Three days after finishing in fourth place in singles at the Rio Olympics, Rafael Nadal will take the court in Cincinnati for a second-round date with Pablo Cuevas. Nick Kyrgios and Borna Coric are also in action.
Pablo Cuevas vs. (3) Rafael Nadal
Nadal will be making a quick turnaround after a long week in Rio de Janeiro as he begins his quest for a second title at the Western & Southern Open. The fifth-ranked Spaniard won his first nine matches at the Olympics despite having missed two months with a wrist injury, capturing men’s doubles gold with Marc Lopez while advancing to the semifinals in singles. Nadal lost a thriller to eventual silver medalist Juan Martin Del Potro and then fell to Kei Nishikori 6-2, 6-7(1), 6-3 in the bronze-medal showdown.
Up first for the No. 3 seed in Cincinnati is a fourth career contest against Cuevas on Wednesday. The head-to-head series stands at 2-1 in favor of Nadal, who got the job done twice on clay in 2015 (Rio and Hamburg) before Cuevas scored a 6-7(6), 7-6(3), 6-4 victory in the Rio semifinals earlier this year. The 19th-ranked Uruguayan gave himself another shot at the 14-time major champion by edging Sam Querrey 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3 on Monday. Nadal is rarely at his best in Cincinnati and he may be fatigued, but he should have enough left in the tank and enough inspiration to erase the demons of having lost his last two matches at the Olympics.
Pick: Nadal in 2
[polldaddy poll=9498509]
(14) Nick Kyrgios vs. Borna Coric
Kyrgios and Coric will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers on Wednesday. Their only previous encounter came earlier this season on the red clay of Estoril, where Kyrgios cruised 6-4, 6-4. Based on the Australian’s current form and a switch to a relatively fast hard court in Cincinnati, he may have an even bigger advantage this time around. Kyrgios recently captured his second career ATP title in Atlanta and he made easy 6-2, 7-5 work of Lucas Pouille on Monday night.
Coric is also coming off what was an intriguing opener against a French opponent. The 19-year-old Croat got off to a rough start against Benoit Paire on Sunday but ended up prevailing 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 while benefiting from nine double-faults and 37 percent serving by Paire. Coric, who is a mediocre 20-21 in 2016 and has won back-to-back matches only once in his last eight tournaments, will not receive such generosity from Kyrgios.
Pick: Kyrgios in 2
[polldaddy poll=9498462]
WWW?
Rafa in 2
Kyrgios in 3
Rafa in 2 sets.
Kyrgios in 2 sets.
Kyrgios and Nadal in two
Rafa in 3 sets, dont see him losing this one even after his grueling week. NK in 2 sets as well, seems to be motivated and serving extremely well
Rafa taking unnecessary risk here imo.
Is Andy playing? If so unwise for him too.
Be calm, be focused, be confident, be strong and enjoy te game, Rafa!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CqEyMmVXEAA8h1x.jpg
Rafa is hitting his DTL forehand so well in this match!
The second set is more competitive than the first set. On serve.
Rafa serving to take it to a tb.
TB
I hope Rafa finishes it off here,
Rafa still hitting his cc backhand early and with great accuracy.
3-2 Rafa
Rafa playing awesome
Now *that* is very good to see!! It’s the one thing I was worried about after watching the Olympics – Rafa lost control of his forehand way too often. I figured it’s because of his wrist. Really, really hope that’s improving. His speed and quickness is where it should be, backhand better than ever, and I really think all those doubles even improved his net play and decision making.
Wow! DF from Kyrgios gives Coric the first set!
4-3 Rafa
Rafa taking the ball early and getting the good court positioning,
5-3 Rafa
5-4 rafa
6-4 Rafa
Match point!
YES!
Rafa wins!
One down! Yay! ✌
Rafa’s on fire…very tough to be focused all the time when you are tired so som errors totally okay. Overall, he is ON FIRE. Just needs to polish what he is doing and he’ll be good to beat anyone at the USO in my opinion.
The advantage this guy has over even Djokovic is that he has more firepower in his game! Djokovic’s RELATIVE weakness when compared to Rafa is that Djokovic lacks a littleeee bit of firepower.
Vamos Rafa, keep rolling.
I read he really wanted to play Cincy coz he wants to qualify for the WTF. Looks like he hasn’t given up on the prospects of winning one 🙂
Good start for Rafa and why can’t they show some ATP action there’s so many good matches right now like Kyrgios vs coric and Lopez vs dimitrov.
The tennis channel just switched over to Lopez/Dimitrov at a set apiece.
They are Ina third set tb.
Rafa played very well! He is serving well, his backhand looks amazing, forehands are flat and deep adjusted to the fast surface in Cincy! Rafa playing aggressive and brave, saved some break points with great serves and courageous hits! Whatsmore, Rafa going to the net displaying some golden volleying skills.,.overall, enjoyable to watch! Cuevas played some good tennis in the second set and served extremly well, but Rafa was simply better when it mattered!
Rafa must still feel tired but he is a fighter and hangry for more!
Vamos Champ!
Dimitrov beats Lopez. Now they switched to Johnson/benneteau in another third set tb.
Watching Nick vs Borna now…Borna would have had a chance to win in 2 with Nick being nervous and arguing with umpire for the most of the second set! Now with the break and Nick serving for the second set Borna is becoming an angru fellow and will lose this match…as I type Nick won the second set..,
I am impressed with Rafa’s body language and mental focus. He has continued to look focused, as he did at the Olympics.
I think he is hitting his forehand better now. That must mean that the wrist is holding up well. I also think that the match play Rafa got at the Olympics has served him well as he moves on to the second round.
I still cannot get over how well Rafa is hitting his cc backhand. This can only mean good things for him.
It’s good to know that this injury did not affect Rafa’s confidence and mental focus. That is the one thing that has stood out to me. Rafa seems poised to pick up where he left off when he was playing so well.
mental focus and confidence?
#troll alert
Johnson wins in a third set TB!
They just said that Johnson is one win away from being the top ranked American man. He’s got Tsonga next.
The only thing that worried me about Rafa was his profuse sweating but I just heard the commentator saying that it’s very hot and humid in Cincy and the conditions are being difficult for players…
Gasquet is famous for sweating buckets too.