This will be another jam-packed day of great matches around the grounds. The most-anticipated matchup sees a pair of two-time Major singles champions square off in the third round. World No.1 Ash Barty won her second Slam just last month at The Championships, while Victoria Azarenka secured hers back in 2013. Thursday’s schedule also presents two other WTA matches featuring a battle of Slam champs, as well as Naomi Osaka, and Petra Kvitova in action.
On the men’s side, we have a rematch from July’s Wimbledon quarterfinals, when eventual finalist Matteo Berrettini defeated his good friend, Felix Auger-Aliassime, in four sets. In another rematch, from the 2019 US Open semifinals, 2019 Cincinnati champ Daniil Medvedev faces 2017 champ Grigor Dimitrov. Nine of the top 10 seeds remain in the men’s singles draw, which also includes Stefanos Tsitsipas, Sascha Zverev, and Andrey Rublev.
Each day, this preview will analyze the most intriguing men’s and women’s matchup, while highlighting other notable matches on the schedule. Thursday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.
Ash Barty (1) vs. Victoria Azarenka (14)
They’ve played three times, with all three matches taking place on hard courts, and Barty leads 2-1. Azarenka prevailed three years ago in Tokyo, then Barty won two years ago in Fed Cup as well as earlier this season in Miami. Ash is now 36-7 on the year, with four titles, while Azarenka is 20-6, with no titles and no finals. Vika was one of the players forced into hard lockdown back in Melbourne, and her season has just never recovered, with five withdrawals this year due to injury. It was this time a year ago when she achieved great success, winning this event and going on to reach the US Open final. But in the past three months, Barty has only lost one completed match. Ash is also 14-2 this year in deciding sets. Barty’s ability to find ways to win make her the favorite to prevail. And the rest of the field better hope she does, as the only two times Vika has advanced beyond the third round of this tournament, she’s won it.
Matteo Berrettini (5) vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime (12)
Aside from their Wimbledon quarterfinal, they also met two years ago in the final of Stuttgart, with Berrettini winning in straight sets. That week, the Italian notably never dropped serve, and would go on to achieve his first Major semifinal a few months later in New York. But this may be a good time for Felix to earn his first victory over Matteo, as Berrettini has only played one match since Wimbledon due to a leg injury, which was still taped up during his opening round win. Matteo did have a day of rest on Wednesday, while Felix participated in a grueling battle with Karen Khachanov. At The Championships, the only set the Canadian won was the only set where he maintained higher percentages on both first serve and second serve points won. Considering the firepower of both men, using their serve to gain control of the rallies will be crucial. Coming off a confidence-boosting win in the last round, I like Felix’s chances of reaching the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000 event for just the second time.
Other Notable Matches on Thursday:
Daniil Medvedev (1) vs. Grigor Dimitrov – Medvedev is 2-1 against Dimitrov, and 2-0 on hard courts. The Russian is now 35-4 since November on this surface.
Garbine Muguruza (8) vs. Barbora Krejcikova (9) – It’s the reigning Roland Garros champ against the 2016 champ. Krejickova has now won 24 of her last 26 matches, but earlier this year in the final of Dubai, Muguruza beat her.
Angelique Kerber vs. Jelena Ostapenko – Kerber already earned impressive victories this week over Maria Sakkari and Elina Svitolina. She’s split two previous encounters with Ostapenko, though they’ve never played on a hard court.
Petra Kvitova (11) vs. Ons Jabeur – Kvitova is 4-5 in her last nine matches, and was only 9-9 lifetime in Cincinnati prior to this week. Jabeur has now accumulated 38 wins this seasons, but she’s 0-2 in her career against Petra.
Naomi Osaka (2) vs. Jil Teichmann – Osaka came back from a set and a break down on Wednesday to overcome Coco Gauff. Teichmann is a 24-year-old from Switzerland who had lost nine of her last 12 matches coming into this event, though she retired from two of those due to injury.
Pablo Carreno Busta (7) vs. Hubert Hurkacz (9) – Carreno Busta has claimed 10 of his last 11 matches, while Hurkacz has won nine of his last 12.
Casper Ruud (8) vs. Diego Schwartzman (10) – Both men survived long three-setters on Wednesday against American opposition. Ruud is now 15-1 since Wimbledon, while Schwartzman has underperformed this season, only reaching the semifinals or better at one tournament.
Stefanos Tsitsipas (2) vs. Lorenzo Sonego – Tsistipas leads the tour with 47 wins in 2021, though Sonego’s tally of 33 wins is not too shabby. Earlier this year in Miami, Stefanos defeated Lorenzo in straight sets.
Andrey Rublev (4) vs. Gael Monfils – Their only previous matchup came in January of 2018, when Monfils took out Rublev in the Doha final.
Belinda Bencic (10) vs. Karolina Muchova – The Olympic gold medalist in on an eight-match winning streak. Muchova upset Bianca Andreescu on Wednesday.
Thursday’s full Order of Play is here.
