Cincinnati previews and predictions: Medvedev vs. Lehecka, Popyrin vs. Monfils

Alexei Popyrin will be getting right back on the court when he meets Gael Monfils in round one of the Cincinnati Masters on Wednesday. The start of second-round action pits Daniil Medvedev against Jiri Lehecka.

Jiri Lehecka vs. (4) Daniil Medvedev

The last time Medvedev and Lehecka squared off, Lehecka advanced via retirement in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Masters only to suffer a hip injury of his own in the semis and call it quits against Felix Auger-Aliassime. The 22-year-old Czech was forced to miss the French Open and the entire grass-court summer. In his first tournament back, Lehecka will meet Medvedev again–this time in the Western & Southern Open second round on Wednesday. The head-to-head series is tied at 1-1, as yet another match that ended in retirement saw Medvedev leading 6-4, 6-2 when Lehecka pulled the plug in the Wimbledon fourth round.

Playing his first match in more than three months, Lehecka did well to defeat Mariano Navone 7-6(3), 6-3 on Tuesday. Of course, Navone rarely even plays tennis on anything other than clay courts and now the world No. 35 has to face a self-proclaimed hard-court specialist in Medvedev. The fifth-ranked Russian recently advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals and he will be well rested for Cincinnati after skipping the Paris Olympics and losing right away in Montreal to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. With Lehecka presumably not yet back in peak form, Medvedev should be able to take advantage.

Pick: Medvedev in 2

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Gael Monfils vs. Alexei Popyrin

Popyrin is coming off by far the biggest title of his career. Previously a two-time champion at the ATP 250 level, the 25-year-old Australian won the Montreal Masters on Monday–completing an improbable run with a 6-2, 6-4 upset of Andrey Rublev. En route to the trophy, Popyrin knocked off three top-10 opponents and five in the top 20 (also Ben Shelton, Grigor Dimitrov, Hubert Hurkacz, and Sebastian Korda).

With only one day of rest in between events, Popyrin will be back on the court to face Monfils in Cincinnati. Fatigue certainly won’t be a factor for the 38-year-old–he hasn’t been winning enough. Monfils played well on grass (Mallorca semis, Wimbledon third round), but he lost his opening matches at the Olympics and in Montreal. On the bright side, Monfils appears to be healthy and when he is healthy he remains very dangerous. The Frenchman is more than capable of capitalizing on an opponent who is making a very quick turnaround following the highlight of his career.

Pick: Monfils in 3

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