Cincinnati Masters Tennis Picks 2025 (Monday 18th August)

You have to believe the organisers of the new look Mixed Doubles tournament at the US Open are just as frustrated with the scheduling of the Masters events this summer as the players and fans.

That tournament was designed to be played in the week leading up to the US Open and the theory behind it is that the top players can all be involved. Looking through the draw, the top names are scheduled to play, but the Cincinnati Final being played on a Monday may mean the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are not able to join their partners in New York City and especially not with the Mixed Doubles set to begin on Tuesday.

They are young enough to play in what will feel like an exhibition setting, but a long Final on Monday may mean rest is more important ahead of the final Grand Slam of the season.

The top two ATP players meet on Monday and they are going to be clear favourites to face one another again at the US Open on the final Sunday of that tournament.

It would be the third straight Grand Slam Final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz and there would be no doubt that we have entered a new era of Men's tennis if that comes about.

Those two players go out first before the WTA Final featuring Iga Swiatek and Jasmine Paolini and then all eyes will be on the US Open with less than seven days to go before the last Grand Slam of 2025 gets underway.

Jannik Sinner - 2.5 games v Carlos Alcaraz: These two players are clearly the top two on the ATP Tour and it will take a brave person to oppose either winning the next Grand Slam at the US Open.

It was Carlos Alcaraz who beat Jannik Sinner at the French Open and that continued what had been an increasing dominance in the rivalry, but the Italian earned revenge with a very strong win in the Wimbledon Final to prevent Alcaraz from winning for a third straight year at SW19.

After losing five times in a row to Carlos Alcaraz, that win at Wimbledon feels very importsant for Jannik Sinner who has seemingly overwhelmed everyone else barring the Spaniard.

To back up that point, since the start of 2024, Jannik Sinner has lost just THREE hard court matches and he has won all three hard court Slams played in those twenty months. However, TWO of those losses have been against Carlos Alcaraz and the World Number 1 has not beaten him on this surface since October 2023 and so this is another opportunity for Sinner to lay down a marker to his fiercest rival ahead of the final Grand Slam of the season.

Despite the head to head record, Jannik Sinner's win at Wimbledon will be one that has helped him overcome the mental hurdle, especially considering he had Championship Points before losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the French Open Final.

The match up is clearly a tough one, but Sinner is playing at an incredible level right now and it may be one that is difficult for Carlos Alcaraz to reach on a consistent basis.

There is nothing wrong with the way that Carlos Alcaraz is playing here in Cincinnati and on the hard courts in general, but the match feels more about what Sinner is able to do.

If the World Number 1 serves as well as he has been, he should have the majority of the Break Point chances in this Final and that is key to winning the match. Last year Carlos Alcaraz was the superior return player in the two matches played on the hard courts against Jannik Sinner and the World Number 2 will be inspired to try and lay down a marker ahead of the US Open, but Jannik Sinner showed again in Melbourne how much he has improved and he may just have the momentum to back up the win at Wimbledon by snapping the hard court run of defeats against this opponent.

Iga Swiatek - 5.5 games v Jasmine Paolini: This is a big spread for the WTA Cincinnati Final, but Iga Swiatek has come out of the tougher half of the draw and has looked much more convincing overall compared with Jasmine Paolini.

They did play out a competitive match on the hard courts at the end of last season, although that was after Iga Swiatek had served a suspension and it perhaps meant her rhythm was not quite where she would have expected.

Despite that, Iga Swiatek did end up with the victory and she has since crushed Paolini on the grass courts in the build up to Wimbledon, which was surprisingly won by Iga Swiatek too.

After the early loss in Montreal, Jasmine Paolini may not have arrived with a huge burden of expectation to carry, but this is a player who is willing to dig in and fight for everything she achieves. 2025 has not been as memorable as 2024, at least not yet, but Paolini still entered this tournament as a top ten Ranked player and wins over the likes of Coco Gauff will give her plenty of confidence.

