Olympics Friday: Medals In Sight
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – A pair of Olympic debutantes will try to knock off two experienced southpaws with the Gold medal match on the line. It’s semifinal time at the 2016 Olympic Games! Chris Oddo breaks down the match-ups for wtatennis.com.
Friday, Semifinals
Centre Court
[11] Petra Kvitova (CZE #14) vs. Monica Puig (PUR #34)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Puig is bidding to become the first Puerto Rican tennis player to win a medal at the Olympic Games.
Talk about making the most of an Olympic debut! Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig has dropped just 14 games en route to a semifinal appearance at Rio, and on the way the 22-year-old notched a career-best win in terms of ranking when she drubbed World No.4 Garbiñe Muguruza, 6-1, 6-1. Puig is riding an emotional high in Rio that she says is unlike any other. “It’s for my country, and I think nothing in the world can compare to that,” she told the Associated Press after defeating Germany’s Laura Siegemund in straight sets on Thursday. “It’s the most special feeling when you put on the colors of your country and you’re walking around the Olympic Village and everybody looks to see your country on the back of your shirt.” Puig will no doubt be inspired on Friday when she faces Petra Kvitova for a spot in the Gold medal round, but Kvitova is a woman who knows a thing or two about playing for national pride as well. The Czech has ably led her nation to four Fed Cup titles and she will look to add an Olympic medal to her fine international resumé when she faces Puig for the first time on Friday. Though it has been an up and down year for Kvitova, she has been in menacing form at Rio and looks primed to reassert herself as one of the dominant forces in tennis. Will Puig be able to ride the emotional wave past Kvitova, or will the legendary southpaw stay hot and break through to her first final of 2016?
Pick: Kvitova in three
[2] Angelique Kerber (GER #2) vs. [7] Madison Keys (USA #9)
Head-to-head: Kerber leads, 4-1
Key Stat: Keys has lost all three of her previous matches against Kerber on a hardcourt.
With Serena Williams out of the draw in Rio, No.2 seed Angelique Kerber has stepped in with confidence to book her spot in the last four, but she’ll have to pass her most difficult test of the Olympic Games if she is to reach the Gold medal match. Standing in Kerber’s way on Friday will be the daunting American Madison Keys, a player that has done nothing but impress since late spring. The 21-year-old has gone 25-4 since early May, playing finals in Rome and Montréal while winning the title in Birmingham. On Thursday she blitzed Russia’s Daria Kasatkina, finishing with 30 winners to just four for Kasatkina. Will Keys be able to achieve the same level of dominance against the fleet-footed, feisty Kerber? Unlikely, but Keys’ current form says that she is in this battle with a good chance to win. Though she has lost two in a row to the World No.2 she does own a win over Kerber and took the German to three sets in a wildly entertaining Charleston final in 2015. This semifinal promises to be a thrilling encounter of stylistic opposites. Kerber, the gritty, indefatigable counterpuncher, versus Keys, the scout’s dream with power to burn and a penchant for attacking. Who will emerge victorious?
Pick: Kerber in three
Around the grounds…
Women’s doubles will also be taking center stage on Friday in Rio as both semifinals are slated for Court No.2. The No.5 seeds, Martina Hingis and Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland, will face the No.6 Lucie Hradecka and Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic, while unseeded Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova square off with the seventh-seeded Russian pairing of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.
