WTA Cincy draw: Potential Sabalenka-Raducanu showdown, Swiatek also in stacked top half, Gauff leads bottom half
Aryna Sabalenka and Emma Raducanu are in line for a quick rematch following their Wimbledon meeting, but they will both have to get past tricky second-round opponents if that clash is to materialise at the Cincinnati Open.
The pair produced a thrilling fourth-round encounter at Wimbledon and Sabalenka eventually came away with the win, and now they could face each other again in the third round of the WTA 1000 event in Ohio.
As the world No 1 and top seed, Sabalenka headlines the top half of the draw and she – as well as the other 31 seeds, which include Raducanu – has a first-round bye. The defending champion will thus open her campaign in the second round and she will take on the winner of the Marketa Vondrousova and Jaqueline Cristian match.
The 30th-seeded Raducanu, meanwhile, takes on either Serbian No 1 Olga Danilovic or fellow Brit Katie Boulter in the second round.
Should Sabalenka and Raducanu get through those matches, they will face off in the third round while 13th seed Luidmila Samsonova is projected to be an opponent in the fourth round.
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Samsonova, though, will likely have to meet 23rd seed Leylah Fernandez – who could face tennis great and wildcard entrant Venus Williams in the second round – in round three.
Sixth seed Madison Keys and ninth seed Elena Rybakina are the top players in Section 2 and they are expected to meet in the fourth round before a potential quarter-final encounter against Sabalenka, with third seed Iga Swiatek possibly awaiting in the semi-final.
Swiatek’s Route
Reigning Wimbledon champion Swiatek headlines Section 3 and she will face either Anastasia Potapova or a qualifier in the second round with Marta Kostyuk projected to be a third-round opponent and 14th seed Diana Shnaider a possible round of 16 rival.
Shnaider will face either a rising star Victoria Mboko or a qualifier in her opener. The 18-year-old Mboko is still in action at the Canadian Open as she has reached the semi-finals on debut following wins over the likes of Coco Gauff and Jelena Ostapenko.
Swiatek-Shnaider are projected to meet fifth seed Amanda Anisimova in the quarter-final.
Coco Gauff Leads Bottom Half
Second seed Gauff has been handed a kind draw as she faces Emiliana Arango or Wang Xinyu in her opener with 15th seed Daria Kasatkina in line for a fourth-round encounter and seventh seed Jasmine Paolini a potential quarter-final opponent.
Paolini, though, is set to a possible fourth-round clash against 10th seed Elina Svitolina, who could face two-time Grand Slam winner Barbora Krejcikova in the second round and Naomi Osaka in the third round.
Osaka, who has reached the semi-final of the Canadian Open, faces a qualifier in the first round and the winner will go on to face 20th seed Linda Noskova before a potential meeting with Svitolina.
A Gauff-Jessica Pegula semi-final is the projected, but the latter has 16th seed Clara Tauson – a semi-finalist in Montreal – and 17th seed Belinda Bencic in her bracket of the draw while she could also face Emma Navarro in the last eight.
Eighth seed Navarro is the highest-ranked player in Section 5 and she is projected to meet 29th seed McCartney Kessler in round three and 11th seed Karolina Muchova in the fourth round before potential clashes against Pegula and/or Gauff.
Projected Quarter-Finals
Aryna Sabalenka (1) v Madison Keys (6)
Iga Swiatek (3) v Amanda Anisimova (5)
Emma Navarro (8) v Jessica Pegula (4)
Jasmine Paolini (7) v Coco Gauff (2)
