A few weeks ago in Tokyo, Belinda Bencic defeated Marketa Vondrousova to win gold in women’s singles. Neither has played a singles match since, yet they’ll meet again in the opening round here. Also on Tuesday, 2017 champion Grigor Dimitrov takes on one of the ATP’s sturdiest competitors, Roberto Bautista Agut. And Ash Barty, Sascha Zverev, Aryna Sabalenka, and many others will make their 2021 Cincinnati debuts.
Each day, this preview will analyze the most intriguing men’s and women’s matchup, while highlighting other notable matches on the schedule. Tuesday’s play is scheduled underway at 11:00am local time, though rain is possible throughout the day.
Roberto Bautista Agut (13) vs. Grigor Dimitrov (13) – 11:00om on Grandstand
At the time, Dimitrov’s 2017 title run was the biggest of his career, and helped propel him to win the 2017 ATP Finals. However, it’s now been nearly four years since Grigor has won a title, and three-and-a-half years since he’s even appeared in a final. A year ago, when this event was held in New York, Bautista Agut had Novak Djokovic all but beaten in the semifinals, before succumbing to the world No.1 in a third set tiebreak. Neither man has excelled this season, though the Spaniard did reach two hard court finals early in the year. They’ve played four times at tour-level, with all four matches contested on hard courts, and three of the four going to Dimitrov. In a match that could easily go either way, their head-to-head, paired with Grigor’s past success at this tournament, makes the Bulgarian a slight favorite.
Belinda Bencic (10) vs. Marketa Vondrousova – Fifth on Stadium 3
Their gold medal match in Tokyo was a tight affair, with Bencic eventually prevailing 6-3 in the third. They also played this past March in Miami, with Vondrousova prevailing 6-4 in the third. Another entertaining, grueling encounter between these two intelligent, versatile players would seem likely. Belinda is surprisingly only 2-4 lifetime in Ohio, though Marketa is 0-2. Vondrousova will surely be looking to avenge her painful Olympic loss, and she’s an impressive 14-6 on hard courts in 2021, an almost identical record to Bencic’s 13-6. There is not much separating these two except for experience, with is decidedly an advantage of the Swiss. That, along with the confidence she brings from Tokyo, could be enough for Bencic to advance.
Other Notable Matches on Tuesday:
Ash Barty (1) vs. Heather Watson (Q) – Barty was a semifinalist two years ago in Ohio. Coming through qualifying, Watson has played a trio of three-setters over the last three days.
Sascha Zverev (3) vs. Lloyd Harris – Bizarrely, Zverev is 0-6 lifetime at this event. Harris has 20 wins this seasons, and recently debuted inside the top 50. Last October in Cologne, Zverev defeated Harris in three sets.
Aryna Sabalenka (3) vs. Paula Badosa – This could be one of the best battles of the day. Badosa narrowly survived 11-9 in a third-set tiebreak on Monday over Petra Martic.
Matteo Berrettini (5) vs. Albert Ramos-Vinolas – Berrettini is only 1-2 here in his career. Ramos-Vinolas took out Taylor Fritz on Monday, and was the champion in Estoril earlier this season.
Coco Gauff vs. Su-Wei Hsieh (Q) – Gauff is on the verge of breaking into the top 20 for the first time. Hsieh is only 7-9 on the year, but is known for frustrating and upsetting top players.
Cameron Norrie vs. John Isner – Norrie is having a stellar season, with 37 match wins, and four tour finals. Isner was on a nine-match winning streak before losing to Daniil Medvedev last week in Canada. They’ve split two previous meetings.
Camila Giorgi vs. Jessica Pegula – This is a rematch from just three days prior, when they met in the semifinals of Montreal. Pegula was the only player last week to push Giorgi to a third set. How will Giorgi perform just 48 hours after the biggest win of her life?
Ugo Humbert vs. Frances Tiafoe – Both players won grass court tournaments in June. 18 months ago in Delray beach, Humbert dominated Tiafoe 6-1, 6-2.
Tuesday’s full Order of Play is here.
