After a five-month break due to the COVID-19 pandemic the highest tier of men’s tennis will resume this weekend at the Western and Southern Open in its temporary location of New York.
The Masters 1000 event is usually held in Cincinnati but has been relocated to New York this year due to the pandemic. 15 out of the world’s top 20 players will be taking part in the tournament, which is headlined by world No.1 Novak Djokovic. The draw for the event took place on Thursday with Djokovic being drawn in what should be a straightforward quarter for him.
The top seed has a bye in the first round and will open up his campaign against either wild card Tommy Paul or a qualifier. In his quarter Djokovic is set to face nobody seeded higher than 15th during the first three rounds. If all goes accordingly, he will play Felix Auger-Aliassime in the last 16, followed by Belgium’s David Goffin. Goffin will start his campaign against either Borna Coric or Benoite Paire. Djokovic is aiming to resume his dominance from earlier in the season where he won three titles and 18 matches in a row.
At the other end of the draw, Austria’s Dominic Thiem is also expected to fare well during the early stages. His first match will be against either Filip Krajinovic or a qualifier. Further down the line he could then face a clash with Grigor Dimitrov, who was one of the players who caught COVID-19 during the same time as the Adria Tour. Dimitrov recently said he is still struggling with the after effects of the virus.
Germany’s Alexander Zverev is the player on a collision course to face Thiem in the last eight but he faces a tough route. First, he will play the winner of the encounter between Frances Tiafoe and three-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray, who is on the comeback from injury once more. Then in the third round his potential opponent could also pose as a threat. According to the seedings he is on course to collide with Andrey Rublev, but fast servers Sam Querrey and Milos Raonic, as well as Dan Evans, are in that group.
Concerning the first round there is a string of intriguing matches awaiting to be played. 12th seed Dennis Shapovalov faces a stern challenge in the shape of former US Open winner Marin Cilic. The two played each other at the Marseille Open in February with Shapovalov triumphing in three sets. Diego Schwartzman could be pushed hard by Norwegian rising star Casper Ruud, who has recorded two top 20 wins and won his first ATP title already this year. Kevin Anderson faces Kyle Edmund for the third time in his career with their two previous meetings being in a Grand Slam with both of those matches going the full distance. Whoever wins plays Stefanos Tsitsipas. Finally, Rublev could be tested in his opener against British No.1 Evans.
The main draw will get underway on Sunday.
Full list of first round matches
Top
Bottom
Full draw can be seen here
Projected route based on seedings :-
Third round
(1) Djokovic Vs (15) Felix Auger-Aliassime
(7) Goffin Vs (12) Shapovalov
(3) Medvedev Vs (13) Garin
(8)Bautista Agut Vs (11) Khachanov
(6) Berrettini Vs (9) Schwartzman
(4) Tsitsipas Vs (16) Isner
(5) Zverev Vs (10) Rublev
(2) Thiem Vs (14) Dimitrov
Quarter-finals
Djokovic Vs (7) Goffin
(3) Medvedev Vs (8) Bautista Agut)
(6) Berrettini Vs (4) Tsitsipas)
(5) Zverev Vs (2) Thiem
Semi-Finals
(1) Djokovic Vs (3) Medvedev
(2) Thiem Vs (4) Tsitsipas
