Only one of the Big 4 played this Cincinnati event and that one is out, resulting in an unexpected semifinal lineup. An all-unseeded affair will pit Nick Kyrgios against David Ferrer on Saturday, while Grigor Dimitrov is facing John Isner.
Nick Kyrgios vs. David Ferrer
Kyrgios and Ferrer will be squaring off for the second time in their careers when they battle for a place in the Western & Southern Open title match on Saturday. Ferrer dominated their only previous encounter 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 at the 2013 U.S. Open. The script has flipped four years later, of course. Ferrer is well outside of his prime at 35 years old and Kyrgios is entering what should be they heyday of his career. That being said, the Spaniard is suddenly in resurgent form after going a horrendous 8-13 in his first 21 matches of 2017. Ferrer lifted the winner’s trophy in Bastad and so far in Cincinnati he has taken out Steve Johnson, Janko Tipsarevic, Pablo Carreno Busta, and Dominic Thiem.
This season has also been a bit of a roller-coaster for Kyrgios. The 22-year-old Australian came out out but then a hip injury plagued him on clay, grass, and at the beginning of the hard-court swing. Seemingly healthy at the moment, Kyrgios cooked up a semifinal spot in Cincinnati with defeats of David Goffin, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Ivo Karlovic, and Rafael Nadal–the latter two both on Friday. If the world No. 23 is fine physically (and he should be because he got off the court quickly against Nadal), he will likely blast Ferrer off the court.
Pick: Kyrgios in 2
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(14) John Isner vs. (7) Grigor Dimitrov
Dimitrov and Isner will also be going head-to-head for just the second time in their careers on Saturday afternoon. Their only previous meeting came two years ago on the hard courts of Miami, where Isner got the job done 7-6(2), 6-2. A hard court in the United States has always been Isner’s favorite setting and nothing has changed in 2017. On the heels of a third grass-court title in Newport, Isner lifted the Atlanta trophy for the fourth time in his career a few weeks ago. After withdrawing from Washington, D.C. due to rest and losing early in Montreal, the world No. 19 is back in business this week with straight-set defeats of Viktor Troicki, Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe, and Jared Donaldson.
While Isner can secure a top eight seed at the U.S. Open with a title, Dimitrov has already locked up that status for New York. Currently 11th in the world, the Bulgarian will climb to at least No. 10 on Monday and three players ahead of him (Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka, and Kei Nishikori) are out for the year. Dimitrov is through to the Cincinnati semifinals thanks to victories over Feliciano Lopez, Juan Martin Del Potro, and Yuichi Sugita–also without dropping a set. This should be a high-quality contest with a slight edge going to Isner, who has held all 44 of his service games this week and is already a former Cincinnati finalist (2013).
Pick: Isner in 3
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who ya got?
Nick in 3. Ferrer is playin n returning well.
Dimi in 3. His looking very confident
decent picks
Same as you, Ricky: Kyrgios in 2, Isner in 3.
Ferret in three, Dimi in three
Isner in 2
Kyrgios in 2
Isner and Kyrgios in three
Kyrgios over Ferrer
Dimitrov vs Isner
Nick in 3
Dimi in 2
I feel like this could be a bad matchup for isner. We will see
Leaning on-
Isner in 3 – ML Isner, and Over, and
Kyrgios in 3 – ML Kyrgios and Over
PLUS taking Max points on both dogs here and in WTA also in another slip
Over is the best winner here as both David “The Terror” Ferrer and Dimi are very tough competitors with all-round skills to trouble the above FAV’s. Both the dogs have the capability to win a set.
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Ferrer in 3….Big dawg in 2.
I want Dimitrov to win. Not sure if it will happen, though, as Isner has been playing well. I really like David Ferrer, although I personally think that Kyrgios-Dimitrov would be a more interesting match than Ferrer-Dimitrov. Isner-Kyrgios would be boring as hell, in my opinion, although Isner-Ferrer could be interesting given the opposing styles of play (sort of like a poor man’s Sampras vs. Agassi).
Yes, I get the Dimi win correct! So happy for Dimi, first Masters final for him. I think Ferrer is the one who can beat all three of the other S Finalists. Without Fed and Rafa standing in his way, I think it’s a good chance for Ferrer to win his second masters, I hope he takes this chance here.
Really? I thought between the four semifinalists, Ferrer would have the lowest chance of winning. Kyrgios should dispose of him tonight even if he doesn’t play his best.
Benny, did you watch how Ferrer played when he’s at his best? He beats anyone who’s not the big four! And that’s how good he is/was! Jerzy was a much tougher opponent in that Paris Masters final than this Kyrgios but Ferrer beat him to win his first Masters.
Right now Ferrer seems to have found some of his best tennis again, he’s playing quick and aggressive tennis, so he has good chances of winning his match(es).
That was 2012. My point is current Ferrer isn’t a favorite against Kyrgios, Dimitrov, or Isner. I know of course he has played a lot better this event and lately in general, which I’m so happy about. Still knew Kyrgios would probably win this one just due to such a massive serving advantage. Ferrer did great though. I don’t think a dub at the Open is out of the question for either Nick or David. And Dimitrov/Isner too.
Run* not dub. A dub at the Open would be INSANE lol
Haha, dub would definitely be CRAAAAZY MAAAAN! 🙂
I agree with you, Benny. If this was a prime Ferrer, then sure he would be one of the faves of the remaining. Not anymore, though. Kyrgios is on another level than him, especially in serve. If Ferrer manages to come back to take it in 3, it would be one of his biggest achievements as of late.
Ferrer is back! He plans to wear Nick out, lol.
And he will wear Nick out if Nick gets sucked into too many rallies. Like that first game.
Both these guys are starting out like they mean to win. Wow, Nick’s serve is good. That’s what he has to do to have a chance.
This should be a good fight for the first set, anyway.
Hahahaha vintage Ferrer.
If Ferrer wins Cincy, I’m picking him for a deep run at US Open. Aw, if he could win a GS …
Ferrer is really playing his heart out. You have to admire him. He’s really found his game again. So nice to see!
Nny,
It’s really good to see Daveed is not done yet!
It is that!! Vamos, little beast!!
Yes! Got to love seeing him fight like a pit bull!
If only Rafa could fight like Ferrer…..
Oh….dang. Kyrgios had him. Had a break point. But Ferrer held him off 😀
I don’t really care which one wins…there’s reasons to cheer for both, imo.
good to see two new masters finalists.
Mind says Nick would win, but I would prefer to see Dimi winning first masters here.
I know it’s a one-in-a-million chance at this point, but if there is one person I would love to see get a major title before they retire, it would be David Ferrer… I guess if there was some sort of draw catastrophe at the US Open where he didn’t have to face Fedal, Murray, Kyrgios, or Zverev, then it would be possible for Ferrer to win the US Open…
That would be epic. For me that person is Muller lol but Ferrer would be epic.