The Americans will be out in force at the Cincinnati Masters on Sunday, with recent title winners Taylor Fritz (Washington, D.C.) and Ben Shelton (Montreal) taking on Alex Michelsen and Jaime Faria, respectively.
(6) Taylor Fritz vs. Alex Michelsen
Alex Michelsen, ranked 42nd in the world, leads the head-to-head series 2-1 — and the raw number hides how strange it’s been. He beat Fritz on clay in Geneva in 2024 and then took him out 6-4, 7-6(6) in the Indian Wells third round in March. Fritz got one back in the Washington, D.C. quarterfinals two weeks ago via a 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(6) decision, but he had to save a match point to do it. Two straight hard-court meetings, two tiebreakers decided 8-6 at one apiece. The 21-year-old opened in Cincinnati by dispatching Jesper de Jong 6-4, 6-4 in an hour and 23 minutes.
Now, the knee. Fritz has chronic tendinitis that wiped out roughly two months of his clay season, flared up again at Wimbledon, and resulted in a medical timeout at 2-2 in the third set of that Washington quarterfinal against Michelsen. He won the title anyway but then crashed out of Montreal to Thiago Agustin Tirante 7-5, 6-3 (although it’s worth noting that Tirante also just upset Novak Djokovic on Saturday). Fritz has already said that “there’s a certain amount of pain that’s acceptable” — which suggests he is still struggling with the knee. The sixth seed has the confidence from the D.C. title and rest from his early ouster in Canada, and I think that’s enough. It just won’t be quick or comfortable.
Cheryl pick: Fritz in 3
Ricky pick: Fritz in 3
(8) Ben Shelton vs. (Q) Jaime Faria
Ben Shelton has the best possible problem. He won the Montreal event without dropping a set, beat Brandon Nakashima 6-3, 7-6(4) in the final to go 6-0 in that head-to-head series, and became the fourth man this century to defend the Canada title after Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal. That’s his fourth trophy of 2026 following Dallas, Munich, and Stuttgart. And Shelton hasn’t lost a final all season.
Jaime Faria got into the draw the hard way. The 23-year-old from Lisbon sits at a career-high 79th, came through qualifying past Nikoloz Basilashvili and Wu Yibing, and then rolled Jenson Brooksby 6-3, 6-2 in the first round. This is their first meeting, and what works against the underdog is simple. He simply doesn’t have the weapons that Shelton does. One thing that could benefit Faria is that Shelton just made his way to Cincinnati on Friday after capturing the Montreal Masters title. Somewhere in Shelton’s equation this fortnight is fatigue…I just don’t think it happens quite yet.
Cheryl pick: Shelton in 2
Ricky pick: Shelton in 2
WWW?
Faria with the upset. Yeah, this happens so often after someone wins a tournament. Often a combination of fatigue and underestimating the early-round “nobody”…
Ben won Canada then made it to the Cincy quarters last year
Many factors always at play. Early-round losses to underestimated “nobodies” are a pattern.