The 29 year old had not been showing a lot of positive form on the hard courts prior to the Cincinnati event beginning- the key this week has been the success behind theserve and Jasmine Paolini is going to have to serve well to keep Iga Swiatek at bay.

That is a huge challenge considering how well the soon to be World Number 2 is playing, although this is a different kind of test for Iga Swiatek. Previous matches have seen her get the better of bigger hitters than Jasmine Paolini, but it is the movement of the Italian that makes her tough to beat, even on a faster hard court.

Iga Swiatek is serving with more authority though and that can see her set up a few more 'easier' points and that can help ease the scoreboard pressure. Instead it may be Paolini who has to deal with that and it also will not be lost on the latter that she has struggled in the majority of matches against Swiatek.

Back to back matches of over two hours is another factor considering the ease in which Iga Swiatek has made her way through the draw and one of the real contenders to win the US Open can head to New York City with a big title in the bag. Covering will not be easy against this handicap mark, but the expectation is that Iga Swiatek will have enough Break Point chances to do that if she maintains current serving levels against an opponent that has struggled to deal with the Pole on the Tour.

MY PICKS: Jannik Sinner - 2.5 Games @ 1.87 Bet Victor (1 Unit)

Iga Swiatek - 5.5 Games @ 2.10 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Weekly Update: 6-8, - 2.63 Units (14 Units Staked, - 18.79% Yield)

Cincinnati Masters Tennis Picks 2025 (Sunday 17th August)

The scheduling at the end of this Cincinnati Masters is clearly a work in progress and it would not be a major surprise if the organisers listen to the players and change things for next year.

It is bizarre that both Men's Semi Final matches have been scheduled for Saturday and the two Women's last four matches on Sunday, especially as they are likely to have the WTA Final played first on Monday.

Things just haven't made much sense in the back to back Masters tournaments played in the build up to the US Open, and the players have voiced their criticisms, which is something that should really be taken into consideration.

The two Men's Semi Final matches look tough to call on Saturday, but there is one play from the WTA Semi Final matches to be played on Sunday.

Iga Swiatek - 1.5 games v Elena Rybakina: The defending Champion at the US Open is Aryna Sabalenka, but both Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina may be looking to lay down a marker about their intent by winning the Cincinnati Masters.

The winner of this Semi Final is going to be a big favourite to do that, but first they have to overcome a significant test.

Elena Rybakina has to also overcome a mental hurdle having suffered a number of Semi Final defeats this season, including last time out in Montreal. She has not played poorly in these matches, but ultimately it will play on the mind that she has suffered so many defeats at this stage of a tournament.

An impressive win over Aryna Sabalenka has to give Elena Rybakina a lot of confidence going into a match against the player who will be going into the US Open as the Number 2 Seed.

The one surprise about the 2025 season is how underwhelming the Iga Swiatek clay court season turned out to be, but she has been performing at a very good level on the hard courts. At the Australian Open, it took an inspired Madison Keys to win the Semi Final against Iga Swiatek, but the latter is a former US Open Champion and has been putting some fine tennis on display in Cincinnati.

Everyone will feel the power edge is with Elena Rybakina, but Iga Swiatek has an underrated serve and that can put plenty of pressure on the former.

Three straight wins on the hard courts against Elena Rybakina backs that statement up, and Iga Swiatek has dominated the number of Break Points created.

There is no doubting how well Elena Rybakina is playing, but the numbers produced by Iga Swiatek at this tournament are very impressive. A strength has been the consistency that Swiatek has found on her return of serve and that could be the key to the outcome of this match and help the Pole beat this opponent for the fourth time in a row.

If Elena Rybakina is able to bring her very best serving onto the court, she will cause problems, but Iga Swiatek has been playing well enough to win this Semi Final and cover the handicap mark set.

