Tennis acca tips: Venus Williams to be stopped, Novak Djokovic for winning return
Novak Djokovic Dubai 2023
Planet Sport presents a set of picks for the WTA 1000 and ATP Masters events in Cincinnati this week.
Novak Djokovic is back in action for the first time since his Wimbledon defeat and as fate would have it he has to face another Spaniard.
Djokovic will take on the current Spanish No 2 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to start at the Cincinnati Masters.
There is also plenty of action on the WTA side of the draw with Venus Williams set for another tough early test when she faces rising Chinese star Qinwen Zheng.
ATP Cincinnati:
Lorenzo Sonego vs Taylor Fritz | Pick: Fritz
ATP Cincinnati:
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Ben Shelton | Pick: Tsitsipas
ATP Cincinnati:
Holger Rune vs Mackenzie McDonald | Pick: McDonald
ATP Cincinnati:
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs Novak Djokovic | Pick: Djokovic
WTA Cincinnati:
Martina Trevisan vs Jessica Pegula | Pick: Pegula
WTA Cincinnati:
Marketa Vondrousova vs Anastasia Potapova | Pick: Vondrousova
WTA Cincinnati:
Iga Swiatek vs Danielle Rose Collins | Pick: Swiatek
WTA Cincinnati:
Qinwen Zheng vs Venus Williams | Pick: Zheng
ATP Cincinnati: Lorenzo Sonego vs Taylor Fritz
Taylor Fritz and Lorenzo Sonego are scheduled to meet for the seventh time in their head-to-head rivalry.
Fritz carries a 4-2 lead in their personal battle but the players haven't met since Bercy in 2021.
Fritz already has hard court titles to his name this season while Sonego is currently under a 50/50 win ratio on the surface.
Meanwhile Fritz has won 27 of his 34 matches on hard courts, which means that on paper at least this shouldn't be a contest.
ATP Cincinnati: Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Ben Shelton
Stefanos Tsitsipas has a tricky engagement to start his efforts in Cincy as he will face home hope Ben Shelton.
Shelton's form has fallen off under the weight of expectations but he remains a promising young player and this match gives him a shot at another top 10 win.
Tsitsipas needs to find his range in conditions that don't really suit him but if the wind dies down, he could be lethal.
Tsitsipas and Shelton have not met in competition before adding an element of the unknown to the contest.
ATP Cincinnati: Holger Rune vs Mackenzie McDonald
While both players reached a new career-high this week they remain world's apart in terms of where they actually are in their career arcs.
World No 5 Holger Rune is the clear favourite but facing a home player in blustery conditions won't be easy on the Dane.
McDonald is up to world No 43 but he lost his only meeting with Rune to date in straight sets at Indian Wells earlier this year.
Rune may have achieved a new career-high but he would still be disappointed with his outing in Toronto where he lost to an unfancied American first up.
ATP Cincinnati: Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs Novak Djokovic
The last two meetings between Novak Djokovic and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina have been tight affairs but they were played on the Spaniard's favoured clay.
Djokovic won their last match in Paris this year in straight sets but had to snatch a pair of tiebreakers to go 2-0 up in that contest.
Before that, Davidovich Fokina stunned Djokovic in Monte Carlo in 2022 when the former World No 1 was returning to the tour after missing the Sunshine Double.
Djokovic has won three of their four meetings overall and his hard court prowess should prove too much for Davidovich Fokina.
WTA Cincinnati: Martina Trevisan vs Jessica Pegula
Jessica Pegula will want to avoid a WTA 1000 title hangover when she takes on Martina Trevisan in a tough opener.
Pegula has beaten Trevisan twice this season already, besting her at the United Cup to start the term and also battling past the Italian on the clay in Madrid.
If Pegula can beat Trevisan on clay she should be able to comfortably best her on a hard court.
Pegula did arrive in Cincinnati later than most though and needs to guard against the upset.
WTA Cincinnati: Marketa Vondrousova vs Anastasia Potapova
Marketa Vondrousova will look to avoid another round of 16 loss after her defeat to Coco Gauff on her WTA Tour return last time out in Montreal.
Vondrousova lost her last meeting with Anastasia Potapova indoors in Linz earlier this season but holds a 2-1 lead in their career head-to-head.
The Czech Wimbledon winner seems to have unlocked her all court game and is still in the form of her life.
Potapova doesn't have a stellar record on hard courts particularly against top 20 players.
WTA Cincinnati: Iga Swiatek vs Danielle Rose Collins
Iga Swiatek could be forgiven for blowing out a whole punnet of raspberries when she found out her first opponent in Cincy was Danielle Collins.
Swiatek came through their battle in Montreal just before she ran out of steam in Canada.
That meeting saw Collins take a set off Swiatek and push her to the brink, coming close to picking up a second win over the Pole.
Swiatek leads their head-to-head 3-1 but this isn't a clash that she would crave as an opener.
WTA Cincinnati: Qinwen Zheng vs Venus Williams
Venus Williams defied expectations with a great win over the No 16 seed last time out but faces an altogether different challenge in Qinwen Zheng.
Zheng isn't an all-power player but she doesn't lack for shot-making ability and will have an edge in mobility over Williams who is nursing a niggling injury to her knee.
Williams imposed herself on the contest in her opener but Zheng is unlikely to stand back and allow that.
Facing a dynamic athlete like Zheng could just be a bridge too far for Venus.
