Tennis acca tips: Toronto and Montreal semi-finals, Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner for titles
- James Richardson
- 12 August 2023
Planet Sport presents their picks for the National Bank Open semi-finals on both the men's and women's side of the draw.
We will have a new Masters champion come the end of the weekend with all four semi-finalists in Toronto chasing a maiden ATP 1000 title.
Meanwhile, in Montreal there are plenty of big guns left in the draw with a pair of Grand Slam champions vying for their first National Bank Open titles.
ATP Toronto:
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs Alex De Minaur | Pick: De Minaur
ATP Toronto:
Tommy Paul vs Jannik Sinner | Pick: Sinner
Tournament Winner Pick
WTA Montreal:
Iga Swiatek vs Jessica Pegula | Pick: Swiatek
WTA Montreal: Elena Rybakina vs Liudmila Samsonova | Pick: Rybakina
Tournament Winner Pick
ATP Toronto: Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs Alex De Minaur
Alex De Minaur is yet to defeat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in an ATP Tour main draw although he does own a win over the Spaniard from the 2019 Next Gen finals.
De Minaur has been red hot over the last couple of weeks and is fast becoming a player to watch on the US Open swing.
This match is likely to be an exhibition of nearly unlimited energy with these two players with massive gas tanks on show.
This will be their first match played on an outdoor hard court which just swings matters in De Minaur's favour.
ATP Toronto: Tommy Paul vs Jannik Sinner
Tommy Paul picked up his first career No 1 win when he bested Carlos Alcaraz but is that enough to make him a favourite against Sinner.
For the bold, Paul offers the longest odds of any of the semi-finalists, though he will need another big effort to get beyond Sinner.
Sinner has looked every bit a top five player this week and is now just two wins away from an ATP Masters breakthrough.
These players haven't met since the 2022 grass swing but both their meetings have gone three sets with each player claiming one win.
WTA Montreal: Iga Swiatek vs Jessica Pegula
Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula share a budding rivalry fuelled by seven previous meetings.
Their head-to-head favours Swiatek heavily with five wins out of seven matches for the world No 1.
Pegula will have plenty of motivation given the column inches devoted to her perceived mental block when it comes to big matches.
Pegula beat Coco Gauff in a huge quarter-final which will help her but Swiatek is world No 1 for a reason.
WTA Montreal: Elena Rybakina vs Liudmila Samsonova
Elena Rybakina had to burn the midnight oil to reach the last four as she split 36 games with Daria Kasatkina before finally clinching the match in a third set tiebreaker.
Despite reaching the last four there are still concerns that Rybakina isn't quite at her best after a season disrupted by illness.
Liudmila Samsonova has beaten Rybakina in Montreal having bested the Kazakhstan No 1 back in the 2021 first round.
However, despite holding two wins over Rybakina it might be asking a bit much of her to beat her in a semi-final with the extra pressure that brings.