MY PICKS: Iga Swiatek - 1.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Weekly Update: 5-8, - 3.43 Units (13 Units Staked, - 26.38% Yield)

Boxing Picks 2025- Moses Itauma vs Dillian Whyte (Saturday 16th August)

There are some big cards being put together for later in the year, but Boxing always needs crossroads fights and those involving up and coming fighters with real potential who are trying to take the scalp of an old lion.

That is the case in the headline act in Riyadh on Saturday evening when two British Heavyweights main event and there looks to be some decent action on the undercard too.

It has not been a good year for the Boxing Picks, to say the least, but it has been a decent enough year for the sport and with some solid looking fights still to come in the calendar year and beyond.

We are now just four weeks away from the massive Canelo vs Crawford fight headlining in Vegas, but there are also a couple of cards coming together in November that will be very appealing. Hopefully more will be announced in what has been a relatively slow news cycle for the second half of the Boxing year, but the attention of the sport will soon be turning to a Super-Fight in early September.

Moses Itauma vs Dillian Whyte

After an early loss to Anthony Joshua, Dillian Whyte rebuilt with some decent wins and ended up picking up an Interim version of the World Title.

Wins over Dereck Chisora (twice) and Joseph Parker are solid performances to put on the resume, while defeats to Joshua and Tyson Fury were perhaps expected.

One loss to Alexander Povetkin was avenged, but a failed drugs test mean Dillian Whyte was unable to try and do the same against old rival Anthony Joshua and to say he has been inactive is an understatement.

He did fight twice last year, but not nearly at the level he is about to step in with, and you do have to wonder how much is left in the tank.

Dillian Whyte has clearly worked hard and he will be fighting at his lowest weight since 2012, but that is also going to have been tough on a 37 year old body.

Looking for speed and movement might be the plan, but Whyte is in with Moses Itauma who looks the best prospect in the Heavyweight Division.

Even calling him a prospect may be underplaying how far Moses Itauma has come in his young career and this next step is a chance to announce himself as a genuine contender. Talk of fighting Oleksandr Usyk is perhaps premature, but Itauma will be in line to fight for a Number 1 contender or a potential vacant World Title with a victory and he looks to have been given this match up at a very good time.

Speed, movement and power from a southpaw stance makes Moses Itauma incredibly dangerous, although there are still some wanting to see how he handles some pushback. That is what Dillian Whyte is supposed to give him on Saturday, but it does feel like the veteran may have lost some of the punch resistance and the lighter weight could make it tough to absorb the same sort of punches that he once did.

The hope for the Moses Itauma team is that Dillian Whyte can help answer some of the questions about their man, while also helping him bank some Rounds. However, the feeling is that this is a big name being sought at the right time and Itauma can put the punches together to force an early Stoppage.

Each of the last three Dillian Whyte defeats have been by Stoppage, but he did go Seven Rounds with Joshua and Six Rounds with Tyson Fury... That was some time ago now though and the inactivity could see the veteran moved aside a little quicker by a young, fresh, hungry opponent.

The undercard features a number of fighters that are perhaps hoping to use the platform to push onto bigger and better bouts.

Nick Ball is the only male World Champion that represents Great Britain, which is quite a shocking indication of where British Boxing currently stands.

He defends his World Title against Sam Goodman, an Australian who is unbeaten but who had two opportunities to fight Naoya Inoue. Both were lost due to injury withdrawals, but Goodman will arrive in Riyadh looking for a big win that may move him to the front of the queue to face The Monster.

It has long been rumoured that Nick Ball would have that shot so there is plenty on the line for both.

The feeling is that Nick Ball can wear down an opponent who has had some decent wins, but who may not have the firepower to deter the British fighter.

Another fighter expected to earn a Stoppage win is Filip Hrgovic who is facing David Adeleye.

The Croatian has all of the attributes to be a top Heavyweight, but has failed to impress at times with some accusing Hrgovic of coasting within bouts.

A firefight with Daniel Dubois ended in a defeat, but David Adeleye is coming up multiple levels and may not be able to stand up to the shots that Filip Hrgovic will hand out.

