Preview WTA Cincinnati Open 2024: Swiatek and Rybakina return as Gauff encounters question marks

The Cincinnati Open (Cincinnati Masters), a highly anticipated event, is just around the corner, promising an exhilarating display of tennis. Let’s delve into it in our preview.

The upcoming Cincinnati Masters is set to be a powerhouse event, surpassing the Canadian Open in strength of draw, with the return of top-tier players like Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina, and Qinwen Zheng to the courts. Their absence in Toronto, due to the Olympics, only adds to the anticipation for the upcoming WTA 1000 event, making it a must-watch for all tennis fans.

As we approach the US Open, the Cincinnati Masters stands as the final major test for most players before they head to New York. The event's strength is underscored by the fact that even Naomi Osaka, ranked 95th in the world, is playing the qualifiers.

Remember that this is a player who nearly ousted Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros, and the tennis Tour is so stacked right now that she was only able to reach 95 in 8 months of trying. In any case, let’s start with some of the favourites to win this event.

We have to start with Iga Swiatek, who will be hugely motivated after missing out on the gold medal in Paris. Not winning that event was heartbreaking for her, but I think she’s not one of those players who will dwell on it too much. There is a chance that it sends her spiralling a bit, but she’s just too good and too professional for that to happen.

I expect her to draw a lot of motivation from that failure and dig deep during this US Open stretch. She played well in Cincinnati last year, though she lost to Coco Gauff in a bizarre match. A first-round BYE should give her ample time to practice, and a second-round matchup against Ajla Tomljanovic also doesn’t look complicated.

The courts are quick in nature, and while she struggles with that type of court, Swiatek's power should be enough to smash everybody if she finds her best level. She didn’t do that in Paris, but as I said, I expect her to be quite motivated.

Coco Gauff is mostly a favourite here because of what she did last year by winning the event. She showed how well she could play on a court like this, whose quickness benefits her, especially from the backhand. Her speed is also very useful because it allows her to dig out balls that most of these other players couldn’t.

Her biggest issue is her inconsistency, which showed up both at the Olympics and in Toronto. There are some serving woes and the ever-present forehand stuff that doesn’t go away on its own, so it will largely depend on how she shows up. I think she got some of the demons out of the way in Toronto and will show up with a decent level in Cincinnati.

The crowd proved a big factor last year, and I think that will happen this year as well. She also has a 1st round BYE, but the draw wasn’t that easy for her as she might face Yulia Putitnseva in the 2nd round, and that’s anything but an easy matchup. She will need to be very careful there.

Elena Rybakina is another name to watch at the event, but there are a lot of questions about her. When it comes to her talent and her fit on the courts in Cincinnati, there are basically no worries. It’s a perfect match in many ways, but the problem is her lack of matches recently.

Rybakina didn’t play in Paris or last week due to an illness, and that’s not very good. Sure, in a way, it allowed her to possibly train on the hard courts for a few weeks now, but ideally, you want to have matches. Matches are what count ultimately, and if you don’t have matches, you might struggle with timing and everything else.

The draw might provide a silver lining to Rybakina because if she can get a few easy matches, then she might play herself into good shape for the later stages of the event. It’s a tricky one because she might face Leylah Fernandez in the second round. If she wins that one, then it’s maybe Donna Vekic or Beatriz Haddad Maia. None of that is an easy matchup, but that’s just how strong this event's draw is.

The final favourite is Aryna Sabalenka. You might wonder why that is because she’s now played two events in North America, and neither of those events went that well. She first played in Washington, where she lost to Marie Bouzkova, a fine player but not a player you’d expect to beat Sabalenka.

Then she made it to Toronto and was beaten by Amanda Anisimova there in two simple sets, showing a pretty disjointed performance. Sabalenka also admitted in Washington that she was feeling shoulder soreness as she dealt with shoulder issues a few weeks ago.

It’s why she missed Wimbledon and her serve has looked pretty shaky in the past two weeks. So why is she favoured? Well, because she’s Aryna Sabalenka, and she has tremendous power, which works extremely well on courts like the one in Cincinnait. She has struggled, but she can turn that around pretty quickly, and if the draw is nice, then watch out.

She actually has a pretty good draw, though there are no particularly troubling players anywhere close. Victoria Azarenka is a one to watch, but I don’t think she would fare that great against Sabalenka at her best. We’ll see if she finds her best.

Besides these favourites, we obviously have to watch out for some other players who might do some damage out of the shadows. There are a couple of nice players who have played pretty well here in the past and could do so again.

Now, this might be a hugely unpopular pick for many because of her inconsistency, but I think Bianca Andreescu could be a player to make a breakthrough at this event. The Canadian is playing on a really solid level, but she’s not really being able to find any consistency.

Her Toronto appearance started with a bagel, after which she lost the match, and it perfectly sums up her recent performances. So why do I think that she could make a decent run? It’s mostly because she’s facing Jelena Ostapenko in the first round here. If there is any player who is more prone to beating herself than Andreescu, it’s Ostapenko.

If Andreescu overcomes that one, it could give her lots of confidence, which then could unleash her. She’s a fabulous hitter, so playing on a faster hard court is not an issue.

Very few players have played as well in the past few weeks as Paula Badosa. The Spaniard spent much of this year dealing with a back injury, but she seems to have put that under control, and Badosa is now playing at a really solid level.

Her game is working well on these fast courts, and she’s hitting the ball with a lot of confidence. When she’s playing well like that, she’s certainly a player to watch because remember, she used to be world number two when she played her best tennis. You don’t become such a thing by chance, so we’re talking about a really good player.

Her health will be under the microscope, but if she can push past Peyton Stearns, she can do some damage here, especially as her side of the draw is quite open, with Coco Gauff being the top name here. She's had some good moments against Gauff in the past.

We must mention Jessica Pegula because she works well on fast courts, having grown up around them. Her hitting is pretty good, and her serve can do some damage as well. The crowd factor will be significant in this one as well, and overall, if she can just find a good level, she might do some damage.

Pegula won the Canadian Open last year and that's a similar event to that one in Cincinnati and there wasn't any crowd rooting for her there. It's not expected of her, but you never know. These events do feature lots of surprises. That's why last year we had Karolina Muchova in the final, and nobody saw that coming either.

Overall, as you can see, it promises to be a really interesting event. There are lots of storylines to follow, ranging from Swiatek's possible redemption arc to Coco Gauff's regression compared to last year. All of that and more will be answered in the next 10 days or so as we follow what happens at the 2024 Cincinnati Masters.