Rafael Nadal will begin his week in Cincinnati when he takes the court against Borna Coric on Wednesday. Second-round action is also wrapping up with a showdown between Felix Auger-Aliassime and recent Atlanta champion Alex de Minaur.
(PR) Borna Coric vs. (2) Rafael Nadal
Because of another injury, this one an abdominal, Nadal has not played since the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. The 36-year-old Spaniard beat Taylor Fritz in a five-set thriller but then withdrew from his scheduled semifinal against Nick Kyrgios. It was no surprise that Nadal pulled out of the Montreal Masters, as well, since at this stage of his career he was never going to play back-to-back hard-court tournaments right before the U.S. Open.
As such, there should be little to no concern about Nadal’s physical state; he would not even play one event prior to a Grand Slam if he wasn’t 100 percent. That could be bad news for Coric, who will be facing Nadal for the fifth time on Wednesday night. Surprisingly, the head-to-head series is tied up at two wins apiece. However, the 152nd-ranked Croat has played sparingly in 2022 because of his own injury issues. He is just 5-8 for the season after defeating qualifier Lorenzo Musetti 7-6(2), 6-3 in round one. Anything other than a straight-set win for Nadal would be alarming.
Pick: Nadal in 2
(7) Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Alex de Minaur
Auger-Aliassime and De Minaur will be squaring off for the first time in their careers at the ATP level. They have met twice before at Challenger tournaments, with Auger-Aliassime winning 7-5, 6-3 on an indoor hard court in 2018 before De Minaur prevailed 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 on clay one year later.
This may be the toughest second-round match to call–it could also be one of the best–but an edge in current form goes to De Minaur. The 20th-ranked Aussie triumphed in Atlanta last month and beat Denis Shapovalov and Grigor Dimitrov in Montreal before falling to a red-hot Nick Kyrgios. Auger-Aliassime is just 4-5 in his last nine matches dating back to Halle. Although the ninth-ranked Canadian reached the quarterfinals at home last week, his run ended with a disastrous 6-1, 6-2 loss to Casper Ruud. With Auger-Aliassime playing inconsistent tennis from the back of the court, De Minaur will likely get too many balls back in play.
Pick: De Minaur in 3
WWW?
So Rafa is back on court!!! Excellent news! I am hoping that I can see him play at the USO!!! Vamos Rafa!!!
you will!
Okay!!!! Music to my ears Ricky!! But he’s not on his game tonight though! Should have won first set handily in TB but faltered miserably in the end! Vamos Rafa!!
Rafa got the 2nd set on a break, thankfully. Nerves! His and mine. Cincy may be a little fast for him, but the commies have been saying that the USO has been lightning fast too the past few years.
Yeah but Rafa”s serves let him down particularly those dfs. He is still dealing with this abdominal injury and not feeling comfortable serving. Possibly Another GS with insufficient match play, sigh! Having second thoughts of going to USO!
Rafa in 2….Demon in 3.
It is obvious that Rafa is not ready to play. I have no idea why he decided to go to Cincy. He gave away the first set. Two set points with gimme shots he would make in his sleep.
To lose to Coric this way is just an embarrassment.
I didn’t see the match as I don’t have coverage.
I am not surprised Rafa lost. If he had come to cincy fully recovered things would have been different but after reading his comments a few days ago I was very nervous as it was obvious he was running risks by playing. There is no way Rafa was going to be able to relax and play freely given he was clearly worried about making the injury worse.
I actually think it’s better he goes out now and looks after his recovery rather than playing more matches because his opponent let him through. There is clearly way too much risk in his playing right now.
This absolutely doesn’t mean he can’t win the USO. He has 12 days and he needs to makes sure the injury is healed.
Obviously the draw will be very important. But he can win for sure.
For the practice against top level guys, I suppose. He expected to win a couple of matches, too. He should be ok if he doesn’t have tough opponents in the first few rounds at the USO.
Good thing NK will be seeded.
But I don’t want Rafa to have to play him till late in the tournament.
Really honestly it’s about time he had a comfortable draw! His draws this year at slams have all been absolutely brutal. Actually I struggle to think of a year when he has had worse draws in slams. And each one he has gone into them with big ?? regarding his fitness and injury.
His IW draw was no picnic either! Even if Rafa doesn’t win another match this year, it’s been a fantastic year despite all the blasted injuries. WHY can’t he/we catch a break?
Hopefully he will have some easier early round matches, if there is such a thing, fingers and toes crossed
Rafa will need some help with the draw. He is going in without match play returning. From yet another injury. He is way overdue for a decent draw. He needs to get early round opponents that will help him get into good form.
I hope he makes good use of the remaining time up until the USO. He loves playing in New York. I am sure he is looking forward to it.