MY PICKS: Moses Itauma to Win Between 1-5 @ 1.72 Sky Bet (2 Units)

Nick Ball to Win by KO/TKO @ 1.95 Bet365 (2 Units)

Filip Hrgovic to Win by KO/TKO/Disqualification @ 2.20 Bet Victor (2 Units)

Boxing 2025: 18-54, - 30.37 Units (88 Units Staked, - 34.51% Yield)

Cincinnati Masters Tennis Picks 2025 (Friday 15th August)

The scheduling for the end of this tournament has been a little bizarre- the entire Fourth Round of the ATP event was played on Wednesday, but that was not the case for the WTA draw although Ben Shelton's match was carried over from the previous day. His Fourth Round match against Jiri Lehecka will be played on Thursday, while the tournament has once again scheduled a split that was in place earlier in the event and I am not entirely sure why the change for Wednesday?

We still have to become used to the midweek Finals that have been scheduled both here in Cincinnati and the previous Canadian Masters, but all attention will soon turn to the final Grand Slam of the season.

For the first time, the US Open will begin on Sunday, like two of the other three Majors, and that tournament in New York City is now a little over a week away from getting underway.

There were no selections from the tough Thursday schedule, but one of the Quarter Final matches scheduled to be played on Friday has some appeal.

Potentially one more selection will be added, depending on the outcome of the Ben Shelton vs Jiri Lehecka Fourth Round match, but for now this thread will be posted with the one match that has fallen within the parameters set for the season selections in 2025.

The tournament started as poorly as it could have for the Tennis Picks and the momentum from the Canadian Masters was not carried over, but three wins in four have just turned things around.

Keeping that going through the remainder of the tournament and then into the US Open is the ambition.

All four WTA Quarter Finals have ended up being scheduled for Friday, which again feels bizarre, so a couple of extra selections have been added to the day's Picks below.

Carlos Alcaraz - 3.5 games v Andrey Rublev: The conditions in Cincinnati have been particularly tough this year and that has perhaps contributed to what was a slow start to the event for Carlos Alcaraz. The World Number 2 feels much better about his game following the Fourth Round win over Luca Nardi and Carlos Alcaraz described that as his best performance of the tournament so far.

Nothing is wrong with the strong numbers that Carlos Alcaraz has built up on the hard courts and he skipped Toronto in a bid to be ready for this Masters event and then the US Open, which is now fast approaching.

However, the numbers should have led to more titles and the Spaniard has suffered some disappointing defeats in Melbourne, Indian Wells and Miami and he will enter the US Open as a significant second favourite compared with Jannik Sinner.

Winning the title in Cincinnati could change some of the narrative and Alcaraz will be very happy with his level considering he has not been in competitive action since the Wimbledon Final.

He beat Andrey Rublev on his way to another Final in SW19 and it is the World Number 11 who stands in his way here.

Andrey Rublev has to be happy with the wins he has produced at this tournament, but this is going to be a significant test for a player who has just slipped from the standards he has set in his career. The numbers remain pretty impressive, but Rublev has struggled for consistency when it comes to facing those players that are Ranked higher than himself.

He has served well enough in those matches on the hard courts, but over the last twelve months, Andrey Rublev has really had problems getting into the return games, and that has also been the case in consecutive losses to Carlos Alcaraz. Being able to serve well enough to contain the top players on the Tour, while failing to have an impact the other way, puts Rublev under too much pressure and ultimately that has shown up on the scoreboard.

Last week it was Taylor Fritz who was getting the better of Andrey Rublev and there is every chance that Carlos Alcaraz not only wins this match, but covers the line set.

Andrey Rublev does hold a surprising win over Carlos Alcaraz on the clay courts, but the three non-clay matches have all ended in defeat and the World Number 2 would have covered this line set in all of those victories. The higher Ranked player did have one or two issues against the Rublev serve at Wimbledon, but still created 11 Break Points across the four sets played and Carlos Alcaraz should have control of the scoreboard in this Quarter Final.

