Third-round action at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers continues on Friday in both Toronto and Montreal.
The men’s side in Montreal will be lacking a little bit in the way of singles star power, but seeded doubles pairs Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos (No. 2), Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic (No. 3), and Christian Harrison and Neal Skupski (No. 5) will all be in action on Friday.
If you’re looking for names to watch in singles action, however, then Toronto is where you’ll want to shift your attention to, as big-time names will take to the court.
Here's a look at some of the big storylines for Friday:
Stars come out to play
As mentioned before, there’s going to be some serious star power on court in Toronto Friday.
Included in this list are Elena Rybakina, Mirra Andreeva, Coco Gauff, Alexandra Eala and Naomi Osaka.
Of those names competing, the most intriguing matchups will feature Gauff taking on Maria Sakkari to kick off the night session on Centre Court and Osaka facing Elise Mertens after 5 p.m. ET on the Grandstand.
Opportunity knocks for Leylah
Canadian Leylah Fernandez is also in action Friday, and she could be in tough against Andreeva.
In the midst of a breakout year, the 19-year-old Russian phenom captured this year’s French Open but still appears to be establishing herself on a surface other than clay.
This could be an opportunity for Fernandez to knock out one of the game’s rising stars, catching Andreeva off the slower surface.
Thrice Fernandez and Andreeva have played each other, and twice Andreeva won, including at this year’s Madrid Open in the quarterfinals. The kicker, however, is both Andreeva victories came on her familiar clay, while the one win Fernandez claimed was on hard court.
Bianca back in action
Following a disappointing first-round loss to Nikola Bartunkova, Bianca Andreescu will get another chance to pick up a win at home Friday.
The 26-year-old is partnering with 21-year-old Kayla Cross of London, Ont.
Together, the Canadian duo will take on Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and American Quinn Gleason.
That match is scheduled to take place some time between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the Grandstand in Toronto.
BROADCAST SCHEDULE (all times ET)
Women's: 12:30 p.m. (Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet+); 7 p.m. (Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet+)
Men's: 12:30 p.m. (Sportsnet, Sportsnet+); 7 p.m. (Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet+)
MATCH SCHEDULE (all times ET)
Women’s, in Toronto
Centre Court (starts at 12:30 p.m.)
[28] Ann Li (USA) vs [2] Elena Rybakina (KAZ)
Not before 1:30 p.m.: [5] Mirra Andreeva vs [30] Leylah Fernandez (CAN)
Not before 7 p.m.: [29] Maria Sakkari (GRE) vs [4] Coco Gauff (USA)
Caty McNally (USA) vs [25] Alexandra Eala (PHI)
Grandstand (starts at 11 a.m.)
[13] Iva Jovic (USA) vs [Q] Alina Korneeva
[WC] B. Andreescu (CAN) / K. Cross (CAN) vs U. Eikeri (NOR) / Q. Gleason (USA)
Not before 3 p.m.: [Q] Maya Joint (AUS) vs Liudmila Samsonova
Not before 5 p.m.: [20] Elise Mertens (BEL) vs [11] Naomi Osaka (JPN)
Taylor Townsend (USA) vs [12] Belinda Bencic (SUI)
Court 1 (starts at 12:30 p.m.)
I. Neel (EST) / G. Olmos (MEX) vs [2] A. Danilina (KAZ) / A. Krunic (SRB)
M. Kessler (USA) / J. Pegula (USA) vs [3] S. Errani (ITA) / N. Melichar-Martinez (USA)
[4] H. Guo (CHN) / K. Mladenovic (FRA) vs E. Routliffe (NZL) / A. Sutjiadi (INA)
[1] K. Siniakova (CZE) / S. Zhang (CHN) vs M. Andreeva / S. Cirstea (ROU)
Court 4 (starts at 12:30 p.m.)
C. Bucsa (ESP) / E. Chong (HKG) vs T. Mihalikova (SVK) / O. Nicholls (GBR)
A. Muhammad (USA) / F. Stollar (HUN) vs Q. Tang (CHN) / Y. Xu (CHN)
Men’s, in Montreal
Centre Court (starts at 12:30 p.m.)
Tallon Griekspoor (NED) vs [30] Matteo Arnaldi (ITA)
[31] Zizou Bergs (BEL) vs [5] Ben Shelton (USA)
Not before 7 p.m.: [9] Casper Ruud (NOR) vs [22] Joao Fonseca (BRA)
[12] Learner Tien (USA) vs [17] Tommy Paul (USA)
Rogers Court (starts at 12:30 p.m.)
Daniel Merida (ESP) vs Alex Michelsen (USA)
Botic van de Zandschulp (NED) vs Hubert Hurkacz (POL)
Not before 6 p.m.: Terence Atmane (FRA) vs [13] Jakub Mensik (CZE)
[Q] Alexei Popyrin (AUS) vs Thiago Agustin Tirante (ARG)
Court 5 (starts at 12:30 p.m.)
H. Nys (MON) / E. Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs [2] M. Granollers (ESP) / H. Zeballos (ARG)
[5] C. Harrison (USA) / N. Skupski (GBR) vs Y. Bhambri (IND) / M. Venus (NZL)
L. Darderi (ITA) / A. Tabilo (CHI) vs A. Rinderknech (FRA) / V. Vacherot (MON)
After suitable rest: [8] P-H Herbert (FRA) / K. Krawietz (GER) vs [Alt] Z. Bergs (BEL) / A. Blockx (BEL)
Court 9 (starts at 12:30 p.m.)
[4] S. Bolelli (ITA) / A. Vavassori (ITA) vs O. Luz (BRA) / R. Matos (BRA)
Not before 2:30 p.m.: [Alt] R. Cash (USA) / B. Nakashima (USA) vs [3] M. Arevalo (ESA) / M. Pavic (CRO)
After suitable rest: K. Khachanov / A. Rublev vs M. Arnaldi (ITA) / L. Musetti (ITA)
