The Rogers Cup was an intense week in Montreal for the men, and with surprising results, the upcoming Masters in Cincinnati will be a refreshing change and new opportunity for some major stars to make some quick bounce backs on the ATP tour. The men’s draw of the Cincinnati Masters will feature Roger Federer coming back into the mix after a noted absence in Montreal, and unfortunately just as David Ferrer was getting hot he will be forced to miss the tour due to an injury.
First Half
The men’s draw of the Cincinnati Masters should be quite interesting coming off Montreal. Novak Djokovic is the main attraction at the top of the draw and looks like he might have an easier go at it, he will most probably meet 13th seed David Goffin in the third round. The Belgian on the other hand has a tough road aheqad of him in the tournament and will probably face up against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Fernando Verdasco in the second round. Fifth seed Stan Wawrinka has been drawn to match up against the Serbian in the quarter-final which could be a chance for some revenge for the debacle in the final at the French Open.
It’s not a given how Wawrinka will bounce back in the tournament, after the dramatic second round match he played at the Rogers Cup, having retired in the final set after trailing to Nick Kyrgios. Wawrinka has an opportunity to meet Borna Coric in the second round, and could even get a third round match up against 10th seed Gilles Simon. The Frenchman will open against the big serving Ivo Karlovic in the first round, and if successful could meet either Dominic Thiem or Martin Klizan in the second round. It’s a plausible path to a semi-final but he’ll have to be more focused than he was n Montreal.
Kei Nishikori who is the 4th seed and Tomas Berdych who’s seeded sixth are scheduled to meet up in the quarter-finals, with the surging Serbian drawn as the semi-final opponent. The Japanese, who defeated Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup, and played very well will open the tournament against either Sergiy Stakhovsky or Bernard Tomic in the second round. Gael Monfils, the 14th seed might just be Nishikori’s possible third round opponent. The Czech, who fell out early in Montreal, will be trying hard to reverse his fortunes in Cincinnati. He’ll most likely play Thomaz Bellucci or Jiri Vesely in the second round, and that sets up the possibility of playing 11th seed John Isner in the third round: All tough match ups.
Our pick for the semi-final: Novak Djokovic beats Kei Nishikori in two sets
Second Half
The bottim half of the Cincinnati sets up an exciting continuation of the legendary Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal rivalry. These two rivals have been drawn as possible quarter-finalists. The Swiss who is currently seeded second, will open against the winner of Roberto Bautista Agut and Pablo Cuevas in the second round. He’s also the defending champion, and might play 15th seed Kevin Anderson in the third round. This could seem like a golden path to Nadal. Federer, is a six-time champion who is out to win his seventh title in Cincy so he’s got a lot at stake. Andy Murray is not far behind him in the rankings, and could even finish the year ranked number two in the world if Federer is not careful.
Nadal, who has fallen to Eighth seed will most likely play either Rajeev Ram or Jeremy Chardy in the second round. The surging Milos Raonic is his possible third round opponent, who himself will open his game against another Spaniard – Feliciano Lopez. The Mallorcan will look to bounce back from his quarter-final loss in Montreal, where Nishikori beat him in straight sets, and took him off track despite despite the strong momentum he was building in the second half of this season.
Coming off a fabulous upset in Monstreal, the third seed, Murray is Federer’s drawn semi-final opponent. The Scotsman will start against the winner between Viktor Troicki and Mardy Fish. Murray, just became the second player after Novak Djokovic to qualify for the World Tour Finals after his big win in the Montreal quarter-finals. He will be on a roll and want to extend his lucky streak to Cincy. In his path awaits 16th seed Grigor Dimitrov, who he will play in the third round.
Murray’s opponent for the quarter-final will be Seventh seed Marin Cilic. The Croat will first play either Joao Sousa or Philipp Kohlschreiber in the second round. His possible third round opponent is 12th seed Richard Gasquet. The Frenchman opens against Nick Kyrgios in the first round which is a a repeat of their recent Wimbledon encounter.
Our pick for the semi-final: Roger Federer beats Andy Murray in three sets
Our pick for the final: Novak Djokovic beats Roger Federer in three sets