MY PICKS: Carlos Alcaraz - 3.5 Games @ 1.75 Bet Victor (1 Unit)

Veronika Kudermetova - 3.5 Games @ 1.85 William Hill (1 Unit)

Coco Gauff - 3.5 Games @ 1.87 Bet Victor (1 Unit)

Weekly Update: 4-6, - 2.28 Units (10 Units Staked, - 22.80% Yield)

Cincinnati Masters Tennis Picks 2025 (Wednesday 13th August)

The Tennis Gods must have read my complaints about the number of players retiring when about to bring in a winning selection for these pages after Jakub Mensik withdrew from his match when well on the way to losing on Tuesday.

The imbalance is still there, but it made a change after what has been happening over the last few days and Mensik was clearly not going to be able to compete any better than those who have decided to retire mid-match.

Conditions have been very tough in Cincinnati and that has impacted some of the quality of tennis- Tuesday night ended with a deluge of rain and Wednesday is supposed to be another potentially wet day, which will help, although it is still very hot in this part of the world and the temperatures will be very high over the weekend into the Monday scheduled Final.

We have seen players struggling with the North American heat at this event and at the US Open in the past and that obviously makes it tougher to make Picks- you just don't always know who will handle the heat the best and be able to put their best tennis on the court on any given day, especially when conditions have been as brutal as they have at this Masters event.

Wednesday was supposed to have all of the ATP Fourth Round matches played on one day, and so the winner of the Alexander Zverev-Brandon Nakashima match will have to play twice, rain permitting. They conclude the match earlier in the day with Zverev needing to serve out the match, but the break in play will have snapped the momentum he had picked up.

The total from the tournament will be added to the Thursday thread once the final two selections are completed- Zverev needs to serve out the match to ensure a profitable return from the day, while Jessica Pegula needs a 6-2 or better set to cover her own handicap mark having won the second set after losing an opening tie-breaker.

There is one selection from the matches that have been scheduled for the day and that is from the ATP Masters Fourth Round.

Felix Auger-Aliassime - 2.5 games v Benjamin Bonzi: There has not been much to write home about when it comes to the hard court tournaments played by Benjamin Bonzi this year, but that is not the case in Cincinnati.

After coming through a couple of tight matches and perhaps being on the right side of some fortune, Bonzi produced his best match against Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Backing that up is the challenge as he prepares to face Felix Auger-Aliassime, who has quietly moved through the draw and deserves to be set as a favourite in this Fourth Round match.

The Canadian was clearly the better player against Arthur Rinderknech in the last Round, even if the latter was struggling the conditions, and the Felix Auger-Aliassime serve should be the difference maker in this match up. He was wasteful when it came to converting the Break Point chances, as was Tsitsipas against Benjamin Bonzi in the last Round, but the sheer number of opportunities eventually was beginning to tell on the scoreboard.

Doing the same here should give the higher Ranked player the edge and his overall hard court performances through the course of the year suggest Felix Auger-Aliassime should be able to move through to the Quarter Final.

Benjamin Bonzi is playing with confidence, which will help, but he is likely to be put under pressure by the Auger-Aliassime serve and that could eventually see his own game snap at key times.

MY PICKS: Felix Auger-Aliassime - 2.5 Games @ 1.72 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Cincinnati Masters Tennis Picks 2025 (Tuesday 12th August)

You can only feel frustrated with some of the ways the selections have fallen this week, but that becomes all the harder to take when yet another retirement prevents one winner coming in.

It is the fourth one since the start of the Canadian Masters and all when the winning selection was literally a handful of games away from securing that return.

Making it worse is when the player you backed is clearly struggling, but soldiers on to lose (Cameron Norrie earlier this week)... It is a shame the likes of Marta Kostyuk, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Arthur Rinderknech have not had the same mentality, especially as the former two were both back in action this week just a few days after being unable to continue.

