Big names return in stacked Cincinnati draw

The road to the US Open looks set to gather pace and momentum in Cincinnati, as several leading players across both tours return to action following their exertions in the Paris Olympic Games.

This year’s National Bank Open, currently still ongoing, has been defined largely by the players missing from the event, as those who went deep on the clay courts of the French capital took time to rest and recover before making the journey west.

Among those absent in Canada are the WTA’s world No1 Iga Swiatek and reigning Roland-Garros and Wimbledon champion, Carlos Alcaraz, both of whom went the full six-match distance in Paris.

This week, however, they begin the North American hard-court swing in earnest as a crop of familiar names regather for the second 1000-level event of this late-summer stretch.

Swiatek and sabalenka on course for semi-final meeting

Joining Swiatek in returning to regular tour action at the Western and Southern Open are Jasmine Paolini, Elena Rybakina and freshly-crowned Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen.

Aryna Sabalenka, who played in both Washington and Toronto after opting to skip the Olympic Games, has landed in Swiatek’s half of the draw, meaning they are slated to meet in the semi-finals.

But Sabalenka would have to come through a potential blockbuster encounter against fellow Belarusian Victoria Azarenka in the third round if she is to progress, while Swiatek will begin her campaign against either Ajla Tomljanovic or a qualifier, having received a bye into the round of 32.

Defending champion Coco Gauff, currently struggling somewhat for form and consistency, will get her title defence underway against Julia Putintseva, should the Kazakh come through her opening round against a qualifier.

Some notable first-round encounters include Ons Jabeur against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, eleventh seed Emma Navarro up against prodigious young Russian Mirra Andreeva and Olympic silver medallist Donna Vekic against Beatriz Haddad Maia.

Another eye-catching storyline is Naomi Osaka looking to navigate her way through qualifying for the first time since 2018, having not been offered a wildcard for the main draw. She faces a tricky task in her opening qualifying match, playing Anna Blinkova for the right to progress.

alcaraz handed tough draw in cincinnati

Alcaraz returns to hard-court action for the first time since late March with a last-32 match against either Alexei Popyrin or Gael Monfils, either of whom will provide a stern test of the Spaniard’s current form and freshness.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic is absent from this year’s field in Cincinnati, requiring more time to recuperate after his stunning gold medal victory in Paris.

It means that world No 1 Jannik Sinner is in the opposite half of the draw to Alcaraz, who reached the final last summer and could only meet his Italian rival in the showpiece should they both make it that far.

But Alcaraz faces a fiendishly difficult path through to the latter stages, with Holger Rune lurking as a potential third-round opponent, should the Dane get past big-serving Matteo Berrettini in the second round.

Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas then await as possible quarter-final opponents for Alcaraz, with Daniil Medvedev also landing in that half of the draw.

Leading seed Sinner will play Tallon Griekspoor in the second round, with the top eight players all receiving byes into the last 32. Perhaps most intriguingly on this side of the draw, the Italian is projected to face Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals, with the Russian having just knocked Sinner out of the National Bank Open.

Alexander Zverev is also in Sinner’s half, meaning they would meet in the semi-finals should the draw play out in line with the seedings.

Zverev will face either Karen Khachanov or Francisco Cerundolo in the second round, while the in-form Sebastian Korda is a possible third-round opponent.

Qualifying for both the WTA and ATP tournaments begin on Sunday, with the tournament’s opening rounds getting underway on Monday 12th August.

It is the last big event before this season’s final Grand Slam kicks off in New York at the end of the month, offering players a good opportunity for a hard-court tune-up ahead of the US Open.

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