Taylor Fritz will look to make the most of a wild-card entry into Cincinnati when he goes up against Mikhail Youzhny on Tuesday. First-round action is also concluding with a showdown between Ivo Karlovic and Juan Monaco.
(WC) Taylor Fritz vs. (Q) Mikhail Youzhny
The charge of young Americans has already taken flight at the Western & Southern Open, where wild cards Reilly Opelka and Jared Donaldson advanced to the second round on Monday. Now an even more likely candidate for success is taking the court on Tuesday, although Fritz also needed a wild card to get into the main draw despite his impressive ranking of 54th. The 18-year-old owns 12 of his 13 career ATP-level match victories this season and is coming off a quarterfinal showing in Atlanta.
On the other side of the net from Fritz on Tuesday will be an opponent 16 years his senior. Youzhny is showing some signs of fragility in the latter stages of his career, but he went back to the Challenger circuit to begin the 2016 campaign and that is big reason why he is back up to No. 68 in the world. The Russian won 15 consecutive Challenger matches (three titles) and he is also a decent 11-12 at the ATP level this season. But Fritz has home-court advantage in the United States and the youngster should be able to dictate play with far more offensive weapons than Youzhny.
Pick: Fritz in 2
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Ivo Karlovic vs. (PR) Juan Monaco
Karlovic and Monaco will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers on Tuesday. Both of their previous encounters have gone Karlovic’s way; 6-7(2), 6-3, 7-6(5) at the 2011 Rogers Cup and 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 two years ago on the clay courts of Dusseldorf. Based on current form, the 6’11” Croat is an obvious favorite to get the job done once again. At 37 years old, Karlovic registers just six spots off his career-high ranking at No. 20 in the world. Since Wimbledon, he is an incredible 14-2 with titles in Newport and last week in Los Cabos to go along with a runner-up performance in Washington, D.C.
Monaco finds himself outside the top 100 (No. 103, to be exact) in part due to injury, but he is a decent 13-10 for the season. The 32-year-old Argentine is 1-4 in his last five matches and is coming off a second-round loss at the Olympics to eventual gold medalist Andy Murray. Clay or a particularly slow hard court would possibly give Monaco a chance in this one, but the Cincinnati conditions should help Karlovic maintain his awesome form.
Pick: Karlovic in 2
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Dr Ivo and Fritz… Looking forward to the Fritz match. Even though Youzhny is reaching the end. Still seems a tricky matchup.
Fritz and Karlovic in two
Youzhny too good today!
Was able to get Karlovic +1700 in live action… He hasn’t broken Monaco yet, so it would a good time to finally get it done! Just reach the 3rd set………….
solid pick