Cincinnati Masters full tournament preview and predictions

The second of back-to-back North American Masters 1000 tournaments is set to begin in Cincinnati. It’s the Western & Southern Open, where a strong field is assembling with most of the top players in the world reenergized following the Paris Olympics. Gold medalist and defending Cincinnati champion Novak Djokovic is out, but silver medalist Carlos Alcaraz and world No. 1 Jannik Sinner–at least for now–are in the field.

Let’s take a look at what could be in store this coming week in Cincinnati. 

Western & Southern Open

Where: Cincinnati, Ohio
Surface: Hard 
Prize money: $6,795,555
Points: 1000 

Top seed: Jannik Sinner
2023 champion: Novak Djokovic (not playing)

Draw analysis: With Djokovic having withdrawn and Sinner dealing with a hip injury that plagued him in a Montreal quarterfinal loss to Andrey Rublev, Alcaraz has to be considered a sizable favorite in Cincinnati. The Spaniard is coming off a tough loss to Djokovic in the Olympics final, but a week off while many others were toiling away in rain-soaked Montreal should have him ready to go. Alcaraz could be challenged by Matteo Berrettini in round three, but the draw is otherwise a good one for the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion.

Elsewhere in the bottom half of the bracket, both Tommy Paul and Lorenzo Musetti are in outstanding form and they find themselves in the same quarter along with Daniil Medvedev.

If Sinner is less than 100 percent, top half could be wide open. Roland Garros runner-up Alexander Zverev, current Montreal finalist Andrey Rublev, and former Cincinnati winner Grigor Dimitrov will be among those looking to take advantage. An especially difficult section features Zverev, Dimitrov, Ben Shelton, Sebastian Korda, Karen Khachanov, Francisco Cerundolo, and Matteo Arnaldi.

If the top eight seeds all advance, quarterfinal matchups would be Sinner vs. Rublev, Zverev vs. Dimitrov, Medvedev vs. Hubert Hurkacz, and Alcaraz vs. Casper Ruud. First-round matches to watch are Khachanov vs. Cerundolo, Shelton vs. Reilly Opelka, Berrettini vs. Holger Rune, Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Jan-Lennard Struff, Frances Tiafoe vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, and Taylor Fritz vs. Brandon Nakashima.

Hot: Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Lorenzo Musetti, Sebastian Korda, Alejandro Tabilo, Arthur Fils, Nuno Borges, Flavio Cobolli, Marcos Giron, Jordan Thompson, Alexei Popyrin, Matteo Berrettini, Matteo Arnaldi, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, Brandon Nakashima

Cold: Stefanos Tsitsipas, Holger Rune, Karen Khachanov, Denis Shapovalov, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Adrian Mannarino, Pablo Carreno Busta

Quarterfinal predictions: Taylor Fritz over Marcos Giron, Grigor Dimitrov over Alexander Zverev, Tommy Paul over Lorenzo Musetti, and Carlos Alcaraz over Jack Draper

Semifinals: Dimitrov over Fritz and Alcaraz over Paul

Final: Alcaraz over Dimitrov

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