, but both of those matches have gone the distance, and this is their first meeting on clay.
Monday’s full Order of Play is here.
