Rogers Cup 2016: Saturday Scores, Results and Updated Toronto Masters Schedule

While several big names opted against competing in the Rogers Cup, men's and women's singles action boasted plenty of star power Saturday during semifinal competition in both Toronto and Montreal.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and two-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka were each scheduled to take the court on the men's side, as were reigning Australian Open winner Angelique Kerber and former world No. 2 Simona Halep in the women's draw. 

Here is a rundown of Saturday's full slate of semifinal tilts, along with a look ahead toward Sunday's highly anticipated finals matchups.

Saturday Schedule and Results

Order	Matchup/Result	Score/Time
-	Men's Tournament	-
1	(3) Kei Nishikori def. (2) Stan Wawrinka	7-6(6), 6-1
2	(1) Novak Djokovic def. (10) Gael Monfils	6-3, 6-2
-	Women's Tournament	-
1	(5) Simona Halep def. (2) Angelique Kerber	6-0, 3-6, 6-2
2	(10) Madison Keys def. Kristina Kucova	6-2, 6-1

Men's Recap

With the likes of Andy Murray and Roger Federer sitting out this tournament, Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori entered Saturday with a golden opportunity to move within one win of a Rogers Cup title.

They were quite evenly matched in the opening set, which ended in a tiebreaker. That proved to be tight as well, and the following video, courtesy of TennisTV, was a perfect microcosm of it:

Nishikori's speed and ability to track down difficult balls served him well and allowed him to grind out a tough win in the first set.

Things got much easier for the Japanese star after that, though, as Wawrinka seemingly ran out of gas and had little left in the second set.

Nishikori took advantage, winning 6-1 and punching his ticket to his fourth overall final and second Masters 1000 final of 2016.

According to Jose Morgado of Diario Record, Nishikori hadn't beaten a player of Wawrinka's caliber in nearly two years:

Nishikori is a talented player with a U.S. Open final appearance and 11 career singles titles to his credit, but he is still looking to establish himself as a consistent top-five player and threat to win Grand Slam championships.

Beating Wawrinka was a big step in the right direction, and if he can maintain that momentum Sunday and parlay it into a Masters 1000 title, he will be in ideal form ahead of the Grand Slam that has yielded his best results over the years.

Securing the title won't be easy, though, as Nishikori will have to get past the world's No. 1 player in Djokovic.

Djoker had little trouble with 10th-seeded Gael Monfils in a 6-3, 6-2 win, and he is now in line to win his fourth career Rogers Cup title.

Nole hasn't won the tournament since 2012, however, and he fell to Murray in last year's final, which gives him plenty of incentive to bounce back, especially with the Olympics and the U.S. Open on the horizon.

Per TSN's John Horn, reaching the final of a Masters 1000 tournament has become the norm for Djokovic, and finishing it off by hoisting the trophy is usually the result:

Djokovic was locked in Saturday, and ESPN's Howard Bryant pointed out that he is at an entirely different level than most other players, including Monfils:

Nishikori is likely to be more of a challenge, but Djokovic holds a 9-2 advantage and has not lost to him since the U.S. Open in 2014.

Djoker may be more vulnerable than usual after his shocking loss to Sam Querrey at Wimbledon, but if he continues to play like he did Saturday against Monfils, he should add yet another title to his already impressive haul.

Women's Recap

In what was perhaps the most exciting match of the day, Kerber battled back from a one-set deficit against Halep, only to fall in the third. The overall score was 6-0, 3-6, 6-2.

Kerber entered as the favorite since she was the No. 2 seed and was coming off consecutive victories over her Romanian opponent. Halep turned in two spectacular sets, however, and improved her career record against Kerber to 4-2.

The German was shellshocked early on, as Halep held her to a first-set bagel and seemed well on her way to running Kerber off the court.

The 2016 Australian Open champion and Wimbledon finalist managed to bounce back in the second, though, forcing a decisive third set.

Despite momentum being on Kerber's side, Halep channeled her first-set form and closed out the upset in dominant fashion.

Following the defeat, Kerber acknowledged that too many miscues resulted in her exit, according to WTATennis.com:

"

I think it was a little bit, again, up-and-down match. She started very strong. I came back in the second set. Then also the beginning of the third set I was playing much better because I was moving better. Then I started again making too much mistakes, too easy ones. She was playing more consistent than me the whole match. I think at the end that was the goal, she was playing, not like me, with a lot of up and downs today.

"

In stark contrast to Kerber, Halep was jubilant after the match and excited to play doubles later in the day despite expending so much energy in singles competition, as seen in this video via the WTA:

While Halep has been a highly ranked player for the past couple of years and is a former finalist at the French Open and semifinalist at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, Saturday marked one of her biggest wins in recent memory.

Per Tumaini Carayol of Eurosport, it was easily her most impressive victory of 2016:

Halep was last year's Rogers Cup runner-up after being forced to retire in the third set against Belinda Bencic.

Her performance against Kerber has given her a chance at redemption, and she is now in prime position to win her third title of 2016.

In order to do so, Halep will have to go through No. 10 Madison Keys, who steamrolled qualifier Kristina Kucova 6-2, 6-1 in just 50 minutes Saturday.

Kucova shocked Johanna Konta in the quarterfinals and halted her progress toward a top-10 ranking, but she seemingly had little left in reserve and had no answers for Keys' remarkable power.

The 21-year-old American made quick work of Kucova, and her serve had plenty to do with that, according to TennisNow:

Keys reached her third final of 2016 with the victory, and she is coming off a title win at the AEGON Classic in June, which marked the second singles title of her young career.

In order to add a third trophy to her mantle, Keys will have to get past one of the WTA's craftiest, quickest and trickiest players in Halep.

The polar opposites have met three times before with Halep holding a 2-1 advantage. Keys won their only tilt on a hardcourt, though, and that surface seemingly favors her big serving and all-around power.

The fact that Keys won quickly and Halep had to play three sets Saturday could play a role, and it is something Keys must use to her advantage in order to continue her rapid ascent through the rankings.

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