It is semi-final Sunday at the Western & Southern Open as we find out which two men will compete for the ATP Cincinnati title in the final on Monday as the last Masters 1000 event before the US Open reaches the business end of the tournament.
We have a semi-final between two of the top seeds and another between two players who are more than good enough to be competing at this end of a Masters 1000 competition so we should be in for a decent couple of matches.
Jannik Sinner vs Alexander Zverev
The opening semi-final of the tournament is the pick of the two on offer as the top seed Jannik Sinner looks to make it into a first Cincinnati final when the Italian star takes on Alexander Zverev, the 2021 champion who is in a second successive clash at this stage of the event.
Zverev came up short against Novak Djokovic in a tight encounter here a year ago but he was returning from his injury at that point and is a much stronger operator heading into this semi-final. Sinner arrived here with a terrible record in this event but like the class act he has become he has navigated his way through to the latter stages of the tournament, although he was helped by not having to play a round of 16 match when his opponent withdrew. He was made to work hard by Andrey Rublev in the quarter final. The Russian took Sinner to three sets while Zverev also had to come through a decider in the last eight when Ben Shelton took him the distance and it will be interesting to see who has more in the tank here. I think Zverev is a big price. I think it is fairly well-known that Sinner struggles a bit more when he is rushed and while he has made it to the semi-final this week I don’t think he has looked anything like as assured as he was much earlier in the year. Zverev looks to be finding a real groove in terms of form and he won’t need me to tell him that he has won the last four meetings between the two. His aggressive, powerful game feels like a problem for Sinner so at 13/8 there is plenty of juice in taking the German to reach a second Cincy final in four goes.
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Frances Tiafoe vs Holger Rune
The second semi-final will see the one remaining home player left in the competition taking to the main court when Frances Tiafoe goes up against the inconsistent and enigmatic Holger Rune, who might finally be starting to get things right.
There are clear weaknesses in the Rune game still which the very best in the game will expose but the Dane has competed well this week and made it through to the semi-finals in decent enough style, although there was a feeling that the exertions of the week had taken their toll on Jack Draper in their last eight clash. Rune still had to beat him though and he did that pretty emphatically. Frances Tiafoe is having a welcome return to form this week and we saw in the last two years that he is no stranger to laying it all down in front of a home crowd on a hard court. He should come in here nice and fresh after Hubert Hurkacz withdrew from their quarter final after the first set so we can expect him to lay a decent challenge down here. These two haven’t met before and while I think there is an ounce of value, I do just expect that added quality of Rune when he gets it right to come to the fore.
Tips
Back A.Zverev to beat J.Sinner for a 3/10 stake at 2.63 with Boylesports
Back him here:
