ATP Cincinnati Tennis Preview 2018
A big tournament calls for a big field and that is what we have out at the ATP Cincinnati event this week. This is the final stop on the ATP Tour before the arrival of the US Open, the fourth and final Grand Slam of the season. So this is the final chance for players to sharpen their claws ahead of the major.
Nadal in contention
After his successful runs to the Rogers Cup title, Rafael Nadal is rightly going to take a lot of backing. The action in Toronto was his first acting out since his semi final run at Wimbledon and this has been another great season from the Spaniard. The Rogers Cup was his fifth title for the term and he is a previous winner in Cincinnati having won it for the first and only time so far in 2013. But his composure in winning his 33rd Masters 1000 title on the weekend has him in pole position really for this one of the calibre.
Federer has stamped his authority all over Cincinnati through his career, his 2015 success there being his seventh at the tournament. The Swiss legend has also been managing his season and has taken an extended break with this being his somewhat delayed start to the hard court season. He was due to play Toronto but pulled out to focus on Cincinnati and of course the US Open from Flushing Meadows. He is the 7/2 favourite at Unibet* (betting odds taken at 10:53 pm on August 12th, 2018) to win for the eighth time at the event.
This is a title which has thus far eluded Novak Djokovic throughout his career and he is still a little bit on the unpredictable side at the moment. After his triumphant Wimbledon, he got his first taste of the hardcourt swing Rogers Cup where he suffered a shock exit against unseeded and eventual losing finalists Stefanos Tsitsipas in the round of sixteen. So it is up and down from him, the triumph in SW19 the biggest moment of his career.
Andy Murray will be in Cincinnati but will be a big underdog to the tune of 25/1 odds* (betting odds taken at 10:53 pm on August 12th, 2018) as he is still grinding his way back to fitness after his hip surgery. There has been little on his return to suggest that he is going to really go out and land what would be his second Cincinnati title. He’s just not there at the moment
Alex Zverev is the stronger option after a run to the quarterfinals in Toronto and he is looking for his fourth title of the year, his second on the hardcourt after a win in Washington. You can sort of put him in the same boat as Djokovic in that you aren’t quite sure what you are going to get from him on the day at the moment. Hasn’t quite nailed down that consistency factor. Juan Martin Del Potro is just behind him in the outright winner market but withdrew from Toronto because of a wrist injury.
ATP Cincinnati Open Winner Odds
Roger Federer 7/2
Rafa Nadal 3/1
Novak Djokovic 5/1
Alexander Zverev 10/1
Juan Martin del Potro 14/1
Marin Cilic 14/1
Kevin Anderson 16/1
Andy Murray 25/1
Nick Kyrgios 33/1
Dominic Thiem 33/1
John Isner 33/1
Bar 50/1
* (betting odds taken from Unibet at 10:53 pm on August 12th, 2018)
Predictions
All signs point to Rafa Nadal for us. He just doesn’t let up and will have had his hard court spirits lifted after the title at the Rogers Cup. Federer will be a threat coming back fresh but this is his first taste of the surface on this current swing and Novak Djokovic, who is a tremendous hard court player is just a little too unpredictable at the moment for us (as is Zverev).
We don’t see anyone else really looking strong enough to make a serious challenge at the moment and therefore we are sticking with the 3/1 odds on Nadal to win the ATP Western & Southern Open* (betting odds taken at 10:53 pm on August 12th, 2018) ahead of the US Open.
