Our tennis expert previews selected quarter-final matches coming your way from the Cincinnati Masters.
ATP Tour 2019 | ATP Masters 1000 Series
Western and Southern Open (Cincinnati Masters)
Linter Family Tennis Centre, Cincinnati (Outdoor Hard-Court)
Selected Quarter-Finalists – 16-17 August 2019
Roberto Bautista Agut (1/4)
vs Richard Gasquet (26/10)
31-year-old Spaniard Agut has become one of the most consistent players on tour, utilizing a ruthlessly efficient baseline game to grind players down. As I have noted on many occasions, Bautista Agut is the antithesis to most Spanish clay-court experts. His forehand doesn’t generate too much topspin, meaning he prefers the faster surfaces. Of his nine titles, seven have come on hard-courts, including last year’s Dubai title and this year’s Qatar Open. Quarter-finals at both Miami and last week’s event in Canada illustrate his hard-court prowess. But it was his maiden Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon that really underlined the massive progress that he has made. One area of potential concern could be physical conditioning. His epic quarterfinal defeat to Gael Monfils last week was exacerbated by plentiful weather delays. His opponent was the beneficiary of an opening-round bye, which could prove a telling factor this week.
There’s something romantic about the unfulfilled potential of Frenchman Richard Gasquet. A winner of 15 ATP Titles, Gasquet has also reached three Grand Slam semi-finals. But I just thought that the man with the golden backhand will have had slightly more consistent success. He loves these surfaces, finishing runner-up twice in Toronto and reaching the 2013 US Open semi-final. He never really came into this event with much form to speak of, but the manner in which he disposed of Diego Schwartzman was hugely impressive. Bautista Agut may be a player who suits Gasquet’s famously languid style. The Spaniard is generally quite conservative in his approach and relies on concerted pressure rather than devastating power on either wing. The Frenchman will know that Agut has played a considerable amount of tennis of late and will hope to reach a 4th Masters 1000 semi-final.
Bautista Agut owns a commanding head-to-head advantage of 4-1 over Gasquet, with two victories already this season. You have to go back all the way to 2015 for the lone Gasquet triumph. You only have to go back a week for Bautista’s straight-sets victory over Rublev in Canada. But given the crazy nature of this event thus far, perhaps historical precedent is less important this year than ever. Gasquet looks decent value for an unheralded 4th Masters semi-final, especially considering the relative physical states of the players.
Andrey Rublev (9/4)
vs Danil Medvedev (3/10)
While I have been extolling the virtues of Andrey Rublev to anyone who would listen for some time, few could have envisaged the absolute carnage we witnessed yesterday. He disposed of seven-time champion Roger Federer with alarming ease, outplaying the Swiss in every department. Rublev came into this hard-court swing in decent shape following an appearance in the German Open final. But outside of that result, his year has been quite pedestrian. Consecutive round of 32 showings at the Sunshine Double hinted at the potential he does possess on this surface. Maybe this result could be the turning point for Rublev in his quest for greater parity with his Russian compatriots. Danil Medvedev is one such player.
Danil Medvedev’s meteoric rise over the past few seasons has been something to behold. He has become one of the most consistent hard-court players in the game, and it will be interesting to see how his career unfolds in comparison to the more fancied names of Zverev and Tsitsipas- both already eliminated from this even. He has made five ATP finals this year, only managing to seal the deal at the Sofia Open. But his ability to mix it with the very best has seen the calibre of those final stops slowly evolve. I think he drew a huge amount of confidence from some surprising results on clay. A semi-final in Monte Carlo was followed by an appearance in the Barcelona Final. A semi-final in Queens showed off some latent talent on grass, but it has been the switch back to hard-courts that has galvanized the Russian. He reached the final in Washington and then enjoyed a herculean run to the Roger’s Cup final.
I was slightly shocked to discover that these two compatriots have never played on the tour proper. Medvedev comfortably won a Challenger Tour match in 2016. These two will not be strangers to each other and will have doubtless hit tonnes of balls with each other. Medvedev has enjoyed a slightly murderous schedule of late, which may have been the reason for a disappointing week in Canada. Rublev will be the underdog but should feed off the positive Federer juju he generated yesterday.
Written by Damien Kayat for @Hollywoodbets.net
