Despite Rafael Nadal’s withdrawal, there’s plenty of big names in the men’s draw. Federer will make his 2018 summer hard court debut. Djokovic will look to get some momentum after being upset early in Toronto. Murray will play his first Masters 1,000 event in over a year. And Wawrinka will look to build upon the best week of play he’s had in over a year. Del Potro, Cilic, Zverev, Anderson, and Defending Champion Dimitrov are all present this week as well.
In the women’s draw, all eyes will be on Serena Williams. What kind of form will she be in after winning just one game in her San Jose opening round, and withdrawing from the Rogers Cup last week? World Number One Simona Halep extended her rankings lead with a title last week in Montreal, but how will she bounce back from an exhausting week, especially as she deals with foot blisters? And how will Rogers Cup Finalist and Defending US Open Champion Sloane Stephens fare after a similarly draining week in Canada? The draw also includes the following top names: Wozniacki, Kerber, Kvitova, Muguruza, Sharapova, and Azarenka.
Serena Williams vs. Daria Gavrilova
If Serena is ready and focused for this match, she should prevail easily. Though Gavrilova may temporarily be ranked slightly higher, Serena is Serena, and leads their head-to-head 2-0. But the “if” I started with here is a big one. A week ago, she shared on social media how she’s currently dealing with “postpartum emotions.” Kudos to Serena for being willing to share this, as she continues to be open regarding her struggles in motherhood. As it relates to tennis, it’ll be interesting to see how Serena competes just 14 days prior to the start of the year’s final Major.
Other notable women’s matches on Monday:
- Carla Suarez Navarro vs. Victoria Azarenka
- Johanna Konta vs. Aryna Sabalenka, two players who had impressive wins last week in Canada.
- Wimbledon Semifinalist Julia Goerges vs. Kristina Mladenovic
Diego Schwartzman vs. Stan Wawrinka
Stan made some big strides in his comeback from serious knee surgery last week in Toronto. Currently ranked outside the top 150, Wawrinka won back-to-back matches for only the second time in over a year, and in both of those matches came back after dropping the opening set 6-1. He then gave Nadal a true test in two tightly-contested sets, a sign that Stan is getting closer to his best. But in his opening round today in Cincinnati, he’ll face the twelfth best player in the world, who is rarely an easy out. Diego Schwartzman is one of the toughest competitors on tour, and made the quarters in New York just last week as well as earlier this year in Paris. This will be their first career meeting, and Stan cannot afford a letdown in his recently-improved level of play.
Other notable men’s matches on Monday:
- Novak Djokovic vs. Steve Johnson
- Lucas Pouille vs. Andy Murray
- Kei Nishikori vs. Andrey Rublev
- John Isner vs. Sam Querrey
- Denis Shapovalov vs. Frances Tiafoe, in an ATP Next Gen battle.
