We’re on to Cincinnati.
The North American hard-court summer continues with the Western & Southern Open and the U.S. Open is only two weeks away. Cincinnati is an especially important tournament on the schedule, as it will be the last time most of the top players in the world take the court prior to the season’s final Grand Slam. It will also finalize U.S. Open seeding, so guys just outside the top 32 will be eager to deliver a strong performance in an effort to break into seeding territory.
Novak Djokovic is back, while Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev are well rested following somewhat early losses in Toronto. Will the result be more expected outcomes than what was on display last week?
Here is my Cincinnati breakdown.
Western & Southern Open
Where: Cincinnati, Ohio
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $6,600,000
Points: 1000
Top seed: Carlos Alcaraz
Defending champion: Borna Coric
Draw analysis: Djokovic skipped Toronto, so he is back for the first time since losing the Wimbledon final to Alcaraz. The world No. 2 can’t waste any time getting in gear, because his Cincinnati draw is not easy. Djokovic will open against either Toronto semifinalist Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or French Open quarterfinalist Tomas Martin Etcheverry, while Toronto runner-up Alex de Minaur is a potential third-round opponent along with No. 13 seed Cameron Norrie and Toronto quarterfinalist Gael Monfils. Toronto champion Jannik Sinner is in Djokovic’s quarter, as well, but you have to think the Italian is more concerned now with resting up for the U.S. Open than he is with Cincinnati.
The bottom half of the bracket also includes Daniil Medvedev, Holger Rune, and Alexander Zverev. It’s a rough road for Zverev, who faces Grigor Dimitrov in round one and could get Medvedev in the last 16.
At the top of the draw, Alcaraz should be in good shape to bounce back from his Toronto quarterfinal loss to Tommy Paul. The world No. 1 is on collision course for a rematch with Paul in the third round, while Casper Ruud and Frances Tiafoe are possible quarterfinal foes. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrey Rublev, and defending Borna Coric are also in the top half.
In addition to Zverev vs. Dimitrov, marquee first-round matchups in Cincinnati are Norrie vs. Monfils, Paul vs. Miomir Kecmanovic, Taylor Fritz vs. Jiri Lechecka, and Stan Wawrinka vs. Kei Nishikori.
Hot: Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Lorenzo Musetti, Dan Evans, Alex de Minaur, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Mackenzie McDonald, Roman Safiullin, Arthur Fils
Cold: Karen Khachanov, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Cameron Norrie, Borna Coric, Sebastian Korda, Dusan Lajovic, Ben Shelton, John Isner
Quarterfinal predictions: Frances Tiafoe over Carlos Alcaraz, Andrey Rublev over Hubert Hurkacz, Daniil Medvedev over Matteo Berrettini, and Novak Djokovic over Taylor Fritz
Semifinals: Rublev over Tiafoe and Medvedev over Djokovic
Final: Medvedev over Rublev
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