The top four women in the world will all be in action. Most notably, this year’s Roland Garros champion Ash Barty will face a two-time former winner in Maria Sharapova. And there will be plenty of matches featuring ATP Next Gen players, including Karen Khachanov against Kick Kyrgios in what is sure to be a power-hitting battle.
Ash Barty (1) vs. Maria Sharapova (WC)
Barty is the top seed but is the world No.2 as of Monday after her opening round loss last week in Toronto. And with a loss today, she’d drop to No.3, which would be significant with the US Open just 12 days away. This is a rematch from the Australian Open in January, when Barty came back from a set down to prevail. It’s easy to forget that win earned Ash her first quarterfinal at a Major, considering she’s now a Major champion. Sharapova claimed their other previous meeting last year in Rome, which was another three-setter. On Monday, Maria garnered only her second win since returning from her most recent shoulder surgery, over an in-form Alison Riske. Even though Sharapova is far from her best, this is only Barty’s second match within the past five weeks. And after carrying a 15-match winning streak through the first week of Wimbledon, Ash has now lost her last two matches. With the fast courts in Cincinnati favoring her big and flat hitting, I would not be surprised to see Sharapova pull off the upset today.
Karen Khachanov (8) vs. Nick Kyrgios
Which Nick Kyrgios will we see today? Two weeks ago, he appeared rather motivated and won the title in Washington. A few days later, he meekly went out in the first round of the Rogers Cup. He then rebounded with a straight-set win in his opening round here. Nick owns a respectable 8-4 record in Cincinnati, having advanced to the final two years ago. Meanwhile Khachanov is coming off his second consecutive semifinal in Canada, and has seemingly recovered from a considerable slump to start the year. This will be the first match Khachanov faces Kyrgios, it’s hard to know what to expect. But I suspect Nick will get up for this match against a top 10 player, and should get the duke if he plays his best and holds his serve easily.
Other notable matches on Wednesday:
World No.1 Naomi Osaka (2) vs. Aliaksandra Sasnovich. How will Naomi respond to her first loss to Serena Williams last week?
Wimbledon champion Simona Halep (4) vs. Ekaterina Alexandrova. This is Halep’s first time playing the 24-year-old Russian, who is now at a career-high ranking of 43rd in the world.
Stefanos Tsitsipas (5) vs. Jan-Lennard Struff. Struff won the last time they played, on the clay of Barcelona in April.
2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens (8) vs. Yulia Putintseva. Putuntseva has taken both of their most recent matches, including earlier this year on a hard court in Sydney.
In a match between the two best male Japanese players in the world, Kei Nishikori (6) vs. Yoshihito Nishioka (Q).
Elina Svitolina (7) vs. Elise Mertens. They’ve split their two previous hard court encounters.
