The Cincinnati Open continues this week as Emma Navarro faces Mirra Andreeva while Paula Badosa goes up against Peyton Stearns in the round of 64. Damien Kayat previews.
2024 ATP Tour – WTA 1000
Cincinnati Open
Lindner Family Tennis Centre
Selected Ro 64 matches – 14 August
Emma Navarro 77/100 | Mirra Andreeva 1/1
New York native Emma Navarro has enjoyed an extremely successful season that sees her currently sitting 13th in the live WTA rankings. She won her maiden title in Hobart and she has remained amazingly consistent throughout the year.
She reached her first WTA 1000 semifinal in Toronto last week (her 5th semifinal of the year). In fact, she currently ties Iga Swiatek for the most hardcourt victories of the year (24). She reached a maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal at Wimbledon and she is starting to look far more comfortable in high-pressure matches.
I like the fact that she doesn’t rely on simply hitting flat groundstrokes. She can deploy heavy topspin on that forehand wing to push her opponents back in the court. She also has a really educated backhand slice that can disrupt the flow of her opponents.
Next up for Navarro is arguably the most exciting young prospect in women’s tennis: Mirra Andreeva. The 17-year-old Russian is 22-10 for the WTA season and she looks like she will only improve as time goes on.
She reached the 4th round of the Aussie Open and reached a maiden Grand Slam semifinal in Paris. That run in Paris made her the youngest woman since Anna Kournikova in 1998 to reach the fourth round on all three surfaces in slams. And she won her maiden WTA title in July, beating Elina Avanesyan in the final of the Iasi Open. To add to all of that, her and partner Diana Shnaider just won the Olympic silver medal in doubles (obviously playing under a neutral flag).
A defensive baseliner by nature, Andreeva is slowly starting to integrate more aggression into her play. She redirects the ball very well but probably needs to go for more outright winners if she really wants to take that next step forward.
The Verdict: Navarro to win in three sets 7/2
This will be their first career meeting. Navarro is obviously a solid favourite after her Toronto exploits. But Andreeva’s defensive rigour will make her tough for Navarro to break down.
Andreeva is fine with extended rallies and should have the patience to deal with Navarro’s knifed backhand slice. That being said, I think that Navarro probably has better variety and should take this in three.
Paula Badosa 36/100 | Peyton Stearns 21/10
This could prove to be a fascinating clash between two players in upwardly mobile form. Paula Badosa’s future as a tennis player was in massive doubt following a terrible stress fracture of the back last season.
She returned to action this year but had to withdraw from a number of events due to a recurrence of that injury. But it appears as if the Spaniard has finally got her groove back, following up a fourth-round run at Wimbledon with an exceptional Citi Open title victory. That victory in Washington marked her first title in over two and a half years and really highlighted what she is capable of on hard surfaces.
She lost to Ostapenko in the early stages of Toronto last week she will be looking for a quick bounce-back here. Badosa served tremendously in Washington and will look for that to provide the foundation for her this week. She reached the quarterfinals here back in 2021 and knows a strong week will put her on the precipice of being seeded at Flushing Meadows.
22-year-old Peyton Stearns is building up some nice momentum and could be an interesting little dark horse pick at this year’s US Open. The 2022 NCAA Champion reached the 4th round of last year’s US Open and she also won her maiden title in Rabat earlier this season.
She is an adroit hardcourt operator and comes into this event fresh off a WTA 1000 quarterfinal run in Toronto. She was exceptional in Toronto, using her dynamite forehand to take down Keys and Azarenka in back-to-back matches (both retired while Stearns was in the lead).
She lost in two competitive sets to eventual champion Pegula and she should be feeling extremely confident this week. She will receive boisterous home support and should pose Badosa plenty of problems.
The Verdict: Stearns to win in straight sets 42/10
This will be the first career meeting between these two. This is a bold call but I can see Stearns steamrolling Badosa. Sure, the Spaniard picked up that massive title in Washington.
But she looked jaded in the latter stages of that Ostapenko match and she must be careful not to stretch her fragile body beyond its breaking point. Stearns looked industrious in Toronto and she could exposé any lingering Badosa frailties.
