It is Day Four at the 2023 Cincinnati Open with a stacked schedule of ties in both ATP and WTA. As ever, TennisUpToDate will preview the main ties at the Western & Southern Open with the second round the order of the day.
After two years away from the States due to Covid mandates, Novak Djokovic will make his return on Wednesday evening albeit in a tough first tie as he faces Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
The Spaniard is playing the tennis of his life and reached the semi-finals in Montreal and if any rust is there for Djokovic who has been training hard albeit not match practice, the Spaniard will certainly take advantage.
Albeit Djokovic holds a 3-1 Head to Head advantage going into he tie, but as his French Open proved, warm-ups aren't the be all and end all for the 23-time Grand Slam champion.
It is one of only two ATP ties on the main court with an entertaining clash between Stefanos Tsitsipas, a title winner again as of late in Los Cabos facing the American rising star, Ben Shelton.
Pegula, Swiatek, Gauff headline mainly WTA schedule
Interspersed between those ties include Jessica Pegula fresh off her Montreal title albeit one that she worked hard for was marred by scheduling issues that saw the WTA criticized. She faces Martina Trevisan who she holds a 2-0 Head to Head record against and ahead of returning to her home Grand Slam, the onus will be on the World Number Three to make another statement.
As will Iga Swiatek who herself sided with Rybakina, Pegula and Samsonova over the issues and faces a player she also faced in Montreal. Danielle Collins went from qualifying all the way to the Quarter-Finals but lost to Swiatek, their tie in Cincinnati is in the second round.
3-1 to Swiatek Head to Head wise going into that. While Coco Gauff who is also a recent title winner like Swiatek in Warsaw and Pegula in Montreal will aim to add to Washington in the second American tournament of the hard court swing. Awaiting her is Mayar Sherif.
Sinner, Venus Williams, Medvedev, Sabalenka, Tiafoe and Rybakina among outside court ties
But while those big names will adorn the main show court, from Grandstand onwards, there are many ties that could've found their way onto the main court.
Daniil Medvedev faces Lorenzo Musetti, after winning Toronto, Jannik Sinner will take on Dusan Lajovic. While the icon herself Venus Williams will hope to rack up another big win. She faces Qinwen Zheng.
The rising Chinese star will hope to end the run of the 43-year-old in Cincinnati and further her own ambitions. Aryna Sabalenka also plays against Ann Li.
While ending Grandstand is Frances Tiafoe facing Stan Wawrinka. What a set of ties.
That isn't even including Elena Rybakina - Jelena Ostapenko, Donna Vekic - Victoria Azarenka, Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Maria Sakkari, Marketa Vondrousova and Alexander Zverev who all play on a bumper Wednesday. Stars wherever you look in Ohio.
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Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.