The second of back-to-back Masters 1000 events on the North American hard-court swing takes place over the next two weeks in Mason, Ohio. It’s the Cincinnati Open, where another big title appears to be up for grabs thanks to the absences of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
Novak Djokovic is back for the first time since Wimbledon and is joined in the field by Alexander Zverev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, Rafael Jodar, Arthur Fils, and more.
Cincinnati Open
Where: Mason, Ohio
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $9,415,725
Points: 1000
Top seed: Alexander Zverev
2025 champion: Carlos Alcaraz (not playing)
Draw analysis: A strong top half of the bracket features Zverev, Djokovic, and Jodar. Following a first-round bye, Zverev will kick off his title bid against either Cameron Norrie or Dino Prizmic before possibly meeting Tomas Martin Etcheverry or 2025 Cincinnati semifinalist Terence Atmane in the last 32. Jodar and Roland Garros runner-up Flavio Cobolli are potential quarterfinal foes for Zverev.
Djokovic, who is a three-time Cincinnati champion, will get things started against either Thiago Agustin Tirante or Jan Choinski. Jack Draper is a potential third-round opponent for the 39-year-old Serb, which would a rematch of their epic Indian Wells fourth-round showdown — won by the Brit in a third-set ‘breaker. Draper, however, is struggling mightily with a seemingly never-ending arm injury. Fils, Alex de Minaur, Jiri Lehecka, and Jakub Mensik also find themselves in Djokovic’s section.
On the other side of the draw, Auger-Aliassime and Shelton are on a collision course for the quarterfinals. Auger-Aliassime is hoping to bounce back after missing his home Masters 1000 event in Montreal because of a back issue, while Shelton will be making a quick turnaround on the heels of his success north of the border. The other section in the bottom half is home to Medvedev, Fritz, Joao Fonseca, and Brandon Nakashima. Fritz captured the title in Washington, D.C. a couple of weeks ago but lost right away in Montreal to Tirante.
First-round matches to watch in Cincinnati include Draper vs. Martin Landaluce, Grigor Dimitrov vs. Sebastian Baez, Marin Cilic vs. Daniel Merida, and an all-Dutch battle between Tallon Griekspoor and Botic van de Zandschulp.
Quarterfinal predictions: Alexander Zverev over Alexander Blockx, Arthur Fils over Novak Djokovic, Taylor Fritz over Daniil Medvedev, and Lorenzo Musetti over Arthur Rinderknech
Semifinals: Fils over Zverev and Fritz over Musetti
Final: Fils over Fritz
who ya got?
I would be very surprised if de Minaur survived his section of the draw; it’s even more challenging than what Zverev has on his plate here.
Interesting to see Fery back for the first time since Wimbledon. He can now afford to fly to the States.😜
I think Djokovic has a fair shake at making a deep run if he’s fit and can dust off his top gear. His most dangerous potential opponents are Mensik and Fils IMO, up to SF stage.
It seems to me Ricky is counting on the people who made a deep run in Montreal to be out of fuel, and is banking on more rested players!
If Michelson is feeling good he might surprise Fritz. Fonseca could too.
Machac is back and could be dangerous to Rublev on a good day. Rinderknech is a fair pick to go deep as well. He’s not flashy so his consistency and grind are often overlooked.
the guys who went deep in Montreal betting not do the same in Cincinnati, for their own good
Jodar especially
Yeah, they have the US Open coming up too and if they made deep runs twice in the lead-up Masters 1000s they would surely not perform at peak in the Slam… honestly I’m surprised some of them are still fronting up in Cincinnati.
I think Sinner is wise taking a leaf out of Djokovic’s book and respecting what his body is telling him. Alcaraz too. When people don’t do that you get young physical wrecks like Draper, or Kokkinakis early on and now paying the price.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank myself