Preview ATP Cincinnati Open 2024: No Djokovic but Alcaraz and Sinner star in Ohio

The 2024 Cincinnati Open (Cincinnati Masters) is upon us, and it promises to be a really exciting event. Many greats will attend, though not Novak Djokovic, who won last year’s event with an impressive showing against Carlos Alcaraz. Our preview looks ahead to that.

The Cincinnati Open (Cincinnati Masters) has a history of delivering unexpected finals and winners, such as in 2022 when Borna Coric surprised everyone by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. It's this element of unpredictability that makes the event so exciting for tennis fans.

Last year's edition was pretty predictable, as we got Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz in the final. It was so epic that Djokovic ripped his shirt after the match in an ultimately joyful celebration, which showed the Serbian to be in peak form. He would win the US Open not long after, so generally, the event is a good test to see which players are peaking at the right time.

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To that end, we will now examine some of the biggest favourites at this year's event to get a better idea of how the US Open might go.

Favourites

The top seed at the event is Jannik Sinner because he is the reigning world number one. The Italian missed the Olympics due to tonsillitis but returned last week at the Canadian Open. It was a solid return, as he won comfortably in the first and second matches, but the third didn’t go well. He faced Andrey Rublev, and the Russian outplayed him, though Sinner also struggled with his leg. Apparently, it's a knee thing, which is very bad news. However, according to Sinner, who spoke with the media after the match, the Italian said that everything was fine and it was just soreness from having to play two matches in one day.

He’ll certainly hope for some better weather in Cincinnati so he doesn’t have to do that again, but overall, he should be one of the main guys to win this one if he plays as well. With the matches in Montreal, he should be in a better state for this one, so I expect a good level from him. The draw was tough, with Tallon Griekspoor waiting in the second round and Ugo Humbert likely in the third round. Both have a powerful serve which create plenty of problems in Cincinnati.

Carlos Alcaraz returns this week....but Novak Djokovic won't.

The second favourite for this event is, of course, Carlos Alcaraz, who is making a comeback to the courts after skipping the Canadian Open. The last time we saw him play was at the Paris Olympics, where he was heavily favoured against Novak Djokovic in the Olympic final but was outplayed by the Serbian to lose in two sets.

It was a hugely disappointing loss for the Spaniard, who was confident ahead of the final. He said that he would bring gold, but he didn’t, so expect a pretty angry and likely very motivated Alcaraz in Cincinnati. He made the final last year, so he clearly likes the courts.

They play nicely for his overwhelming baseline play, and it took a iconic level from Djokovic to stop him from winning the trophy last year. When we combine all of that into one, it seems as if we could say that he’s the top favourite. We’ll see, but the draw wasn’t easy, as he’ll get either Alexei Popyrin or Gael Monfils in the 2nd round. He should cruise past either one of those, but we have to note that it’s not the easiest draw.

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Alexander Zverev

In the absence of Novak Djokovic, we have to note that Alexander Zverev enters the circles of favourites. The German has played very strong tennis for much of this year, and even a return to the hard courts hasn’t really changed much. Zverev’s last appearance before Montreal was at the Olympics, where he looked pretty bad.

It was some of the worst tennis he had played all season long, and it was caused by some health issues. Zverev admitted after his exit that he had been feeling pretty poorly the entire time in Paris and flew to Germany for some testing.

There was chatter that he might miss the Canadian Open, but he didn’t as she showed up, and he’s playing really well. The German will contest the quarter-final on Sunday and looks primed for possibly going all the way. Besides just finding a good level in Montreal, Zverev generally plays well in Cincinnati. He won the event in 2021 and made the semi-final last year, losing only to Novak Djokovic.

Can Alexander Zverev make a play this week in Cincinnati.

These types of performances in the past and his overall form through much of this year boost his overall stock as a potential winner of the event. The serve, in particular, gives him a big edge over most players, especially if he serves as well as he can. One thing to remember is the potential fatigue after playing a long week in Montreal as he looks to be heading to a final there.

The final player who might do some damage in winning the event is likely Daniil Medvedev. We know that the Russian loves hard courts, and we know that he loves them pretty fast. That’s why this one in Cincinnati will be one of his favourite courts worldwide, as it fits that description.

His results at the event certainly prove that, as he won the event in 2019. He then made two semi-finals in back-to-back years, with last year’s being the weakest outing overall, as he was beaten by Alexander Zverev.

Overall, though, it’s an event where he does really well, but we have to note that his form has been somewhat shaky. He was expected to do well at Montreal even last week as well, but he wasn’t able to do that. Cincinnati as a court fits him better overall, and he’s played there better overall in the past years, but the form is not something that we have to mention.

The draw has been tricky because he might face Jiri Lehecka in the 2nd round, and that’s a player who brings a lot of power with his game so far from an easy matchup.

Novak Djokovic’s absence

Before we mention some other players who could do some damage at the event, we have to mention Djokovic’s absence from it. We're talking about him if he's not playing because he won the event last year in spectacular style, beating Carlos Alcaraz in an iconic match in brutal conditions.

His absence from the event certainly impacts the draw because he just won the Olympics event. He’s far from done. For much of this year, there was a prevalent narrative that Djokovic is faltering and isn’t really capable of standing up to these young and rising players such as Alcaraz and Sinner. His absence could potentially open up the field for other players to claim the title.

The Olympics run proved that to be incorrect, and if he had somehow played in Cincinnati, he would have likely been a contender to win it. Without his absence, we’ll crown a new champion, so let’s take a look at some other players who could do some damage at the event.

Dark horse candidates to win

One of the main dark horse candidates to win the event is Tommy Paul. The American has been playing consistently well since the grass season. He basically just loses when he faces some of the best players in the world. Montreal last week wasn’t that great because he was quite fatigued after a long stay in Paris.

Still, Cincinnati is an event played in the US, and he tends to do really well at them. The crowd will be backing him. He’s feeling quite confident, and he’s been playing on a really high level for a while. There is very little that tells you that he won’t have a good event.

The draw was also pretty solid. He has Hubert Hurkacz in his part of the draw, and he’s just coming off of knee surgery, so that’s not an entirely complicated matchup either.

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For a similar reason to Tommy Paul, we’ll also mention Ben Shelton. He’s an American player who can do really well at this event. Although his form has been all over the place in recent months, his powerful serve will always be dangerous.

The quickness of the courts in Cincinnati allows him to dominate with his serve, and if he brings some of his better tennis, then he can surely make some noise. The crowd will back him for sure, and after all, he won the last event he played in the US.

As you can see, it should be really interesting because we have plenty of really exciting tennis matches. Some of the best players will also return to the courts here, so overall, it should be a really exciting event with a new champion to be crowned. What’s not to like?