Cincinnati R2 previews and predictions: Federer vs. Gojowyczk, Edmund vs. Shapovalov

Roger Federer will kick off his Cincinnati campaign when he goes up against Peter Gojowyczk during second-round action on Tuesday. Familiar foes Kyle Edmund and Denis Shapovalov are also part of the schedule.

Peter Gojowyczk vs. (2) Roger Federer

Federer and Gojowyczk will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when they clash in round two of the Western & Southern Open on Tuesday. This marks Federer’s first match since Wimbledon, where he squandered a match point against Kevin Anderson in the third set of their quarterfinal contest and ended up losing 13-11 in the fifth. The second-ranked Swiss is 42-8 lifetime in Cincinnati with seven titles, and he is looking for his first since 2015 because he missed this event in each of the past two seasons.

Enjoying the best season of his 12-year career, Gojowyczk has earned 18 main-tour match wins and peaked at a best-ever ranking of 39th in June. The 29-year-old German currently registers at No. 47 and he is poised to go higher after outlasting Joao Sousa in a three-setter on Monday. Although Federer may be a bit rusty in this one, rusty also means well-rested. Plus, the 37-year-old is almost always at his best in Cincinnati.

Pick: Federer in 2 losing 5-7 games

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Denis Shapovalov vs. (14) Kyle Edmund

Edmund and Shapovalov will be squaring off for the sixth time in their careers on Tuesday. The head-to-head series stands at 3-2 in favor of Shapovalov, including 2-1 in completed matches (the Canadian was once forced to infamously default, while Edmund retired at last summer’s U.S. Open). They have faced each other twice in 2018, with Edmund getting the job done 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 6-4 in Brisbane before Shapovalov prevailed 7-5, 6-7(6), 6-4 on the clay courts of Madrid.

It looked like the 19-year-old would not get another shot at Edmund, but he broke back with Frances Tiafoe serving for the match at 5-4 in the third set on Monday and ended up surviving 7-6(6), 3-6, 7-5. Shapovalov is now 24-19 for the season and currently in line to be seeded at the U.S. Open with a ranking of No. 32. Edmund easily punched his ticket to round two by beating Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday night. The 16th-ranked Brit could really use a decent run in Cincinnati, as he headed into this week on a three-match losing streak. Edmund’s beatdown of McDonald was encouraging, so Shapovalov will have to serve much better than he did against Tiafoe (13 double-faults) if he wants to have a chance.

Pick: Edmund in 3

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