RICKY DIMON’S CINCY PICKS, FEDERER RETURNS IN CINCINNATI, NADAL LOOKING TO GET BACK ON TRACK

Written by: Staff on 16th August 2015

RICKY DIMON'S CINCY PICKS, FEDERER RETURNS IN CINCINNATI, NADAL LOOKING TO GET BACK ON TRACK

epa04354138 Roger Federer of Switzerland hits a return shot to Gael Monfils of France in their third round match of the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament at the Linder Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, USA, 14 August 2014. EPA/TANNEN MAURY |

Western & Southern Open

Where: Cincinnati, Ohio

Surface: Hard

Prize money: $3,826,655

Points: 1000

Top seed: Novak Djokovic

Defending champion: Roger Federer

In the late 2000s, the U.S. Open Series branded itself as “the greatest road trip in sports.” Fast forward a few years and it is now the greatest reality show in sports. The show is now taking its talents from Montreal to Cincinnati, where there is already plenty of reason to think that chaos and controversy are nowhere close to an end anytime soon.

As for what may transpire on the court, the Western & Southern Open has all the makings of what should be wildly entertaining tennis from start to finish. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Fernando Verdasco, for example, have to face each other in the first round. The same goes for Milos Raonic and Feliciano Lopez, Gael Monfils and Jerzy Janowicz, Gilles Simon and Ivo Karlovic, and Richard Gasquet and Nick Kyrgios.

Like in Montreal, the top eight seeds have opening byes. Among that impressive crowd are Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, and Rafael Nadal–who snagged the eighth seed and final bye thanks to the absence of fellow Spaniard and 2014 runner-up David Ferrer.

Federer is back in action for the first time since Wimbledon and immediately finds himself with a taxing draw at a tournament he won just last summer (and six times overall). Most notably, of course, the 34-year-old Swiss has landed in the same quarter of the bracket as Nadal. They are also in the same half as Murray, who at the moment appears to a much tougher adversary than the fourth-seeded Nishikori.

On paper the Federer-Nadal section is further stacked by Raonic and Kevin Anderson. Raonic, however, has only one hard-court match under his belt this summer and Anderson is 0-2 on the current North American swing. Nadal could kick off his week against an in-form Jeremy Chardy, but Chardy may be fatigued from a semifinal run in Montreal.

Due mainly to a foot injury, Raonic has won only four matches since early May and none since the second round of Wimbledon. The Canadian leads a competitive head-to-head series with Lopez 3-2 and only one of their five meetings has ended in straight sets.

Murray could be the man to see Mardy Fish’s Cincinnati career come to an end. Fish, who will retire at the U.S. Open, begins against a slumping Viktor Troicki. The winner of that showdown will get Murray in round two. This tough and particularly intriguing quarter is also home to Gasquet, Kyrgios, Fabio Fognini, Grigor Dimitrov, and recent Kitzbuhel champion Philipp Kohlschreiber. Get your popcorn ready for Gasquet vs. Kyrgios and potentially Fognini vs. Kyrgios in the last 32.

At the top of the bracket, Djokovic could face familiar foe Stan Wawrinka in the quarters. Wawrinka, though, has been at the center of the Kyrgios controversy and is also coming off a lower-back injury that forced him to retire against the Australian in Montreal. The Simon-Karlovic winner could capitalize if Wawrinka is still struggling.

Speaking of openings, the Nishikori-Berdych section is there for the taking. Nishikori, the recent Washington D.C. winner, ran out of gas in a major way against Murray in the Montreal semis. Also in Montreal, Berdych lost to Donald Young in his first effort since Wimbledon. An on-fire John Isner is in this section and has a history of success in Cincinnati. Watch out for another huge American hard-court performance by the big guy.

Picks

Semifinals: Isner over Djokovic and Murray over Nadal

Final: Murray over Isner

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

Topics: Atp World Tour, Cincinnati, Rafa Nadal, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, Sports, Tennis News, Western & Southern Open, Wta

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10sBalls_com says:

August 16, 2015 at 8:05 pm

-@Dimonator’s CINCY PICKS, @rogerfederer RETURNS IN #Cincinnati, @RafaelNadal LOOKING TO GET BACK ON TRACK- http://t.co/RnLEmrtgN7 #tennis
MsMolly8 says:

August 16, 2015 at 8:18 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: -@Dimonator’s CINCY PICKS, @rogerfederer RETURNS IN #Cincinnati, @RafaelNadal LOOKING TO GET BACK ON TRACK- http://t.co/R…