Medvedev Favored In Big 3-Less Cincinnati; Golden Zverev Seeks First Match Win In Ohio

Fresh off his first Canadian Open title, Daniil Medvedev will be the man to beat at the Cincinnati Masters which saw first round play begin today. The Russian made his big breakthrough at Cincinnati two years ago beating Novak Djokovic in the 2019 semifinal before David Goffin for the title.

The 25-year-old said he will go all out for a fifth Masters title.

“I’m going to go full power at Cincinnati because it’s a Masters 1000. I’m not yet at 12 Grand Slams where I’m going to prepare U.S. Open to where I have to get to No. 13 to get closer to 20,” Medvedev said Sunday in Toronto. “I need to build the momentum and confidence coming into the US Open. Cincinnati is different conditions. I would say maybe closer to US Open than here. I just want to play good there and then play good at US Open.”

With no Djokovic, Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer, the tournament will at least see a new finalist. Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev are the next highest seeds followed by Andrey Rublev, Matteo Berrettini, Denis Shapovalov, Pablo Carreno Busta and Casper Ruud in a decidedly young group of top players.

Andy Murray also returns to face Richard Gasquet in the first round on Monday night.

Medvedev will open against the McDonald-Nakashima winner. He could face Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round followed by Carreno Busta in the quarters. Rublev, Shapovalov or Jannik Sinner could emerge in the semifinals.

In the bottom half, Tsitsipas could open against Sebastian Korda, then meet Cristian Garin in the third with either Matteo Berrettini or Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarters.

Zverev, who just won the gold in Tokyo, could face Ruud in his quarter, though the Norwegian might have to deal with Toronto finalist Reilly Opelka in his opener. Zverev is lifetime 0-6 in Cincinnati!

The Top 8 seeds get a bye.

Last year, Djokovic survived a tough battle with Milos Raonic for the title. That remains the Serb’s last Masters title.

MONDAY CINCINNATI SCHEDULE
Center Court Starts At 11:00 Am
9 Barbora Krejcikova v Daria Kasatkina
Not Before 12:30 PM
11 Petra Kvitova v Madison Keys
Daniel Evans v 10 Diego Schwartzman
Not Before 7:00 Pm
(Q) Richard Gasquet v (WC) Andy Murray
Not Before 8:30 PM
Maria Sakkari v Angelique Kerber