In a tournament full of shocks, Friday’s action at the National Bank Open produced the freakiest results yet.
Tommy Paul played the match of his life in stunning top seed Carlos Alcaraz and the centre court crowd in Toronto. If that wasn’t enough, the No. 2 seed on both the men’s and women’s side were also sent packing as Alex de Minaur dismissed Daniil Medvedev in straight sets while Liudmila Samsonova tucked away Aryna Sabalenka in three.
Gael Monfils put up an impressive fight against Jannik Sinner but ultimately ran out of steam against an opponent who is now the firm favourite to win the men’s title. Sinner will have to tackle Paul in one semifinal, while Alejandro Davidovich Fokina squares off against de Minaur in the other.
The leading candidate on the women’s side when this tournament began is still the leading candidate heading into the weekend, Iga Swiatek having battled past Danielle Collins in three sets. She will face another American in the semis after Jessica Pegula clinched a tense three-set battle with friend and doubles teammate Coco Gauff. Elena Rybakina will play Samsonova in the other semi.
Let’s take a closer look at what awaits us on Semifinal Saturday:
SPORTSNET SCHEDULE
Women’s Semifinals
• Iga Swiatek vs. Jessica Pegula (12:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. PT, Sportsnet ONE and SN NOW)
• Elena Rybakina vs. Liudmila Samsonova (6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT, Sportsnet and SN NOW)
Men’s Semifinals
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs. Alex de Minaur (2:30 p.m. ET / 11:30 a.m. PT, Sportsnet 360 and SN NOW)
• Tommy Paul vs. Jannik Sinner (7:30 p.m. PT / 4:30 p.m. PT, Sportsnet ONE and SN NOW)
FOREHANDS, BACKHANDS, AND EVERYTHING ELSE
Alcaraz versus Sinner is billed as the next great rivalry in men’s tennis and while that’s the matchup many had pencilled in for the semis, Paul obviously had other ideas.
The ATP No. 1 played with fire time and time again during this tournament and finally got burned. There’s no doubt Alcaraz is a phenom and set to take over the tennis world, but his form was patchy at best this week. Paul is now up to a career-high 12th in the ATP rankings and probably can’t wait to get back on the court for the semis.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Paul’s win is that his forehand was arguably better than Alcaraz’s, who many regard to now have the best forehand in the game. More surprising than that? The way he raced all over the court to track everything down and beat Alcaraz at his own game.
Sinner is going to have his hands full but what may be most interesting to observe is how he handles the pressure of being the tournament favourite going into this match. He is the highest seed remaining and has also gone further at a Grand Slam or Masters 1000 event than anyone remaining. Inexperience shouldn’t be a factor.
AGAINST ALL ODDS
It’s rare that a matchup between the four-seed and one-seed can feel so lopsided, but since losing their opening meeting, Swiatek has dominated proceedings with Pegula by winning six of the seven matches since. The only loss was in a team event known as the United Cup.
There’s no denying that Pegula is up against it but she has to believe in the vulnerability Swiatek has shown in this tournament. The WTA No. 1 has been made to work overtime in each of her last two matches, battling to victory in three sets and coming up with the goods when it mattered most.
Pegula, meanwhile, just took out arguably the most in-form player at the moment in Gauff and continues to be a model of consistency on the tour and adding validation to why she’s the No. 3 player on the WTA circuit.
BATTLE OF THE GIANT SLAYERS
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina is having a tournament to remember. By defeating JJ Wolf, Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud and now Mackenzie McDonald, the Spaniard has risen from 37th in the ATP rankings before the tournament to 23rd entering the semifinal.
Another win would take him inside the top 20, but Alex de Minaur is writing his own exquisite underdog script.
The Australian already punched above his weight in taking out ATP No. 13 Cameron Norrie and ATP No. 9 Taylor Fritz, but he pulled off the biggest win of his career on Friday with a 7-6(7), 7-5 win over No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev.
De Minaur’s speed has always been a thrill to watch, but his groundstrokes have found far more consistency at this tournament.
You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who picked either of these two to reach the semis, and now we’re guaranteed to see one of them in the final. It’ll be a career-defining moment for one of them.
WOULD YOU RATHER BE EXHAUSTED OR SLEEPLESS?
Give it up for Samsonova as she’s in some serious form. Having reached the semis of the Citi Open in Washington, she’s now followed it up with a second semi in as many weeks despite trying circumstances.
Due to the major rain delay on Thursday, Samsonova had to play her Round of 16 match early Friday afternoon, pull out all the stops against WTA No. 2 Sabalenka over three sets to get over the line and then beat WTA No. 13 Belinda Bencic in the night session to clinch her spot in the final four.
In the other corner is No. 3 seed Rybakina, who is coming off the longest match in National Bank Open history at three hours and 27 minutes.
The former Wimbledon champ was on the brink of becoming another big-name exit as opponent Daria Kasatkina served for the match up 7-5, 5-4. She found a way to rally superbly to take the second set before ultimately taking the match in a final set tie-break 10-8. The clock sat close to striking 3 a.m. in Montreal by the end of it.
Is Samsonova going to be too exhausted after an extra long two weeks or is Rybakina going to feel the more recent effects of having finished her match close to 3 a.m. Montreal time? We’ll find out soon enough.