Cincinnati Open men’s singles draw: Carlos Alcaraz handed good draw as Jannik Sinner enters under injury cloud
Carlos Alcaraz has been handed a good draw at the Cincinnati Open as he looks to claim the title for the first time.
The Spaniard was beaten by Novak Djokovic a year ago but, with the Serbian choosing not to defend his crown, Alcaraz is a warm favourite to win a fourth title in 2024.
The second seed in the men’s singles draw, the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion receives a bye in round one before a round two against Gael Monfils or Alexei Popyrin.
Neither are the easiest opening matches but they are match-ups the 21-year-old would be heavily backed to win, and his draw looks manageable after that.
Alcaraz is projected to face 15th seed Holger Rune in round three, though the Dane has a tough opener against Matteo Berrettini to contend with.
Further ahead, the Spaniard is projected to face seventh seed Casper Ruud in the quarter-final, though the Norwegian does not have an easy mini-section to handle first.
Ruud could face Felix Auger-Aliassime – the man who beat him at Paris 2024 – in round two, while ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and Jack Draper are potential round three opponents.
Drawn on the bottom half of the draw, Alcaraz is projected to face fourth seed Daniil Medvedev in the last four – in a potential Wimbledon semi-final rematch.
Medvedev has struggled since his run at SW19 and will hope to respond to a shock early loss in Montreal this past week.
The Russian is set to face Jiri Lehecka or Mariano Navone in round two, before a projected third round against the surging 14th seed Lorenzo Musetti.
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Fifth seed Hubert Hurkacz is his projected quarter-final opponent, though hopes will be high that home favourite and 10th seed Tommy Paul continues his strong form and embarks on a deep run.
Meanwhile, the draw is headlined by world No 1 and top seed Jannik Sinner – though the Italian heads in as an injury doubt.
Sinner looked to be struggling with his right hip in a Montreal loss to Andrey Rublev on Saturday night, an issue that previously bothered him during the clay season.
The Italian will hope a round one bye helps him recover physically, with Tallon Griekspoor his likely round two opponent.
Following that, he is projected to face 13th seed Ugo Humbert in round three – before another quarter-final against Rublev.
However, the sixth seed could face 11th seed Taylor Fritz in round three, in what would be a fascinating contest.
Sinner’s projected semi-final opponent is third seed Alexander Zverev, and the German will undoubtedly be a leading contender to regain the title he won in 2021.
Zverev will start his campaign against Karen Khachanov or Francisco Cerundolo and could face an intriguing round three against 16th seed Sebastian Korda.
Eighth seed Grigor Dimitrov also lurks in this quarter, but would potentially have to face 12th seed Ben Shelton or Montreal semi-finalist Matteo Arnaldi to reach the last eight.
