Second-round action at the Cincinnati Masters will get underway on Tuesday, when Daniil Medvedev goes up against Botic van de Zandschulp. Marin Cilic and Emi Ruusuvuori are also taking the court after winning on Monday.
(1) Daniil Medvedev vs. Botic van de Zandschulp
Medvedev’s bid to hang on to the No. 1 ranking will begin when he contests his first match at the Western & Southern Open on Tuesday night. The Russian will maintain it–and therefore be seeded first at the U.S. Open–if he reaches at least the quarterfinals in Cincinnati. If Medvedev fails to advance that far he would lose the top spot only if Rafael Nadal wins the entire tournament.
Although Medvedev may not be in dominant form at the moment, he is well rested after losing to Nick Kyrgios right away in Montreal. The 26-year-old should be ready to go–and extremely motivated–for his second-round contest against Van de Zandschulp. They have faced each other twice before, each time at the Grand Slam level. Medvedev prevailed 6-3, 6-0, 4-6, 7-5 in the 2021 U.S. Open quarterfinals before rolling 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 earlier this season at Melbourne Park. Van de Zandschulp is coming off a nice 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Maxime Cressy on Sunday, but nothing suggests that he is primed to turn the tide against Medvedev.
Pick: Medvedev in 2
(14) Marin Cilic vs. Emil Ruusuvuori
Cilic and Ruusuvuori will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers and for the second time this summer. They just faced each other on the grass courts of Queen’s Club, where Cilic got the job done 7-6(2), 6-4. That result is hardly a surprise, as the 33-year-old Croat has always thrived on grass whereas Ruusuvuori is much more comfortable on hard courts.
Will a change in scenery change the outcome? It’s quite possible. Fifteen of Ruusuvuori’s 26 ATP-level wins this year have come on hard courts, including a 7-6(2), 6-2 defeat of J.J. Wolf on Monday. It has only been bad news for Cilic since beating the 44th-ranked Finn at Queen’s Club. Cilic lost in the semis of that event to Filip Krajinovic, missed Wimbledon because of a positive Covid-19 test, and got crushed by Tommy Paul in the Montreal third round. The world No. 17 opened in Cincinnati by easing past Jaume Munar 6-3, 6-3, but Ruusuvuori represents a steep step up in competition on this surface.
Pick: Ruusuvuori in 2
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