Thursday features the quarterfinals in men’s singles, as well as the semifinals in women’s singles.
Iga Swiatek claimed 11 of her first 12 matches against Coco Gauff, with all 11 of those victories coming in straight sets. However, Gauff has now taken their last two matches, with both of those victories coming in straight sets. On Thursday, they meet on clay for the first time since last June’s Roland Garros semifinals.
The other WTA singles semifinals sees top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka face Elina Svitolina.
Thursday also hosts the ATP singles quarterfinals, which are headlined by Casper Ruud taking on Daniil Medvedev.
Casper Ruud (14) vs. Daniil Medvedev (9) – 1:00pm on Manolo Santana Stadium
Medvedev is a modest 16-8 this season, and it’s now been over a year since he’s reached a tournament final. His aversion to clay is well-documented, though this is his second consecutive quarterfinal in Madrid. However, he only had to win two matches to advance this far, after receiving a walkover in his opening round. And he’s yet to face a top 30 player this fortnight.
Ruud’s record of 18-6 on the year is similar to Medvedev’s, and this is actually the farthest he’s gone at a Masters 1000 event in over a year. And also similarly to Medvedev, it’s been nearly a year since he’s won a title. So much like Daniil, Casper has underperformed of late, though he hasn’t dropped a set through three matches in Madrid. And that’s inclusive of nice wins over Sebastian Korda and Taylor Fritz.
Medvedev leads their head-to-head 3-0, and has won every set they’ve contested. However, they’ve never played on clay, which is advantage, Ruud. Despite the altitude in Madrid making these conditions a bit faster than normal on this surface, Casper must be favored to start the day on Thursday.
Coco Gauff (4) vs. Iga Swiatek (2) – Not Before 4:00pm on Manolo Santana Stadium
Out of their first 12 meetings, the only time Gauff even won a set was in fast conditions two years ago in Cincinnati, where she finally earned her first victory over Swiatek after seven losses. Coco then brought their head-to-head to 11-3 in Iga’s favor with two hard court victories within the last six months. But Can Gauff challenge Swiatek on clay?
The altitude in Madrid likely gives Coco her best chance on this surface against Iga. And this is not the uber-confident clay court version of Swiatek that we’re used to. She’s lost a set in three of her four matches thus far, including a 6-0 first set that went the way of Madison Keys on Wednesday.
Gauff has only lost one set thus far, and she was most impressive on Wednesday in a straight-set victory over a red-hot Mirra Andreeva on Wednesday. After a tight first set, she won eight of the last nine games. So while Iga still must be favored on this surface, Coco definitely has a shot on Thursday afternoon.
Other Notable Matches on Thursday:
Francisco Cerundolo (20) vs. Jakub Mensik (22) – Cerundolo took out top-seeded Alexander Zverev in the last round, bringing his record against Zverev to 3-0. Like Cerundolo, Mensik is yet to drop a set, and the Miami champion has now won nine straight matches at Masters level. In their only prior encounter, last fall on a hard court in Beijing, Cerundolo defeated Mensik in straights.
Jack Draper (5) vs. Matteo Arnaldi – Draper easily dispatched of Tommy Paul on Wednesday, while Arnaldi ousted Frances Tiafoe, just two rounds after upsetting Novak Djokovic. This is Jack and Matteo’s first career meeting.
Lorenzo Musetti (10) vs. Gabriel Diallo (LL) – Musetti is another player yet to drop a set, which includes victories over Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alex de Minaur, the second time he’s beaten those players in as many Masters 1000 events. Diallo is a lucky loser who was initially scheduled to face Carlos Alcaraz before the Spaniard withdrew, and saved three match points on Wednesday night against Grigor Dimitrov. At the beginning of this season in Hong Kong, Lorenzo defeated Gabriel 6-4, 6-4.
Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs. Elina Svitolina (17) – Sabalenka won two tiebreaks on Wednesday when facing another Ukrainian, Marta Kostyuk. Svitolina has easily taken all eight sets she’s played to this stage, but she’s only 1-4 against Sabalenka, as Aryna has claimed their recent three meetings.
Thursday’s full Order of Play is here.
