Tennis action is heating up in Canada as we’re approaching the climax of the 2021 Rogers Cup where we’re down to the Final Four both in the men’s and women’s singles division.
Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, John Isner, and Reilly Opelka are what’s left for the men’s, while Karolina Pliskova, Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula, and Camila Giorgi are the ones left standing in the women’s.
Just like in the recently-concluded Olympics 2020, the young turks are stealing the show, in large part because of the absence of the usual top suspects since they’re preparing for the much-awaited US Open which will start at the end of August.
Without further ado, read on below as SBOTOP has you covered with the latest Rogers Cup 2021 updates.
Will we see another Medvedev-Tsitsipas matchup?
Tennis fans are excited to see Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Rogers Cup final. However, a big test awaits them in the semis in the form of John Isner and Reilly Opelka respectively.
Daniil Medvedev was pushed to the limit in the quarter-finals as Hubert Hurkacz gave the Russian all he can handle in those three sets.
The 13th-seeded Hurkacz took the opening set as he quickly pulled away when Medvedev surrendered a 4-2 lead after a double fault. The Pole exploited the Russian’s 16 unforced errors and he didn’t drop serve once in this contest.
But as the game wore on, Medvedev showed steady improvement and he would go on to mount a huge comeback. The Russian fired 38 winners and 23 aces and that was enough to subdue the Pole in three sets.
His next opponent will be the experienced John Isner, who is currently enjoying a nine-match win streak.
The 36-year-old was able to fend off a spirited effort by Gael Monfils en route to a 7-6(5), 6-4 victory last Friday night. This will be Isner’s first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final since the 2019 Miami Open.
On the other side of the bracket, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Reilly Opelka square off for the second time ever after cruising past their respective opponents in the quarter-finals.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, who climbed to a career-high No. 3 in the ATP rankings last Monday, ended Casper Ruud’s 13-match win streak and it only took him 74 minutes to dispatch the young Norwegian.
Reilly Opelka, meanwhile, got a 6-3, 7-6(1) win over the 10th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut as he outpowered him with his crushing forehands and hammering serves all evening.
The Rogers Cup 2021 odds expect that Medvedev and Tsitsipas will both advance to the final and any other result than that is going to be considered as a huge shock.
Sabalenka hungry for her crowning moment, Pegula and Giorgi aim to surprise
Aryna Sabalenka’s pursuit for her first major singles trophy is well and alive after beating Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 6-4 in what was an all-Belarusian battle in the quarter-finals.
The world No. 3 was the aggressor in the said match, recording 33 winners to just eight from Azarenka and she also won 74-per cent of points behind her first serve.
She will face the sixth-seeded Karolina Pliskova, who is coming off of a 6-4, 6-0 win over Sara Sorribes Tormo after overcoming a slow start in the first set.
Sorribes Tormo took an early 3-1 advantage because of her rock-solid defence and impeccable slice but Pliskova had four straight breaks and she never looked back from there.
Pliskova fended off a late rally from Sorribes Tormo in the second set and she finished the match by winning 10 straight games.
Sabalenka holds a 2-1 head-to-head advantage over Pliskova, although the latter won in their previous matchup during last month’s Wimbledon semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Jessica Pegula and Camila Giorgi lock horns for the fifth-time ever this weekend in the other semi-finals bracket.
Jessica Pegula had an incredible comeback win against the 13th-seeded Ons Jabeur, 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-0, while Camila Giorgi scored a major upset over Coco Gauff, 6-4, 7-6(2).
After a horrific first set, Pegula tightened up in the second set to force a tie-break and she took advantage when Jabeur was starting to unravel.
Heading into the final set, the American continued to pounce on the Tunisian’s errors to complete her comeback and moving into her second semis of the 2021 season.
Giorgi, on the other hand, is having a career week in Canada – taking out the likes of Petra Kvitova, Elise Mertens, and Coco Gauff.
The Italian will be the underdog once more as she’ll play in her first career WTA 1000 semifinal. But given that she has already eliminated higher-ranked opponents, that shouldn’t stop her from giving her American opponent a huge run for her money.
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