The ATP Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati gets off to its first full day of matches, and the draw looks really good, including the return of Rafael Nadal. The draw does not feature the champions from the last two years–Djokovic and Zverev–but does feature several former champs, including Daniil Medvedev, the aforementioned Nadal, Marin Cilic, Grigor Dimitrov, and Andy Murray. It should be a great tournament, and as always we give our picks. We predict all of the day’s matches. In addition to this article, we also have three more on the day. One features Sebastian Korda vs Karen Khachanov, the second headlines Denis Shapovalov vs Grigor Dimitrov, and the third features Andy Murray vs Stan Wawrinka. Who do you think will win?
ATP Cincinnati Day 2 Predictions
Roberto Bautista Agut vs Francisco Cerundolo
Head-to-head: first meeting
Cerundolo is an up and coming player, but probably mostly on clay, as he plays that surface almost exclusively. He is limited to only eight matches on hard on the ATP tour, and doesn’t have many under his belt at the lower levels. Meanwhile, Bautista Agut loves hard court, with eight career titles, including one this year. He was a semifinalist here in Cincinnati in 2020, and is a very experienced player who should be able to take advantage of his opponents lack of experience. I feel a little daring to call this in two, but the Argentine’s ranking represents mostly clay at this point.
Prediction: Bautista Agut in 2
Emil Ruusuvuori vs J.J. Wolf
Head-to-head: first meeting
J.J. Wolf pokes his head up on the ATP Tour from time to time in between bouts on the Challenger Tour, and he tends to beat a decent player each time he does. But in Washington he showed he was serious, with wins over Holger Rune and Denis Shapovalov en route to the quarterfinals. That’s a nice warmup for Cincinnati, and he faces a decent hard courter in Ruusuvuori. The Finn showed his capabilities recently with a win over Hubert Hurkacz in Washington, and both players should be hungry for a win on their favorite surface. The difference in this one may be the crowd, who should be pulling hard for Wolf in his native Ohio.
Prediction: Wolf in 3
Matteo Berrettini vs Frances Tiafoe
Head-to-head: Berrettini 1-0
Berrettini is likely smarting after his first round exit in Montreal, though it was to eventual champion Pablo Carreno Busta. That came after three straight finals and two titles, although hard court is by far Berrettini’s least accomplished surface. Tiafoe is playing about the same as Berrettini on hard this year, and sits a little below him in win percentage on the surface, though he has won a title to Berrettini’s zero. The Italian is having a very good season, though I don’t trust him on hard court, and Tiafoe is volatile in his level of play. This one is hard to call, but Berrettini gets the edge.
Prediction: Berrettini in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
