WTA Schedule/Preview Day Six 2023 Canadian Open Montreal: Semi-Final Showdowns featuring Swiatek-Pegula and Rybakina-Samsonova

Saturday, 12 August 2023 at 10:37

Semi-Finals day is here at the 2023 Canadian Open Montreal with WTA taking centre stage at the Omnium Banque Nationale as the schedule has now been confirmed. Four players remain as we preview two top ties.

Those being Iga Swiatek taking on Jessica Pegula, while Liudmila Samsonova will face Elena Rybakina, both with contrasting routes through.

Semi-Final one - WTA models of consistency face off in Swiatek and Pegula

First meets third in the rankings in the opening semi-final but it is not Elena Rybakina but Jessica Pegula who is now World Number Three and like Iga Swiatek has been the model of consistency this year on the WTA Tour.

Only this duo have reached more than 10 WTA Quarter-Finals and for Pegula, it has come from 13 tournaments played meaning that despite her not converting them into titles, she is always in the back end of tournaments.

She battled past Coco Gauff, her close friend and doubles partner last night and will now have her sights set with no sort of conflicting interest in Swiatek.

Swiatek herself stopped the charge albeit in three sets of Danielle Collins but at times has looked vulnerable including against Karolina Muchova before the rain delay. So can Pegula take advantage?

Their head to head though suggests as expected that Swiatek will be heavy favourite at 5-2 leading. She has also won in most of the big meetings including the Doha final this year, US Open last year with Pegula winning once in 2019 and at the United Cup. But can she finally turn the tables?

Semi-Final two - late night Samsonova and Rybakina return after thrilling Friday

From fairly difficult routes through to playing until 3am. Elena Rybakina played what many dubbed the match of the year in seeing off Daria Kasatkina and was left shattered afterwards.

A 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 win for the 24-year-old has seen her one step closer to a blockbuster final with either her rival for World Number Three in Pegula or part of the so called WTA Big Three in Swiatek.

Albeit shoulder struggles throughout the tournament and also a late night win could give the advantage to her opponent.

That being Liudmila Samsonova who despite her lofty status now continues always to go under the radar in terms of praise and also her ability to act as a spoiler. She certainly did that in denying a match between Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina.

She had to play two matches in a day too unlike Rybakina with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Belinda Bencic off the back drop of the Swiss getting injured again against Petra Kvitova but she still went out and fought.

But it will be another late one slated at midnight CET and with both going through epics, who handles it better?

Stats suggest Samsonova in terms of head to head with the Russian winning both of their meetings with one held every year including in Montreal back until 2021. Albeit both have improved massively since then, it means a superb battle awaits.

Schedule Day Six - 2023 Canadian Open Montreal

Court Central (starts at 12:30pm)

Iga Swiatek [1] (POL) v Jessica Pegula [4] (USA)

Not before 6:00pm

Elena Rybakina [3] (KAZ) v Liudmila Samsonova [15]

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Those semifinalists in Montreal, eh? 🇨🇦 Predict your final below 👇 @FanDuel | @OBNmontreal

7:20 AM · Aug 12, 2023

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