The top four seeds in Cincinnati have asserted their dominance to reach the semifinals on Saturday. It will be an all-Russian affair between Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev before Stefanos Tsitsipas goes up against Alexander Zverev.
(1) Daniil Medvedev vs. (4) Andrey Rublev
Medvedev and Rublev will be going head-to-head for the sixth time in their careers (fifth at the ATP level) when they clash in the Western & Southern Open semifinals on Saturday afternoon. All five previous meetings have gone Medvedev’s way and in dominant fashion he has taken all 12 sets against Rublev. They have squared off in two of the last four Grand Slams, with the current world No. 2 prevailing 7-6(6), 6-3, 7-6(5) at the 2020 U.S. Open and 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 at this year’s Australian Open.
There is no reason to think anything will be different this time around. Medvedev has been absolutely on fire over the past two weeks, with a title in Toronto followed by Cincinnati victories over Mackenzie McDonald, Grigor Dimitrov, and Pablo Carreno Busta. The top-seeded Russian has won by set scores of 6-2, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1, and 6-1. Rublev, on the other hand, needed three sets against both Marin Cilic and Benoit Paire while also requiring two tiebreakers to get past Gael Monfils. The world No. 7 is dangerous, but he is a one-dimensional power player who doesn’t have any other options when things start to go downhill against his countryman.
Pick: Medvedev in 2
(3) Alexander Zverev vs. (2) Stefanos Tsitsipas
The Tsitsipas-Zverev rivalry has been far more competitive. Even though Tsitsipas holds a 6-2 lead through eight meetings, in reality it is closer than the score suggests. Three of Tsitsipas’ victories have required final sets (including a 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3 thriller in the French Open semifinals this spring) and Zverev beat the Greek 6-4, 7-6(3) in the Acapulco final six months ago.
This should be another good one, as Tsitsipas and Zverev are without question the third and fourth-best players in the world behind Novak Djokovic and Medvedev right now. The German is on a nine-match winning streak, which includes the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and straight-set wins this week over Lloyd Harris, Guido Pella, and Casper Ruud. Tsitsipas has been pushed to three sets twice (by Lorenzo Sonego and Felix Auger-Aliassime) in addition to defeating Sebastian Korda 6-4, 6-4. Zverev’s only clear flaw used to be the double-fault yips, but now that those are a thing of the past–at least for the time being–he is looking like the superior player.
Pick: Zverev in 3
WWW?
A pair of talented nitwits. I couldn’t care less which of them wins.
Oh, I was referring to Tsitsi and Zverev. Add in “arrogant” there in my description.
Of the arrogant ones. I picked Zverev to win in my bracket, otherwise, I don’t care. I prefer Medvedev to win Cincinnati.
Barty is into the final. I didn’t pick her to win. What was I thinking?
hahaha, I love both the Russians. Medvedev ran into a camera at the back of the court. And that ended in Rublev winning a set. I am very happy to watch their deciding set, although Medvedev should win in the end.
LOL! I could not have said it better!
😀
My post was directed to Ramara!
This hasn’t exactly been a polished performance by Medvedev so far. If he’s not careful he could drop a set.
He’s lacking urgency until he gets to 30:30 or down a break point which is asking for trouble.
Medvedev needed to make this physical from the outset. Instead he waited until he was about to lose the 2nd set.
That’s the problem with the new gen, they lack the rivalry to make them consistent.
So more often than not they’ll win 2-0 when you don’t expect and lose a set when they shouldn’t.
Medvedev was well on his way to a straight-set win until he ran into the camera and hurt his hand/arm. He was not able to gut it out but Rublev was ruthless to his friend’s pain. This is the first time in Rublev’s life that he has beaten Medvedev!
Congrats Andrey Rublev!
Get ready for US Open Daniil!
Karolina Pliskova v Jil Teichmann, the WTA 2nd semi on now. I don’t think it matters who wins. Barty is on form and playing beautifully. Tough for anyone left to beat Barty. Kerber did her best but it wasn’t enough.
Barty is so good right now, she is above all comers.
Zverev has an attitude problem like he doesn’t want to show he’s trying too much. Completely unreliable from a betting perspective.
All Tsitsipas has to do is get the ball back because he knows Zverev will capitulate.
How many easy forehands inside the service line has Zverev missed. Incredible.
Zverev won! It was a strange and amazing match! I don’t have words. There was controversy.
My Cincy winner pick is Zverev but I don’t mind if he loses to Rublev, the Great.
Zverev looked sick in the 3rd set. Heat/humidity, maybe? It seemed to affect his play for the better since he started going for his shots instead of moping around the back of the court.
I don’t like Rublev either, but better him than Zv. Meddy at least is interesting.
I hope Rublev wins his first Masters. A bit lucky to beat Med but he’s been knocking on the door so deserves it. But its been a tough tournament with the conditions .