Cincinnati R2 previews and predictions: Tiafoe vs. Wawrinka, Coric vs. Hurkacz

Frances Tiafoe vs. Stan Wawrinka is a marquee second-round matchup at the Cincinnati Masters on Wednesday. Meanwhile, defending champion Borna Coric could have his hands full with Hubert Hurkacz.

(10) Frances Tiafoe vs. (WC) Stan Wawrinka

Tiafoe and Wawrinka will be going head-to-head for the fourth time in their careers when they meet again in round two of the Western & Southern Open on Wednesday. Wawrinka has won all three of their previous encounters: 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 at the 2019 Basel event, 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(1) a few months later in Acapulco, and 7-6(2), 6-7(6), 7-6(5) last summer at Queen’s Club.

Although Tiafoe is a considerable favorite this time around despite his past failures against the Swiss, this should be another good one. After all, Wawrinka is coming off a runner-up performance in Umag and he posted a solid 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3 victory over Brandon Nakashima in the Cincinnati first round. Tiafoe improved to 33-13 this season by beating Tallon Griekspoor 6-4, 6-7(7), 6-4 on Sunday. The 10th-ranked American has home-court advantage for the first time in this matchup and he generally does his best work in front of his own fans, so look for him to battle his way into the last 16.

Pick: Tiafoe in 3

Hubert Hurkacz vs. (15) Borna Coric

Coric and Hurkacz will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers and for the fourth time this season. The head-to-head series stands at 3-1 in favor of Coric, but Hurkacz won their only previous hard-court contest 6-2, 6-2 at the 2020 ATP Cup.

Although Coric is the defending Cincinnati champion, Hurkacz is also a Masters 1000 winner in the United States (Miami two years ago). The world No. 20 from Poland also finished runner-up last summer in Montreal. Despite the court speed not being extremely fast this week, the balls are playing much faster than they were in Toronto and this match is schedule for the hottest part of the day (late afternoon). Those conditions should suit Hurkacz perfectly, so count on him getting the job done against an opponent who is in decent but unspectacular form.

Pick: Hurkacz in 2