Jean-Guy Fugère
The two semifinal matchups at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers couldn’t be more different.
While two likely semifinalists will take to Centre Court at 1 p.m., the stars of the evening defied every prediction to make it to the final four.
This afternoon, powerhouses Aryna Sabalenka (1) of Belarus and Karolina Pliskova (4) of Czechia will fight their trench war with world-class arsenals.
Sabalenka could soar to the World No.1 ranking by the end of the summer, and Pliskova, who’s already reigned over the WTA, is coming off the Wimbledon final.
The evening session features two unlikely semifinalists, Camila Giorgi of Italy and Jessica Pegula of the US, who played brilliant tennis and fought hard to get as far as they have. They come to blows at 7 p.m.
Finally, the last match of the night showcases an interesting side of Canadian tennis. Gabriela Dabrowski and her partner Luisa Stefani of Brazil earned their place in the doubles semis thanks to a remarkable and decisive win over top seeds Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka.
The half-Canadian fifth seeds will grapple with Veronika Kudermetova of Russian and Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.
