The Cincinnati Open continues this week as Stefanos Tsitsipas faces Jack Draper while Casper Rudd goes up against Felix Auger-Aliassime in the round of 32. Damien Kayat previews.
2024 ATP Tour – ATP 1000
Cincinnati Open
Lindner Family Tennis Centre
Selected Ro32 matches – 15/16 August
15 August
Stefanos Tsitsipas 49/100 | Jack Draper 16/10
This has been a turbulent week for the Tsitsipas family. Stefanos Tsitsipas chose to sever his coaching relationship with his father following a pretty embarrassing first-round defeat to Kei Nishikori in Montreal.
He criticised his father’s tactics and will be working with Greek Davis Cup captain Dimitris Hadjinikolaou this week. Something needed to change for the two-time Grand Slam runner-up. He has dropped off considerably this season and finds himself languishing outside the top 10 in the live ATP rankings.
He just hasn’t been consistent this season and has often imploded in crucial moments. He has one brief period of excellence, winning his third Monte-Carlos Masters title before a runner-up finish in Barcelona.
He was routed by Alcaraz in the French Open quarters before a humbling 2nd round exit to Ruusuvuori at SW19. His new coaching collaboration didn’t get off to the most promising start in his opening match against Jan-Lennard Struff.
He dropped the first set and was forced to mount a rousing comeback to advance. He served an impressive 18 aces in the match as he looks to emulate his 2022 runner-up finish here.
This has been another rollercoaster campaign for promising British lefty Jack Draper. He started the year in decent fashion, picking up a runner-up finish in Adelaide.
He went on to reach his maiden ATP 500 semifinal in Acapulco (where he was forced to withdraw due to an unspecified illness). He has suffered with injuries throughout much of his young career and it seriously impeded his clay-court campaign.
But the switch to grass saw him claim a maiden ATP Tour title in Stuttgart. That success propelled him to British No.1 but he hasn’t been himself since then. Draper was eliminated by Norrie in the 2nd round at Wimbledon and he was openly critical of Olympic organizers for a lack of cold water following his early exit to Taylor Fritz.
He was upset by Jordan Thompson in Montreal last week and he needed to call on every ounce of willpower to outlast Jaume Munar in his Cincinnati opener.
Draper seemed to be struggling with a reoccurrence of old abdominal issues and trailed the Spaniard 4-2 in the deciding tiebreaker. But he somehow managed to find some big serves and clawed his way through the match.
The Verdict: Tsitsipas to win in straight sets 12/10
Draper leads the head-to-head 1-0, beating the Greek in straight sets when they met in Montreal in 2022. This could be a tight encounter. Tsitsipas’ serve really bailed him out of trouble against Struff and I think it will propel him to victory here.
Draper’s abdominal issues are a cause for concern and I think Tsitsipas could exploit that.
16 August
Casper Rudd 11/10 | Felix Auger-Aliassime 72/100
This looks set to be a blockbuster round of 32 clash between two players who recently met in the Paris Olympics. Casper Rudd has enjoyed a really consistent campaign, reaching five finals and winning titles in Barcelona and Geneva.
He continued his brilliant Roland Garros form with a semifinal run in Paris. He then went into his typical grass-court hibernation mode, reaching the second round at SW19 in his only competitive grass-court match of the season.
He has struggled since then, suffering a poor early defeat at the Swedish Open before his Olympic defeat to Auger-Aliassime. He was forced to withdraw from Montreal due to an illness and he hasn’t really spent much time on court these last two months.
He reached the quarterfinals here in 2021 and will be looking to overturn some poor recent form against Felix Auger-Aliassime.
This has been a weird old season for Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime. Long-touted as a potential successor to the ‘Big Three’, the Canadian has been usurped by the likes of Alcaraz and Sinner.
He endured a slow start to the season, dropping out of the top 35 on March 18th. But he then completely defied expectations with a maiden Masters 1000 final run…on clay! An avowed hardcourt specialist, Auger-Alassime upset the apple cart with his runner-up finish in Madrid (where he beat a certain Norwegian clay-court specialist along the way).
He used that run as a springboard to a fourth round run at Roland Garros. He never shone on grass, once again reserving his best tennis for the Parisian clay. He finished fourth at the Paris Olympics but he did manage to win bronze in the mixed doubles.
He is coming off a dispiriting early exit to Cobolli in his home event in Montreal. But he looked really solid in his Cincinnati opener, forcing Kovacevic into a plethora of errors with his array of solid groundstrokes.
The Verdict: Rudd to win in straight sets 5/2
This has been an intense rivalry, with both players owning three wins apiece. Auger-Alaissime produced arguably his two best performances of the year against Rudd.
He took him down in straight sets in Madrid before a hard-fought three-set epic at the Olympics. I just have the feeling that Rudd could exact some revenge here. The former US Open runner-up will feel revitalized after some time away from the court.
The depth and consistency of his forehand is generally better than the Canadian’s and I expect him to reassert his authority here.
