It is the last 16 day at the Western & Southern Open on Thursday as the ATP Cincinnati Masters 1000 event heads towards the business stage of the tournament. We are gearing up for a big weekend for someone ahead of the US Open later in the month.
All eight last 16 matches will take place on what looks like being one excellent day of tennis out in Ohio, with some big names, some competitive looking matches and some great conditions all set to greet those attending.
Wednesday Recap
We lost yet more big names from the bottom half of the draw on Wednesday as Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Kei Nishikori all bit the dust in disappointing fashion. Nishikori was at least suffering from a cold but the other two ran into opponents too good for them. The event then turned into farce later in proceedings as the Nick Kyrgios show got out of hand. Karen Khachanov held himself together well to knock him out.
Thankfully that match went beyond the 23.5 games mark that it needed to. It did so in two sets but as it turned out the match went to a decider anyway which meant that it safely covered the line we took. We needed it because for the second time in two nights we had a player serve for a set only to lose it in straight sets. Guido Pella being the frustrating person on this occasion.
Center Court
The first match up on Center Court on Thursday could be a lengthy and physically demanding tussle as Diego Schwartzman takes on Richard Gasquet. Schwartzman is becoming a solid player on American hard courts while Gasquet is looking to get back to former glories. It is the top of the tree on show on this court after that. After a women’s match Roger Federer will take to the court to face Andrey Rublev to round off the day session while the night session begins with Novak Djokovic taking on Pablo Carreno Busta.
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Grandstand
We have three men’s matches on the second stadium court out in Cincinnati but it is a women’s match that takes place first. Once that is done then Daniil Medvedev and Jan-Lennard Struff will take to the court before Roberto Bautista Agut goes up against Miomir Kecmanovic for a place in the quarter finals. Later in the day we have one more men’s match which sees the eighth seed Karen Khachanov going up against Lucas Pouille with Novak Djokovic potentially waiting for the winner in the quarter final.
Stadium 3
There are two more men’s matches out on the third court on Thursday with plenty of doubles action to follow including Andy Murray. The first singles match sees Yoshihito Nishioka going up against Alex de Minaur in what is a big match for both men given the wide open look to the bottom half. David Goffin and Adrian Mannarino follow them and both are in the same boat as the two winners of those matches will meet in the quarter final so one of them will be a semi-finalist come Saturday.
Betting
I’ll go with a couple of bets over the course of the day. I’ve been waiting for the right time to take on Daniil Medvedev this week and I fancy now could be that. He has played a heck of a lot of tennis in recent times having made the final of Washington and Montreal, so you’ve got to think his legs will be getting a little jaded and heavy. That could be a big concern when he takes on Jan-Lennard Struff, who looked to be hitting the ball about as well as I’ve ever seen him do it in his win over Stefanos Tsitsipas on Wednesday. The German looks to be ticking into a bit of form and the longer he keeps Medvedev in the battle, the better his chances could become. I think there is value in Struff here.
One favourite who I do think is solid on Thursday is Roberto Bautista Agut, and he could even be a better chance than the odds compilers are suggesting. His opponent, Miomir Kecmanovic, had an excellent win over Alexander Zverev on Wednesday but emotional wins like that sometimes take it out of inexperienced players the next day and without being too harsh, Zverev largely handed that match to his opponent by serving a ridiculous 20 double faults. Bautista Agut isn’t going to be so helpful. His errors are generally at a minimum these days and he’s in decent nick. I think he’ll have too much for the young Serb.
Tips
Back J-L.Struff to beat D.Medvedev for a 3/10 stake at 3.20 with BetVictor
Back him here:
WON – Back R.Bautista Agut (-3.5 games) to beat M.Kecmanovic for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with ComeOn
Back him here:
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