The second of two consecutive Masters 1000 tournaments during the North American hard-court swing is set for this coming fortnight in Mason, Ohio. Another big title appears to be up for grabs at the Cincinnati Open due to the withdrawals of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
Novak Djokovic will be back on the court for the first time since Wimbledon and is joined in the field by Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Arthur Fils, Rafael Jodar, and many others.
Cincinnati Open
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $9,415,725
Top seed: Alexander Zverev
2025 champion: Carlos Alcaraz (not playing)
The top half of the draw is strong, featuring Zverev, Djokovic, and Jodar. Zverev will kick off his campaign against either Cameron Norrie or Dino Prizmic before potentially running into Tomas Martin Etcheverry or 2025 Cincinnati semifinalist Terence Atmane. Jodar and French Open finalist Flavio Cobolli are possible quarterfinal foes for Zverev.
Djokovic, who is a three-time champion of this tournament, will begin his bid for a fourth title against either Thiago Agustin Tirante or Jan Choinski. Jack Draper was a potential third-round opponent for the 39-year-old Serb, but the Brit is struggling mightily with a seemingly never-ending arm injury and lost to Martin Landaluce on Thursday afternoon. Fils, Alex de Minaur, Jakub Mensik, and Jiri Lehecka also find themselves in Djokovic’s section.
On the other side of the bracket, Auger-Aliassime and Shelton are on a collision course for the QFs. Auger-Aliassime is hoping to bounce back after missing his home Masters 1000 event in Montreal because of a back problem, while Shelton will be making a quick turnaround following Thursday’s Montreal final. The other section in the bottom half is home to Medvedev, Fritz, Joao Fonseca, and current Montreal finalist Brandon Nakashima.
Quarterfinal picks: Alexander Zverev over Alexander Blockx, Arthur Fils over Novak Djokovic, Taylor Fritz over Daniil Medvedev, and Lorenzo Musetti over Arthur Rinderknech
Semifinals: Fils over Zverev and Fritz over Musetti
Final: Fils over Fritz
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.