Defending Cincinnati champion Daniil Medvedev begins his title defense against qualifier Marcos Giron on Monday afternoon. On the bottom half of the draw, No. 2 seed Dominic Thiem will take on Filip Krajinovic.
(3) Daniil Medvedev vs. (Q) Marcos Giron
In 2019, Russia’s Daniil Medvedev had a summer that was the stuff of legends. After a third-round ouster at Wimbledon, he stepped onto the hard courts of North America and started winning. A lot. He made four consecutive finals, and finally came away with a title in Cincinnati, where he took out top seed Novak Djokovic in a wild semifinal. After his win in Cincy, Medvedev hacked, cajoled, and clawed his way through the U.S. Open draw. He met Rafael Nadal in the final in what was quite clearly the match of the year. Nadal squeaked out the win in five, but Medvedev put up an epic fight.
The Russian didn’t start 2020 as hot as he ended 2019, but that is hardly likely to matter in his first match since the shutdown. He will take on the American qualifier Marco Giron, who pulled out a tight straight set win over countryman Mackenzie MacDonald in his first round match. Giron is ranked 101 in the world. It’s hard to imagine the American having enough game to give Medvedev trouble.
Cheryl pick: Medvedev in 2
Ricky pick: Medevev in 2
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(2) Dominic Thiem vs. Filip Krajinovic
Dominic Thiem had an impressive start to the 2020 season. The Austrian fought his way to the finals of the Australian Open, where he took Novak Djokovic to 5 sets before losing to the the world No. 1. Thiem was one of the players who participated in the ill-fated Adria Tour, organized by Djokovic and halted when a number of players and coaches tested positive for COVID-19 (Thiem was not one of the players who contracted the virus).
Filip Krajinovic might be a tricky first opponent for Thiem. The Serb is ranked 32 in the world. He went into the mid-season layoff in great form, with a pair of semi-final showings in Montpellier and Rotterdam. He’s a good hard-courter and unlike Thiem, he has already played a match this week, a first round win over qualifier Salvatore Caruso. Given Thiem’s experience and level, this should still be a clean win for the Austrian.
Cheryl pick: Thiem in 3
Ricky pick: Thiem in 2
[crowdsignal poll=10597967]
WWW?
It’s like a ghost town with no fans
Monday is a loaded draw at The W & S….great matches all day long. Med in 2; Thiem in 2.
Yup. Today is going to be a great day of tennis.
Great for the winners. 😉 It’s quite a strong draw. Not many gimmes except for the very top players.
Truth. 🙂 It’s what masters events SHOULD be like, since the draw isn’t huge like at the Slams.