So it has been a tough week and Tuesday may be key to the remainder of the tournament- some fortune will be nice and a positive return to rebuild momentum is key.

Without that, the thoughts may already turn to the US Open, which begins a week on Sunday especially if there is the misfortune piles up on Tuesday... Losing selections isn't the only factor, but losing from a position of winning or having players refuse to take losses mid-match would not really be good enough.

One of the selections from Tuesday has full reasoning, but the others from the ATP tournament are added to the 'MY PICKS' section below with the post being put out later than usual.

Jessica Pegula - 5.5 games v Magda Linette: The two defeats in Washington and Montreal have to be considered disappointments for Jessica Pegula and especially as to how early she was eliminated from both tournaments.

This is a player that will still believe she can win a Major title and the upcoming US Open may represent the best opportunity to do that.

The World Number 4 is still playing at a good level on the hard courts and she was a Finalist at the Miami Masters earlier this year, while also winning a title in Austin. Playing in the United States should be a real motivation for Jessica Pegula who reached the Final in New York City last year before finding Aryna Sabalenka a little too good in each set of a straight sets defeat.

A strong win over Kimberley Birrell will have given Jessica Pegula belief to take further into the Cincinnati tournament and she has to be considered a strong favourite to beat Magda Linette in the Third Round.

The 33 year old is a declining force on the hard courts, although she is scrappy and that means that respect is owed to Magda Linette in this match.

Finding consistency on the hard courts has been challenging for Magda Linette and she is another player who has suffered early losses on the surface over the last month. The serve can sometimes get Linette out of trouble, but this has proven to be a tough match up for her and Jessica Pegula should be comfortable in what she needs to do in order to win.

She has been able to attack the Magda Linette second serve with a lot of success in those prior meetings and the World Number 40 has not been able to get into the Pegula service games as well as she has needed.

There will be moments when Magda Linette is having her way, but over the course of this match, Jessica Pegula should be keeping the pressure on the lower Ranked player and she may have the return game to help cover this big line.

MY PICKS: Jessica Pegula - 5.5 Games @ 2.05 William Hill (1 Unit)

Jakub Mensik - 3.5 Games @ 1.72 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Karen Khachanov - 2.5 Games @ 1.80 William Hill (1 Unit)

Alexander Zverev - 3.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Weekly Update: 1-5, - 3.80 Units (6 Units Staked, - 63.33% Yield)

Cincinnati Masters Tennis Picks 2025 (Monday 11th August)

The heat in Cincinnati has been a big factor at the tournament and the conditions remain incredibly tough for all who are scheduled to play Third Round matches on Monday.

A 1-1 return on Sunday produced the slightest of improvement on the weekly totals, which have been updated below, but it has still been a poor start to this Masters event.

Three selections have been identified from the matches to be played on Monday and those can be read below.

Felix Auger-Aliassime - 2.5 games v Arthur Rinderknech: He is certainly a player that can be tough to back with any confidence having fallen out of the top 20 of the World Rankings through inconsistency.

However, Felix Auger-Aliassime has put up some decent numbers on the hard courts in 2025 and he should have all of the qualities needed to beat Arthur Rinderknech.

The latter upset Casper Ruud, and me, with a strong win in the Second Round and is obviously playing with some confidence having struggled on the surface for much of the year. Things have been different in Cincinnati where Arthur Rinderknech has won two matches, the first time he has won two in a row on the hard courts since the Paris Masters last October, and that will give him belief.

Serving well will be key, but Felix Auger-Aliassime is unlikely to fall away as dramatically as Casper Ruud did in the last Round.

It was Auger-Aliassime who dominated when these players met on the grass in June and the Canadian has always been a pretty solid hard court player. Two titles have been won on the hard courts and the World Number 28 is likely going to serve with more consistency than Casper Ruud in the last Round and that should put him in a position to win and cover.

