Top seed Jannik Sinner will be in third-round action at the Cincinnati Masters on Monday along with fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego. Sinner is going up against Gabriel Diallo, while Sonego faces Taylor Fritz.
(1) Jannik Sinner vs. (30) Gabriel Diallo
After skipping the Toronto Masters, Sinner is playing his first tournament since lifting the Wimbledon trophy. The world No. 1 kicked off his Western & Southern Open title defense with a 6-1, 6-1 rout of qualifier Daniel Elahi Galan on Saturday afternoon. Despite missing three months of the season, Sinner still owns a comfortable lead atop the rankings and is second in the race to Turin.
Up next for the 23-year-old on Monday is a first-ever meeting with Diallo, who is enjoying the best season of his career. The 35th-ranked Canadian is sporting a 23-16 record that includes a quarterfinal run at the Madrid Masters, a title in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, and a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Sebastian Baez on Saturday in Cincinnati. Although Diallo is extremely dangerous with a big-hitting game, he is 0-4 lifetime against top-10 opponents–three of the losses coming in straight sets. Count on Sinner advancing to the last 16 without any trouble.
Pick: Sinner in 2
(4) Taylor Fritz vs. (31) Lorenzo Sonego
Fritz and Sonego will be squaring off for the eighth time in their careers on Monday. The head-to-head series stands at 5-2 in favor of Fritz, but the matchup has been more lopsided than that since the fourth-ranked American reached the upper echelons of tennis. He is 3-0 in their last three contests dating back to the 2021 Paris Masters and he has taken their last two tilts in straight sets–including at this same Cincinnati tournament in 2023.
Another convincing win for Fritz should be in the cards. The 27-year-old has been on fire since the start of the grass-court swing, with two titles (Stuttgart and Eastbourne), a semifinal showing at Wimbledon, and already a quarterfinal (Washington, D.C.) and semifinal (Toronto) on hard courts. Sonego did well to defeat Zizou Bergs 6-3, 7-6(4) in his Cincy opener, but the 36th-ranked Italian is just 16-19 overall this year and he would much rather face Fritz on clay or even a slower hard court.
Pick: Fritz in 2
WWW?
Sinner in 2; Fritz in 2
Sinner in 2, Fritz in 2
Khachanov is full ape mode right now.
If he makes it to The end of the USO, he should take the rest of the year off.
Results are Sinner 6-2, 7-6(8) and Fritz 7-6(4), 7-5.
Diallo did well again, taking Sinner to a TB and having a SP despite the fact he won barely any 2nd serve points and made way more errors, what an interesting player he is that he can have stats such as these and still keep matches close.
Fritz again didn’t look good and was not in top form vs. Sonego, really don’t expect him to do much at the USO.
Fritz will semi at USO for sure
No way, why do you keep riding the Fritz bandwagon, his form isn’t near what it was on grass, if he was going to do something at the USO he would be rolling Sonego, he’s serving poorer every match.
To add Fritz is hitting his 2nd serves at 80 MPH now or lower, maybe he can get away with it vs. Sonego, but he can’t vs. other better HC players a clear sign of fatigue.
What has happened to the form he showed just a few weeks ago? Maybe just needs a week off he’ll be fine , top players always bring their best for the majors
Except that Fritz used all his energy on Wimby and won’t have enough now for the USO, playing 3 events before the USO and playing long matches.
I think it depends more on his draw