2024 Rome Open Saturday SCHEDULE and PREVIEW including Nadal – Hurkacz, Swiatek, Gauff, Osaka and Medvedev

The schedule for Saturday, May 11th of the Rome Open, an ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 tournament, has been revealed. The day will be led by the 10-times champion Rafael Nadal and the 2023 champion Daniil Medvedev, while the women's draw will feature Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff as their main stars of the day.

The third round of the women's draw kicks off while the men finish playing the second round, awaiting the last stars who have yet to make their debut. Our preview looks ahead to some of the top ties and leading storylines ahead of Day Six at the Rome Open and which matches to look out for.

The champions will take the Center Court at Foro Italico. First up will be Rafa Nadal (No. 305), who faces another top-level challenge on clay as he takes on Hubert Hurkacz (No. 7). While clay might not be the most comfortable surface for the Pole, he remains one of the main seeds of the tournament, providing a significant test for the Spaniard against a top-10 opponent.

Following the match of the 22-times Grand Slam champion, the reigning Rome 2023 champion, Daniil Medvedev (No. 4), who clinched his only clay title there, will step onto the court as the second seed due to the absence of Alcaraz and Sinner. The Russian faces the tough opponent Jack Draper (No. 40).

Recent Madrid Open champion, Andrey Rublev (No. 6), will play against the American Marcos Giron (No. 49), and Stefanos Tsitsipas (No. 8) faces a challenging encounter against Jan-Lennard Struff (No. 41). There will also be intriguing matches for the local players. The day on the Center Court concludes with the 2023 finalist Holger Rune (No. 12) facing the rising star Luca Nardi (No. 81), while Matteo Arnaldi (No. 37) challenges the Chilean Nicolas Jarry (No. 24).

The world No. 1 Iga Swiatek hopes to continue her impeccable form after winning the WTA 1000 Madrid Open. The Polish player, with a record of 33-4 this year, will face Yulia Putintseva (No. 41), whom she defeated two months ago on her way to the title in Indian Wells by 6-1, 6-2. Later, American Coco Gauff (No. 2) will face the lucky loser Jaqueline Cristian (No. 68).

The 4-times Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka (No. 173) will face a tough challenge against the Russian Daria Kasatkina (No. 11), while the recent Australian Open finalist Qinwen Zheng (No. 7) will engage in an exciting duel against the teenager Linda Noskova (No. 29).