ATP Cincinnati Preview: Federer-Nadal-Djokovic Battle Continues

Posted on August 13, 2007

Last week Serb Novak Djokovic beat the Top 3 players on the ATP Rankings, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick, en route to the Masters Series-Canada title in Montreal. For the past two years Federer and Nadal had separated themselves from the pack, but now it appears their is a third man on the upper echelon of tennis.

The Top 16 seeds in Cincinnati are the Top 16 players on the ATP Rankings (at time of entry), giving the Masters Series-Cincinnati Grand Slam-like toughness, and a pre-US Open microscope to see just how fast the top players can bounce back from last week in Canada.

The Top 8 seeds in Cincinnati receive byes, an extra day of rest that Federer and Djokovic will cherish after the three-set MS-Canada final.

Federer in the top quarter of the draw will open against either a qualifier or Russian Dmitry Tursunov. In the third round the Swiss could face the winner of the opener (WC) Tim Henman vs. Juan Ignacio Chela, or (14) Andy Murray vs. Marcos Baghdatis, though Murray's wrist injury will likely make him an early-round victim. The highest seed waiting for Federer in his quarterfinal is No. 7 Tommy Robredo who hasn't been scaring anyone on hardcourts this summer.

Djokovic is the top seed in the second quarter, where a potential quarterfinal with No. 8 Richard Gasquet looms. The Serb will open again the winner of former No. 1 Carlos Moya and former Top 10er David Nalbandian. No. 15 Guillermo Canas could be a third-round opponent for Djokovic, while Gasquet has a potential meeting with former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in the second round, and either No. 12 Tommy Haas, Mario Ancic, or "Dr." Ivo Karlovic in the third round.

Andy Roddick, desperate to be heard in conversations of the Top 3 players, is the high seed in the third quarter of the draw where he will open against either Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco or Italian Filippo Volandri. American wildcard John Isner is in Roddick's section, opening against No. 16 seed David Ferrer. No. 5 Nikolay Davydenko, under investigation by the ATP for potentially being involved in a betting scandal, is slated to meet Roddick in the quarters.

Rafael Nadal, the top dog in the bottom quarter, opens against either Argentine Juan Monaco or a qualifier. Nadal's slated quarterfinals match is against No. 6 Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez, but floaters in the section include former No. 1s Marat Safin and Juan Carlos Ferrero, No. 9 seed James Blake, No. 13 Mikhail Youzhny, and American bomb-dropper Sam Querrey.

In last year's final the ninth-seeded Roddick beat the unseeded Ferrero 6-3, 6-4.