Rome 2018: Saturday's Order of Play and Match Points

ORDER OF PLAY

CENTRALE

Starting At: 12:00 noon

[4] Elina SVITOLINA (UKR) vs. Anett KONTAVEIT (EST)

Not Before 5:00 pm

[1] Simona HALEP (ROU) vs. Maria SHARAPOVA (RUS)

PIETRANGELI

Starting At: 12:00 noon

Raquel ATAWO (USA) / Anna-Lena GROENEFELD (GER) vs. [2] Andrea SESTINI HLAVACKOVA (CZE) / Barbora STRYCOVA (CZE)

Not Before 4:00 pm

[8] Ashleigh BARTY (AUS) / Demi SCHUURS (NED) vs. Sorana CIRSTEA (ROU) / Jelena OSTAPENKO (LAT)

MATCH POINTS

Maria Sharapova has a 7-1 head-to-head record against World No.1 Simona Halep, including a win in the final of the 2014 French Open. Sharapova picked up her seventh win in a row against Halep in a blockbuster first-round contest at the US Open last year, but Halep finally attained her first victory over the former World No.1 one month later at the China Open in Beijing.

Elina Svitolina and Anett Kontaveit will be meeting for the first time on the WTA. Svitolina, the defending champion in Rome, notched her eighth straight win at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia with her quarterfinal victory over former World No.1 Angelique Kerber.

Halep will remain World No.1 on Monday. The Romanian, who reached the Rome final last year, needed to at least reach the quarterfinals and advance one round further than No.2 Caroline Wozniacki. After Wozniacki lost to Kontaveit on Friday, Halep retained the top spot with her win over Caroline Garcia.