Petra Kvitova is a three-time champion of this event. On Saturday, she faces a three-time Slam champion, Angeliquer Kerber. Ash Barty is already a three-time champion this season, and only has three losses on the year. The reigning Roland Garros champion, Iga Swiatek, is vying for her third career WTA title. And Kiki Bertens, the defending champion from 2019, is looking to earn only her third win of the year, coming off Achilles surgery last October.
Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the two most prominent matches of the day, and note the other intriguing matchups on the schedule. Saturday’s play will begin at 11:00am local time.
Iga Swiatek (14) vs. Laura Siegemund (Q) – Second on Manolo Santana Stadium
It’s the first meeting between the 2020 French Open champ, and a quarterfinalist from the same event. That was easily Siegemund’s best result at a Major, but far from her first good result on clay. The 32-year-old German reached back-to-back Stuttgart finals in 2016 and 2017, winning the title in the latter year as a wild card. Her other WTA tour title also came on this surface, a year earlier in Bastad. Across those two runs in Stuttgart, she defeated six top 10 players. And Laura is even more accomplished on the doubles court, where she has accumulated six career titles, including last year’s US Open.
Siegemund came through qualifying, so she’s already won three matches this week. But this will be a big step up in competition, as she’s yet to face a player ranked higher than 92nd in the world. Swiatek is on an eight-match winning streak on this surface, which includes 16 straight sets. In those matches, she’s averaged less than two games dropped per set, so Iga has been dominating all comers. While Siegemund may provide more resistance than some of Swiatek’s recent clay competition, the 19-year-old from Poland is a considerable favorite to reach the third round in her Madrid Open debut.
Petra Kvitova (9) vs. Angelique Kerber – Third on Manolo Santana Stadium
The rivalry between these two lefties over the past decade has been quite even. Kvitova leads 7-6, but trails 2-3 on clay. They’ve only played outdoors once on this surface, which was nearly 10 years ago. Their other four clay matches all took place indoors in Stuttgart.
At this venue, Kvitova must be considered a pretty significant favorite. She has a career record of 30-7 in Madrid, which includes three titles. By contrast, Kerber is just 9-6 here, only once progressing beyond the third round. Angelique’s results on clay outside of her home country, and just outside in general, have been rather lackluster. And she’s lost in the first round of Roland Garros four out of the last five years. On what is forecast to be a particularly cool day in Madrid, conditions Kvitova prefers, Petra should advance.
Other Notable Matches on Saturday:
Ash Barty (1) vs. Tamara Zidansek (Q) – The world No.1 has claimed 14 of her last 15 matches on clay, dating back to her 2019 French Open title run. This is her first meeting with Zidansek, a 23-year-old who reached the final of Bogota just a few weeks ago.
Kiki Bertens (7) vs. Veronika Kudermetova – Their only previous encounter occurred last February on a hard court in St. Petersburg, with Bertens easily prevailing 6-1, 6-2. But a year later, Kudermetova is a much tougher opponent. Her recent title in Charleston propelled her inside the top 30.
Johanna Konta (15) vs. Anastasija Sevastova (Q) – They have split four previous meetings. Their only clay court clash went to Sevastova, though that was over four years ago, and Konta’s results on this surface have vastly improved since that time.
Ons Jabeur vs. Sloane Stephens – They’ve split their two meetings, though they’ve never played on clay. Jabeur has easily been the better player of late, picking up eight wins in the back-to-back events staged in Charleston. Since the start of 2020, Stephens is just 9-17, though four of those victories have come over the past month.
Saturday’s full Order of Play is here.
