MADRID, Spain – Simona Halep is just two matches from another Premier Mandatory title, but an Aussie veteran in Samantha Stosur will look to stop the Romanian’s run, while marathon woman Dominika Cibulkova takes on a young challenger from the United States; 19-year-old Louisa Chirico qualified for the main draw and is having the week of her life. Who will make it into Saturday’s final?

Friday, Semifinals

[6] Simona Halep (ROU #7) vs Samantha Stosur (AUS #23)
Head-to-head: Tied at 3-3
Key Stat: Halep won their last three meetings (all in 2013).

After an up and down start to 2016, Halep appears to have finally slid into a vein of good form, overcoming compatriot Irina-Camelia Begu to earn her biggest result of the season by reaching the semifinals in Madrid. Standing between her and a second final at the Caja Magica in three years is 2010 French Open finalist Samantha Stosur.

The Aussie veteran dominated her rivalry with the Romanian early in the latter’s career, but in her breakout 2013 season, Halep won all three of their meetings – though two went to three sets in Cincinnati and Sofia at the Tournament of Champions. Halep was the highest ranked woman left in the tournament as of the quarterfinals – and the only seed – but Stosur is no slouch on the big stages, and tends to play at her best when she can play hunter to a higher ranked opponent’s hunted.

Facing off qualifier Patricia Maria Tig in two tight sets, Stosur will like her chances against Halep, who has yet to reach a final this year and has dropped from No.2 down to No.6, but Halep herself has endured a difficult draw, one that put her up against one of last year’s French Open semifinalists and rival Timea Bacsinszky, who returns to the Top 10 on Monday.

Dominika Cibulkova (SVK #38) vs Louisa Chirico (USA #130)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Both women are playing in their first Premier semifinal of 2016 (Chirico: career debut)

Cibulkova has had to battle throughout her week in Madrid, but began her campaign with a quality win over top seed and World No.2 Agnieszka Radwanska, and recovered from a set down to defeat an unseeded but dangerous trio in Caroline Garcia, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and Sorana Cirstea.

With three WTA semifinal appearances already under her belt in 2016, Cibulkova credits her title run at the Katowice Open with giving her the confidence to play her best tennis on the big stages – having narrowly missed out on upset opportunities in Indian Wells and Miami against Radwanska and Garbiñe Muguruza, respectively.

For Chirico, this may be her first appearance this far in a WTA tournament, but the run hardly came from nowhere. The American teenager made good on a wildcard into the Volvo Car Open main draw to reach the third round – taking out No.4 seed Lucie Safarova en route – and qualifid for the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix just two weeks ago. In Madrid, she outlasted former No.1 and 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic, and backed up the upset with a two-set win over 2015 Rome semifinalist Daria Gavrilova in the quarterfinals.

The first set could well be crucial for the 19-year-old, but the Slovak has proven she can brush off an early deficit to win in the end.

Also in action: The women’s doubles semifinals will take place back-to-back on Estadio 3, with a potential for a rematch of the Stuttgart final on the menu. No.5 seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic will attempt to win a 13th straight match over the recently reunited No.8 seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, while top seeds and Co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza will be in the hunt for revenge against Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva, who upset them in straight sets at the BNP Paribas Open. The only unseeded pair left in Madrid, King and Kudryavtseva are currently No.9 on the Road to Singapore standings and reached their second straight semifinal after saving two match points to defeat  No.4 seeds Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan.