Today’s schedule is jam-packed, with 71 Major singles titles on Center Court alone.
That’s assuming Serena Williams has recovered from the back spasms that caused her to retire from the Rogers Cup final just 48 hours ago. If so, she’ll headline the evening session alongside Roger Federer, who will play his first match since his devastating loss in the gentlemen’s championship match at Wimbledon. The man who defeated him on that day, Novak Djokovic, will also see his first singles action since the final at The Championships. He’s joined in the day session by five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams, who will play the defending champion, Kiki Bertens. And to start the day, Stan Wawrinka takes on Grigor Dimitrov for the fifth time within the past 14 months. And all that only covers the Center Court schedule on Tuesday. There will be great action all over the grounds throughout the day and evening in Cincinnati.
Belinda Bencic (12) vs. Victoria Azarenka
This is a match between two players who have endured a few turbulent years in their careers, and are fighting to return to the top of the sport. Bencic is in the midst of a stellar season. It started by defending her Hopman Cup title alongside Roger Federer. Since that time, she’s accumulated 38 match wins, putting her on the brink of breaking back into the top 10 for the first time in over three years. Azarenka’s climb has been a bit more of a struggle. She’s played some very competitive matches against some stiff competition in 2019, but is still only 21-16, and ranked 40th in the world. Her inability to get her ranking higher continues to leave her with tough draws early in tournaments such as this. Vika won their only previous meeting, but that was over four years ago on the grass of The All England Club, so that’s likely not indicative of the outcome today. But the fast-playing hard courts in Cincinnati should play to Azarenka’s advantage. With her flat, powerful hitting, I like her chances to prevail. And Vika knows how to win in Cincy: she was the champion here back in 2013.
Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Sam Querrey (WC)
This is their first time playing since Querrey upset Djokovic at Wimbledon in 2016. Novak had arrived at SW19 that year holding all four Major titles, but the Querrey loss would be the beginning of a two-year draught at Grand Slam events. Sam only prevailed in one of their other seven matches, at the 2012 Paris Indoors. That was on a fast hard court that plays similar to Cincinnati. Novak returned to competitive action yesterday in doubles with Janko Tipsarevic, and frankly looked a bit cranky on the court in a 6-2, 6-3 loss to the second seeds. After missing the entire European clay court swing due to an abdominal injury, Sam returned on the grass and quickly racked up eight wins within three weeks. That included a run to the final in Eastbourne, and a return to the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the third time in four years. So Querrey is playing with confidence, and an upset here is not unfathomable. But Sam is just 12-12 lifetime at this tournament, while Novak is the defending champion and six-time finalist. I think this will be interesting, but it’s hard to pick against Djokovic on a hard court regardless the court speed.
Other notable matches on Tuesday:
Serena Williams (10) vs. Zarina Diyas (Q). All eyes will be on Serena and how her back feels.
Roger Federer (3) vs. Juan Ignacio Londero (WC). Londero’s win yesterday over Matteo Berrettini was only his second victory on a hard court this year.
Kiki Bertens (5) vs. Venus Williams. They’ve split their two previous meetings, both of which occurred last year, and both of which went deep into a third set.
Stan Wawrinka vs. Grigor Dimitrov. Stan has claimed all four of their latest encounters, but Grigor has positive memories in Cincy: he was the champion here in 2017.
Madison Keys (16) vs. Garbine Muguruza. Keys is 3-1 against Muguruza, but Garbine took their most recent meeting, which was here in Cincinnati two years ago.
Gael Monfils vs. Frances Tiafoe. Monfils retired from the semifinals in Montreal on Saturday with a sore left ankle. Tiafoe is just 10-16 since his Australian Open breakthrough in January. This will be their first meeting.
Petra Kvitova (6) vs. Maria Sakkari. This is Kvitova’s first match since Wimbledon, as she continues to deal with a forearm injury.
Washington and Montreal finalist Daniil Medvedev vs. Kyle Edmund. They played just six days ago, with Medvedev prevailing 6-3, 6-0.
In a battle between two top 20 players, Angelique Kerber (13) vs. Anett Kontaveit. Anett owns a 2-1 edge in their head-to-head.
Roberto Bautista Agut (11) vs. Hubert Hurkacz. The Spaniard is just 150 points away from making his top 10 debut. Meanwhile the 22-year-old from Poland is having a breakout season, and just debuted inside the top 40.
Moving to the loaded men’s doubles draw, Two-time Major champions Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau (4) vs. Queens Club champions Feliciano Lopez and Andy Murray (PR).
Wimbledon champions Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah (1) vs. Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas. These teams played just two weeks ago in Washington, with Cabal and Farah winning in a deciding set 10-point tiebreak 10-5.
