With many matches canceled on Monday due to rain, Tuesday will be an extra busy day in Cincinnati, as 52 matches are scheduled across the grounds.
Tuesday’s schedule features both first and second round singles matchups. The day is headlined by the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Victoria Azarenka, and Caroline Wozniacki. Plus, Novak Djokovic and Ons Jabeur will play their first matches since their heartbreaking losses in Wimbledon finals, though Novak’s match comes on the doubles court.
Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s two most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule. Tuesday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.
Victoria Azarenka vs. Barbora Krejcikova (11) – Second on Grandstand
This is a first round matchup between two Major singles champions. Azarenka is just 18-14 this season, and withdrew from Montreal last week due to a lingering injury. She is a two-time champion of this tournament, most recently winning it in 2020 when it was held in New York alongside the US Open due to COVID restrictions.
Krejcikova is 25-13 on the year, but has also been dealing with an injury. She was forced to pull out of Wimbledon due to a left leg injury, and this is her first match since. Barbora is actually just 0-2 lifetime in Cincinnati.
They have split two previous meetings, both on hard courts. Azarenka won three years ago in Ostrava, while Krejcikova won last year at the Australian Open. With both players not fully healthy, I give Vika the edge to prevail on Tuesday, since she’s won 19 more matches at this event than Barbora.
Cameron Norrie (13) vs. Gael Monfils (PR) – Fourth on Stadium 3
Norrie was a semifinalist here a year ago, and is 32-15 this year. But he’s lost four of his last five matches, and is 0-2 this summer on North American hard courts.
Before two weeks ago in Washington, Monfils has only claimed one tour-level match since last August. Gael has suffered both a knee and wrist injury within the past year. But he’s now 5-2 across the past two weeks, and was a quarterfinalist in Toronto, where he upset Stefanos Tsitsipas.
And Monfils is 2-0 against Norrie, though they haven’t played in nearly four years. Cam is a completely different player in 2023 than he was in 2019, with much-improved levels of fitness and confidence. Yet based on extremely recent form, as well as their history, Gael should be slightly favored on Tuesday.
Other Notable Matches on Tuesday:
Jiri Lehecka vs. Taylor Fritz (9) – Fritz is 42-18 on the year, and 8-2 this summer on North American hard courts, having won the title in Atlanta. Lehecka is 30-20, though the 21-year-old has underperformed a bit after achieving his first Major quarterfinal this past January in Melbourne. Taylor has already defeated Jiri twice this season.
Jelena Ostapenko vs. Karolina Pliskova – This is their tenth meeting since 2016, with Pliskova holding the slight edge 5-4. But their only recent encounter went to Ostapenko by a score of 6-1, 6-3 earlier this year in Adelaide.
Varvara Gracheva (LL) vs. Caroline Wozniacki (WC) – Wozniacki was scheduled to play Elina Svitolina, but she withdrew due to injury. This will be Caroline’s second tournament and third match since coming out of retirement. 23-year-old Gracheva recently reached a career-high ranking of No.41, and has collected 32 match wins at all levels in 2023.
Nikola Cacic and Novak Djokovic vs. Jamie Murray and Michael Venus – In his only tournament between Wimbledon and the US Open, Djokovic has entered both the singles and doubles draws to accumulate match play, in his first trip to North America since 2021. And he finds himself with a familiar last name across the net, though this time it’s Andy Murray’s older brother, Jamie.
Ons Jabeur (5) vs. Anhelina Kalinina – After losing her third Major final out of the last five, Jabeur pulled out of Montreal due to a knee injury. Kalinina was the runner-up this past May in Rome on clay at this level. Last year in Charleston on clay, Ons defeated Anhelina in straight sets.
Sloane Stephens vs. Caroline Garcia (5) – Garcia is the defending champion, but arrives on a three-match losing streak. Stephens is just 20-15 this season, and is 16-11 lifetime in Cincinnati, where she reached the semifinals back in 2017. Garcia leads their head-to-head 4-2.
Carlos Alcaraz (1) vs. Jordan Thompson (Q) – Alcaraz is now 49-5 this year, but is coming off a loss to Tommy Paul in Canada for the second consecutive year. Thompson eliminated John Isner on Monday.
Tuesday’s full Order of Play is here.
