Ostrava 2020: Saturday's Order of Play and Match Points

ORDER OF PLAY

CENTRE COURT -- 12:00 noon start
Gabriela DABROWSKI (CAN) / Luisa STEFANI (BRA) vs. [2] Barbora KREJCIKOVA (CZE) / Katerina SINIAKOVA (CZE)
Not before 2:00 pm
Maria SAKKARI (GRE) vs. [4] Victoria AZARENKA (BLR)
Not before 3:30 pm
[3] Aryna SABALENKA (BLR) vs. Jennifer BRADY (USA)
After suitable rest
[1] Elise MERTENS (BEL) / Aryna SABALENKA (BLR) vs. [4] Kirsten FLIPKENS (BEL) / Demi SCHUURS (NED)

MATCH POINTS

No.4 seed Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sakkari will face each other for the first time in the semifinals of the inaugural J&T Banka Ostrava Open on Saturday. Azarenka is hoping to reach her milestone 40th career WTA singles final, while Sakkari is aiming for her third career WTA singles final and her first final of the season.

Azarenka has been on a tear this summer, having reached the quarterfinals or better in four of her last five events, including winning her first WTA singles title since 2016 at the Western & Southern Open and reaching her fifth Grand Slam final at the US Open. The former World No.1 is currently ranked World No.14, well up from her ranking of No.50 at this time last year.

Sakkari earned the fourth win over a Top 5 opponent of her career when she ousted top seed Elina Svitolina earlier this week in Ostrava. Sakkari followed up with a win over Ons Jabeur on Friday to reach her second WTA singles semifinal of the season. A win over Azarenka would give Sakkari her fifth victory over a Top 20 player of this year.

No.3 seed Aryna Sabalenka and Jennifer Brady will also square off for the very first time in the second semifinal of the day. Sabalenka is eyeing her 11th career WTA singles final, while Brady seeks her second final of the season and her career.

Sabalenka has staged two outrageous comebacks in her two matches this week. In her second-round battle against Coco Gauff, Sabalenka dropped the first set 6-1 and fought back from 5-2 down in the final set before triumphing in a decisive tiebreak. In the quarterfinals, Sabalenka lost the first ten games against Sara Sorribes Tormo before winning 12 games in a row to claim the match.

Brady is into her fourth semifinal of her breakthrough 2020 season. One of those semifinals led to her first career WTA singles title in Lexington, and another was her first trip to the final four of a Grand Slam event at the US Open. A win over Sabalenka would be Brady's 11th career win over a Top 20 player and her sixth of the year.