The First Round has begun in Cincinnati, but it will be completed on Tuesday.
We also have the beginning of the Second Round as the tournament looks to get business concluded by the end of the weekend and the rain delays have perhaps slowed things a little bit.
Hopefully it will be a clearer week for those taking to the courts as both the ATP and WTA Tour meet here for the final big event before the US Open gets underway on Monday 30th August.
Aslan Karatsev v Marin Cilic: There have been a couple of disappointing early losses for Aslan Karatsev in recent weeks at the Olympic Games and Canadian Masters and that has just slowed the momentum he earned early in the 2021 season. The rise up to World Number 22 has largely come about from a strong run in the Challenger events at the back end of 2020 followed by a very strong hard court season on the main Tour early in 2021.
Reaching the Australian Open Semi Final was a real surprise for the Russian, but he has backed up his hard court performances with a big title in Dubai. With that in mind it has been disappointing to see Aslan Karatsev end up losing to the likes of Jeremy Chardy and Karen Khachanov in the last two tournaments before really getting going.
The defeat to Khachanov is a bit more forgivable, but Aslan Karatsev will be looking for much better in Cincinnati where the faster conditions could be to his liking. When at his best, the serve can be a huge weapon for Aslan Karatsev and I think he will be looking to use that to keep the pressure on his veteran First Round opponent in Cincinnati.
Marin Cilic is not the player he was when winning the US Open and it has been a disappointing year on the hard courts so far. Like his opponent, Marin Cilic has suffered early defeats in both the Tokyo Olympics and Canadian Masters tournaments that have been played over the last few weeks and his 7-7 record on the hard courts in 2021 has to be a concern for the former World Number 3 who is now on the brink of exiting the top 40 in the World Rankings.
The serve is still an important part of the Cilic game and it will be instrumental to trying to win this First Round match, but the Croatian has not been able to produce the return of serve he could when at his best. That puts pressure on the serve and Marin Cilic has held less than 80% of the service games he has played on the hard courts and I certainly believe Aslan Karatsev has the return to put some Cilic in tough positions.
He has not been at his best in the last few months, but Aslan Karatsev can still have enough all around Tennis to beat Marin Cilic at this stage of their respective careers. It may need three sets to get it done, but I believe the Russian's superior return game can end up making the difference at a key moment and that should see Aslan Karatsev earn his spot in the Second Round.
Gael Monfils - 1.5 games v Dusan Lajovic: It has been a really difficult twelve months for Gael Monfils on the Tour, but his personal life looks to have settled down and that may spark a return to form on the court. A couple of matches were won last week in Toronto and it may give Gael Monfils to have a decent tournament in Cincinnati after failing to win a single hard court match in 2021 before heading to Canada.
The underlying numbers have not been too bad, but Gael Monfils has been on the wrong side of a number of close defeats and that has not helped him build any momentum. It is a reason the two wins in Toronto could be important for Monfils if he is going to have a strong end to the 2021 season and perhaps turn the negative momentum with his Ranking likely to plummet.
There is no doubt that Gael Monfils has to be stronger behind serve if he is going to win more matches, but there were some signs of that last week. He has held only 76% of his service games played on the hard courts this season, but Gael Monfils was only broken twice across his last two matches and will feel he has enough behind that shot to keep Dusan Lajovic at bay.
The Serbian World Number 44 has had a difficult season on the hard courts, although Dusan Lajovic was able to put a couple of wins on the board in Toronto last week. Like Monfils, Dusan Lajovic has to look at that tournament as a potential momentum shifter on his season on the hard courts and his numbers are pretty similar to Gael Monfils which makes this a tough match to call.
However, I do think Gael Monfils is the more comfortable player on the hard courts and he can only be more confident in beating Dusan Lajovic having won their only previous match on the clay courts which should favour the latter more than the former.
Dusan Lajovic has been slightly stronger on serve on this surface in 2021, but he has perhaps been a little better behind that shot than we have become accustomed to. It is Gael Monfils who has been the better returner of the two when it comes to hard court matches and I think that will be a key for the Frenchman to find a way to get past Lajovic and covering the spread on his way through to the Second Round.
MY PICKS: Aslan Karatsev @ 1.80 Bet365 (2 Units)
Gael Monfils - 1.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Ons Jabeur - 2.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet365 (2 Units)
Marketa Vondrousova - 1.5 Games @ 1.87 Bet Victor (2 Units)
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