The second of back-to-back Masters 1000 events on the North American hard-court swing takes place over the next two weeks in Cincinnati. It’s the Western & Southern Open, where a plethora of top players are on hand after several of them skipped the proceedings in Toronto.
Novak Djokovic won’t play at all in between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, but Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are back in action. Tommy Paul is also kicking off his hard-court summer.
The bottom half of the draw is more difficult, as the second-seeded Alcaraz is joined by Alexander Zverev, Ben Shelton, Alex de Minaur, Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev, Karen Khachanov. Alcaraz awaits either Damir Dzumhur or Mattia Bellucci in his opening match before possibly facing Tallon Griekspoor in the last 32 and either Jakub Mensik or Denis Shapovalov in round four. De Minaur and Rublev are potential quarterfinal foes for the reigning French Open champion.
Sinner’s path to the title match–and ultimately to a second consecutive triumph in Cincinnati–looks easier on paper. The world No. 1 and recent Wimbledon winner will likely meet Gabriel Diallo in the third round and either Paul or Tomas Machac in the fourth. A red-hot Taylor Fritz could pose problems for Sinner in the semis.
Quarterfinal predictions: Jannik Sinner over Matteo Arnaldi, Frances Tiafoe over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Daniil Medvedev over Brandon Nakashima, and Alex de Minaur over Carlos Alcaraz
Semifinals: Sinner over Tiafoe and De Minaur over Medvedev
Final: Sinner over De Minaur
who ya got?
De Minaur won’t get that far, even Duracell batteries run out sonetime
he has enough rest
I wonder about Shelton though. And others.There are too many tournaments back to back and the US Open soon, he won’t want to overplay.
Credit to Opelka (and me)
Sinner over Alcaraz in the final.
likely
Sinner is the clear favorite to defend his titles at Cincinnati and the US Open.
Meddy also out not unexpected.
Tsitsi still in , more of a surprise