After a thrilling week of tennis at the ATP Cincinnati Masters, just two men are left standing in Ohio. Both will no doubt be desperate to lay their hands on the trophy to ensure the perfect preparation for the US Open. But will it be Alexander Zverev or Andrey Rublev who lifts the title?
ATP Cincinnati Final Prediction
Andrey Rublev vs Alexander Zverev
Head-to-head: Zverev 4-0 Rublev
Rublev has made impressive strides over the last two years. In 2020, he won five titles and although he has not collected quite as much silverware this season Rublev has performed very consistently. He arrived at the ATP Cincinnati Masters with 37 match wins to his name and has since added victories over Marin Cilic, Gael Monfils, Benoit Paire and his countryman Daniil Medvedev to reach his second final at this level. He will now be hoping to go one better than he did in Monte Carlo earlier this season.
He has lost all four of his previous meetings with Zverev, however. In fact, he has not yet taken a set off the German. Of course, Rublev will be able to take comfort from the fact that he went into his semifinal against Medvedev in the same position and managed to come out on top. Still, Zverev has looked impressive so far in Cincinnati. The world #5 opened his campaign with a 7-6 6-2 win over Lloyd Harris and he backed that up by beating Guido Pella 6-2 6-3.
That set up a quarterfinal clash with the in-form Casper Ruud, who won a hat-trick of titles in Bastad, Gstaad and Kitzbuhel. But Zverev made light work of the Norwegian, winning 6-1 6-3. He then battled past second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, rallying from 1-4 down in the decider to win 6-4 3-6 7-6. The nature of that victory will surely have given him real confidence heading into this final. Zverev also has the advantage in experience having previously played in eight Masters finals, winning four of them.
Rublev does have the weapons to hurt Zverev, with his forehand in particular a shot to be feared. But his game can also be fairly predictable. His backhand is a solid shot, but the Russian struggles to impose himself against the best in the game from that wing. Zverev is perhaps less consistent than Rublev, but when he is in full flight he also has more upside than Rublev. Chiefly because he can hurt his opponents in a variety of ways. This may well go the distance, but expect Zverev to have too much in the end.
Prediction: Zverev in 3
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