TORONTO CHAMP JO WILLIE TSONGA AMONG THOSE IN CINCY FIRST-ROUND ACTION BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 10th August 2014

TORONTO CHAMP JO WILLIE TSONGA AMONG THOSE IN CINCY FIRST-ROUND ACTION BY RICKY DIMON

epa04348860 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France poses with the trophy after defeating Roger Federer of Switzerland in the final match of the Rogers Cup mens tennis tournament in Toronto, Canada, 10 August 2014. EPA/WARREN TODA |

First-round action at the Western & Southern Open will continue on Monday, with John Isner headlining the night session. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also missed out on a first-round bye, but he will not play until Tuesday having just captured the Canada Masters title. Let’s take a look at some of the remaining opening-round matches in Cincinnati.

Gilles Simon vs. (Q) Bernard Tomic: Forty-ball rallies might be the norm for this match. A few of those 40-ball rallies might even be entertaining. The winner will get world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

(WC) Jack Sock vs. (16) Tommy Robredo: Sock is assigned to stadium court, and deservedly so. The in-form American’s recent accomplishments include the Wimbledon doubles title, a semifinal in Newport, and another semifinal in Atlanta.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France returns to Roger Federer of Switzerland in the final match of the Rogers Cup mens tennis tournament in Toronto, Canada, 10 August 2014. EPA/WARREN TODA

(12) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Mikhail Youzhny: Where on Earth did that come from? To say Tsonga had not been playing good tennis this season would have been putting it generously. But it all turned around for him last week in Toronto, where he beat four top 10 players (Djokovic, Murray, Dimitrov, and Federer) to claim the title. Either Youzhny is in serious trouble or he will benefit from a fatigued opponent.

(Q) Benjamin Becker vs. Ivo Karlovic: This match should go something along the lines of ace, ace, ace, hold, ace, ace, ace, hold, tiebreaker, and repeat a few times. Interestingly, though, Karlovic is 6-0 lifetime against Becker and 12-1 in total sets.

Feliciano Lopez vs. (14) Marin Cilic: Both men lost to Federer in Toronto; not exactly anything to hang ones head about. Cilic lost a much more competitive match and he lost it earlier in the tournament, so he is more rested.

(10) Richard Gasquet vs. Julien Benneteau: Will Benneteau get a gift from his French countryman? Gasquet pulled out of Toronto prior to the third round due to an abdominal strain, so his status is uncertain.

Jerzy Janowicz vs. (Q) Teymuraz Gabashvili: What’s cooler than being cool? Ice cold! And that’s exactly what Jerzy Janowicz is. This is not the worst of first-round draws for someone in desperate need of a victory, but Gabashvili will be confident after winning two qualifying matches.

(WC) Robby Ginepri vs. Dominic Thiem: Ginepri snagged one of this week’s wild cards–perhaps one that many felt should go to an in-form Donald Young. Will the American be able to make tournament organizers look like geniuses? He will be hard-pressed with a tough matchup against Thiem.

(WC) Steve Johnson vs. (Q) Benoit Paire: Paire appears to be both healthy and interested in winning tennis matches again. He had a match point against BFF Stan Wawrinka in Toronto and he earned two wins over the weekend to get into the Cincinnati main draw.

Ivan Dodig vs. (9) Ernests Gulbis: The Latvian is 0-2 lifetime against Dodig, a record that includes a straight-set loss in the 2011 Cincinnati first round. Gulbis was not the usual Gulbis in making a run to the French Open semifinals, but the usual Gulbis has been on display ever since.

(Q) Marinko Matosevic vs. Nicolas Mahut: It’s the Mad Dog vs. the Marathon Man. Neither one probably wants to go by his respective aforementioned distinction, but that’s what it is.

Kevin Anderson vs. (11) John Isner: Will three full days off be enough for Anderson to recover from his disastrous loss from multiple match points up against Grigor Dimitrov in the Toronto quarterfinals? Isner also has some bouncing back to do, having dropped openers in Washington, D.C. and Toronto.

Federico Delbonis vs. Gael Monfils: Which Monfils will show up: one who is motivated to win or one who simply wants to entertain the fans? On a fast hard court against Delbonis, it may not matter.

Vasek Pospisil vs. Radek Stepanek: Pospisil will want to erase the demons of last year’s ouster in Cincinnati, where he lost a second-round match to David Goffin 8-6 in the third-set tiebreaker and blew multiple match points. The Canadian has been in a lot of pressure-packed situations recently, so perhaps he will handle a competitive match more impressively this time around.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Bernard Tomic, Cincinnati, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, John Isner, Novak Djokovic, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, Rogers Cup, Tennis, Toronto, Western & Southern Open

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BeingExample says:

August 10, 2014 at 6:19 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: @rogerscupto CHAMP @tsonga7 AMONG THOSE IN @CincyTennis FIRST-ROUND ACTION BY @RD_Tennistalk – http://t.co/1Cq6WJv9II #t…
10sBalls_com says:

August 10, 2014 at 6:19 pm

@rogerscupto CHAMP @tsonga7 AMONG THOSE IN @CincyTennis FIRST-ROUND ACTION BY @RD_Tennistalk – http://t.co/1Cq6WJv9II #tennis #atp #sports