Saturday's tennis acca tips: Iga Swiatek set for another Stuttgart final

Iga Swiatek is one win away from a third straight Porsche Tennis Grand Prix final in Stuttgart.

One of Swiatek's great rivals, Aryna Sabalenka fell at the last eight stage but the field still has three Grand Slam winners out of four semi-finalists.

Here we make our picks for selected matches from the ATP and WTA Tours.

 

ATP Barcelona: Casper Ruud vs Tomas Martin Etcheverry | Pick: Ruud

ATP Barcelona: Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Dusan Lajovic | Pick: Tsitsipas

ATP Bucharest: Alejandro Tabilo vs Marton Fucsovics | Pick: Tabilo

ATP Munich:  Cristian Garin vs Taylor Fritz | Pick: Garin

WTA Rouen: Sloane Stephens vs Caroline Garcia | Pick: Garcia

WTA Rouen: Magda Linette vs Anhelina Kalinina | Pick: Linette

WTA Stuttgart: Iga Swiatek vs Elena Rybakina | Pick: Swiatek

WTA Stuttgart: Marta Kostyuk vs Marketa Vondrousova | Pick: Kostyuk

 

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ATP Barcelona: Casper Ruud vs Tomas Martin Etcheverry

Casper Ruud could be set for a rematch of the Monte Carlo Masters final if he can get beyond Tomas Martin Etcheverry.

Ruud dropped the first set against Etcheverry before blasting his way to a win in their Beijing meeting last term which has been the only singles clash between these men.

Etcheverry squeezed past Cameron Norrie thanks to a pair of tiebreaker wins and his three matches in Barcelona have kept him on court for close to seven and a half hours.

Ruud has spent just a little over four hours on court this week in the same number of matches.

 

ATP Barcelona: Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Dusan Lajovic

Stefanos Tsitsipas takes on Dusan Lajovic for the fifth time in his career and could be rewarded with a second final in a row against Ruud.

Tsitsipas leads the head-to-head between the players at 3-1 but they haven't clashed since 2020.

Lajovic has had to play an extra match to reach this stage after Tsitsipas enjoyed a first-round bye.

Lajovic has been taken to three sets in his last two encounters and might be running out of steam.

 

ATP Bucharest: Alejandro Tabilo vs Marton Fucsovics

Marton Fucsovics has been a surprise package in Bucharest this week and meets fourth seed Alejandro Tabilo in the last four.

This will be the first time these players have met in singles action on the ATP Tour.

Tabilo has a great deal of experience on clay having contested over 300 matches on the surface.

Fucsovics has lost just once in six matches on clay this season but this is just his second tournament on the red stuff.

 

ATP Munich: Cristian Garin vs Taylor Fritz

Taylor Fritz has found uncanny clay form in Bavaria and the No 3 seed is just one win away from the championship match.

Fritz and Garin have gone head-to-head on two previous occasions with both men claiming a win.

Fritz only had to win twice to reach this stage with Garin having a much tougher path to the semi-finals.

Garin beat Alexander Zverev in the last eight after a three-set battle against young American Alex Michelsen in the round of 16.

 

WTA Rouen: Sloane Stephens vs Caroline Garcia

Sloane Stephens and Caroline Garcia will contest a semi-final between players looking to regain their best form.

Stephens could feel that she might have another great Grand Slam run in her at the French Open later in the swing.

Garcia meanwhile will be the top home hope at Rolland Garros as the highest-ranked Frenchwoman.

Garcia leads the head-to-head between these players 5-3 but this has always been a tight rivalry.

 

WTA Rouen: Magda Linette vs Anhelina Kalinina

Poland might have hopes of producing two WTA Tour titlists this week as Magda Linette takes on Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina for a place in the Rouen final.

Linette comes in as the underdog against No 3 seed Kalinina in this semi-final.

While Kalinina holds a rankings edge it is Linette who leads the head-to-head having won their only past meeting.

That clash was all the way back in 2018 though and won't really have a great bearing on this contest.

 

WTA Stuttgart: Iga Swiatek vs Elena Rybakina

Iga Swiatek snapped a three-match losing streak to Elena Rybakina in their last meeting in Doha earlier this season.

While Rybakina still leads the head-to-head 3-2 that win for Swiatek was a big one as the Kazakhstan No 1 appeared to be gaining a psychological edge over the rankings queen.

Swiatek has an incredible record in Stuttgart where she has won back-to-back titles.

This will be a huge match though and could also set the tone for the French Open.

 

WTA Stuttgart: Marta Kostyuk vs Marketa Vondrousova

Marketa Vondrousova claimed her biggest singles win since her Wimbledon triumph when she put away Aryna Sabalenka to gain the last four.

She faces in-form Ukraine star Marta Kostyuk and holds a 1-0 lead in the head-to-head.

Kostyuk was handed a walkover when scheduled to face Vondrousova at Indian Wells but she lost to the Czech in Billie Jean King Cup action last April.

This match is tough to call because Vobndrousova's rankings edge has largely been built thanks to her Wimbledon title and her form since has been patchy.