It is the last 16 day at the Western and Southern Open on Thursday as the ATP Cincinnati event continues where by the end of the action in Ohio we will know the eight players who will compete in the quarter finals of the latest Masters 1000 tournament.
We lost Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray from the event on Wednesday but there are still plenty of big names to entertain us on a day where the action comes from the three main courts which will make following it a whole lot easier.
Center Court
Three of the eight matches on Thursday take place on the Center Court at it is the men who open up the show when the Indian Wells champion Taylor Fritz takes on the finalist of a year ago in Andrey Rublev. A women’s match then follows before the men round off the day session when John Isner takes on his fellow American Sebastian Korda for a place in a home quarter final. The other men’s match comes in the night session but not before the women have opened up proceedings. When they are done Carlos Alcaraz will look to make the last eight when he takes on Marin Cilic.
Grandstand
The women get the action underway on the Grandstand court on Thursday but when the men come along in the second match of the day we see the number one seed on show as Daniil Medvedev takes on Denis Shapovalov who has won two matches in a row for the first time in ages. Another men’s match follows them as Borna Coric will look to build on his win over Rafael Nadal on Wednesday evening when he takes on Roberto Bautista Agut before the final men’s match on this court sees two of the best young players in the sport colliding in the night session opener when Felix Auger-Aliassime takes on Jannik Sinner.
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Court 3
The two remaining men’s matches take place on Court 3 but we have to wait for a doubles match to conclude before the first one takes to the stage. When it does we will see Stefanos Tsitsipas looking to make it into another Cincinnati quarter final when he faces Diego Schwartzman. The other match is being saved for the early evening slot out in America when the home wildcard Ben Shelton takes on the last remaining Briton left in the draw in Cameron Norrie.
Betting
One of the best matches on the card looks like the night session match between Felix Auger-Aliassime and Jannik Sinner where the prices are about right but I like the Italian to come through. He had to battle to beat Thanasi Kokkinakis in the opening round but then saw Miomir Kecmanovic pull out in the second set of their last 32 clash so he’s got enough time in the legs without too much and I fancy Sinner to impose himself on his Canadian opponent.
Auger-Aliassime cruised past Alex de Minaur in the previous round here but that was just his fifth win in nine outdoor hard court matches since he bombed a 2-0 lead to Daniil Medvedev at the Australian Open. Since the start of Indian Wells, Sinner has won eight of his 11 matches on an outdoor hard court and has many more weapons than de Minaur has. This is a night match which might slow the courts up a touch and negate some of the serve of the Canadian. FAA did wallop Sinner in Madrid earlier in the year but the Italian was having fitness issues in the first half of the year. He has had no struggles in the last few months though and I expect him to come through here.
Tips
Back J.Sinner to beat F.Auger-Aliassime for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Betfred
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