Stefanos Tsitsipas - 3.5 games v Benjamin Bonzi: After losing at Wimbledon and then facing plenty of criticism from his Coach, Stefanos Tsitsipas has gone back to basics and hopes that will spark a turnaround in his career.

He has enjoyed Grand Slam successes in the past, although Stefanos Tsitsipas will be disappointed he has yet to win a Major, but these days he is clinging onto a top 30 World Ranking. The inconsistent performances have been a concern, and Tsitsipas has gone back to having his father take over the coaching duties, while an on-off relationship with Paula Badosa looks to have finally ended for good.

Perhaps it will allow Stefanos Tsitsipas to focus ahead of the last Grand Slam of the season, but a disappointing early loss in Toronto will have dented the already fragile confidence. It does make the tournament in Cincinnati feel that much more important and the former World Number 3 earned a solid win in the Second Round, which should give him something to build upon.

The returning numbers continue to hold him back, but Stefanos Tsitsipas has been serving well enough and that could provide him the edge in this Third Round match against Benjamin Bonzi.

If the Tsitsipas form has to be considered inconsistent, prior to the Cincinnati Masters you would only be able to describe Benjamin Bonzi's form has being almost non-existent on the hard courts this season.

The Frenchman had won two and lost five of the seven hard court matches played in 2025, but two consecutive wins will have given Bonzi a boost of his own.

Both have been in upsets against higher Ranked players, although the numbers suggest Benjamin Bonzi has been a little fortunate to come through against Matteo Arnaldi and Lorenzo Musetti. In those two wins, Bonzi has won 7/14 Break Points played, while also saving 19/24 Break Points faced, and those numbers may be tough to sustain considering the World Number 63 has held in 74% of service games played on the hard courts over the course of the year.

These two players have not met on the Tour for a couple of years and so the previous matches won by Stefanos Tsitsipas are perhaps not a big factor.

However, the service edge that Stefanos Tsitsipas should be able to enjoy in this match is hard to ignore and he may come through with a cover of the line set.

Elena Rybakina - 3.5 games v Elise Mertens: Semi Final defeats have been a feature of the season for Elena Rybakina, but the real heartbreaker for the former Wimbledon Champion is the manner of some of those losses.

Last week in Montreal, Elena Rybakina served for the match twice in the deciding set, while also missing out on a Match Point, and there was a huge miss in the penultimate service game that seemed to drain her of all confidence.

Even then, Elena Rybakina should have beaten Victoria Mboko and she is getting close to finding a breakthrough, which may spark a resurgence in her career. At the moment she does not look like a player that is ready to win the biggest prizes, but things can change very quickly on the WTA Tour and that will give the Rybakina supporters plenty of hope.

Next up for Rybakina is a match up with Elise Mertens and the World Number 10 can produce a fifth straight win over this opponent.

Elise Mertens has not had a bad year on the hard courts, but it has been tough for her when she has been up against players that are stronger than her.

A 1-5 record against higher Ranked players cannot be ignored, nor can the fact that Elise Mertens has been well beaten in the majority of those defeats. Her hard court numbers have dipped considerably when facing those stronger players and Elise Mertens will not have much confidence with her head to head with Elena Rybakina in mind.

Finding a way to serve well enough to curb the aggressive returning of Elena Rybakina will be tough, but that will also put pressure on Elise Mertens when it comes to impacting the serve that she will be facing.

Since Elena Rybakina has moved past Elise Mertens in the World Rankings, she has won three matches against the Belgian very impressively and another good, solid win can be secured in this Third Round match in Cincinnati.

MY PICKS: Felix Auger-Aliassime - 2.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet Victor (1 Unit)

Stefanos Tsitsipas - 3.5 Games @ 2.10 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Elena Rybakina - 3.5 Games @ 1.85 William Hill (1 Unit)

Weekly Update: 1-3, - 1.80 Units (4 Units Staked, - 45% Yield)