2024 Madrid Open Thursday SCHEDULE and PREVIEW feature RYBAKINA – SABALENKA, SWIATEK AND MEDVEDEV

The last competitors of the Madrid Open remain, with the semifinal matches on the women's side and one last quarterfinal match on the men's side set to be played on Thursday, May 2, 2024.

The day will feature the female defending champion Aryna Sabalenka against Elena Rybakina, while the world No. 1 Iga Swiatek faces the surprise semifinalist Madison Keys. The final male semifinalist will be determined between Daniil Medvedev and Jiri Lehecka.

The first singles duel will be starred by Swiatek against the 18th seed Madison Keys. The Pole reached the final of the Madrid Open a year earlier but fell short against Sabalenka, this being the biggest clay title still pending for her. Against Beatriz Haddad Maia in the quarterfinals, she conceded a set for the first time in the tournament but stepped on the accelerator and comfortably closed the match 4-6, 6-0, 6-2.

She will face Madison Keys, who seems to have regained her form after several months of injury. The American returned to the Tour in the Sunshine double and now in Madrid has had a remarkable journey with two top-10 triumphs against Coco Gauff and the epic comeback against Ons Jabeur, where she was down 0-6, 0-2 in the score but ended up with a victory 0-6, 7-5, 6-1.

A new duel in one of the most intense rivalries in recent years. The 2-times champion Aryna Sabalenka leads the h2h by 5-3 against Rybakina. The Kazakh fought for almost three hours in the quarterfinals against Yulia Putintseva (4-6, 7-6, 7-5), reached 30 wins in the season, and will seek her 6th final of the season.

Although Sabalenka has not been the same since the Australian Open at the beginning of the season, she comes with an extra boost of confidence after ending Danielle Collins' streak of 15 consecutive wins and then surpassing the surprising teenager Mirra Andreeva in just an hour and a half. She has 10 consecutive wins in Madrid and will need to secure the victory to maintain her world No. 2 ranking, as a win for Rybakina will allow Coco Gauff to reach her best historical ranking at No. 2.

The 28-year-old Russian is still standing on the Madrid clay and has silently advanced in the draw. The surprising defeat of Carlos Alcaraz against Andrey Rublev and then the withdrawal of Jannik Sinner leave Medvedev as the main favorite among the remaining players, at least in terms of ranking. The third seed will have to face Jiri Lehecka, who is seeking his first semifinal in a Masters 1000.

Lehecka stole the spotlight in the round of 16 by defeating the 5-times Madrid Open champion Rafael Nadal in straight sets. Although the Spaniard was far from his 100% physically, he had already achieved several victories (including over the world No. 11 Alex De Minaur), and Lehecka knew how to set up a good match to be rightfully deserving of the victory.