Despite a current hours long drenching, I Looked at Mason, OH’s forecast, and it seems like rain might let up by 12 PM so here goes

Predicted Winners in BOLD

Many are in action today

(Q) Annika Beck VS (3) Simona Halep – Halep won in Montreal and should have some momentum.
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Followed By / TBF 6/2 0/3 2nd Rd (WC) Jared Donaldson VS (2) Stan Wawrinka – Sticking with my original pick despite his 1st set loss.

Milos Raonic VS John Isner – Take cover!  I expect Milos to win in 2 or 3 tiebreak sets.

Pablo Cuevas VS (3) Rafael Nadal – Rafa should win, but if Cuevas can make jet lag and Rio’s heavy schedule a factor it might be one to watch for an upset.

Kateryna Bondarenko
or
Kristina Mladenovic VS (2) Angelique Kerber – I’ll take Kerber versus either.

Andy Murray VS Ivo Karlovic or Juan Monaco – It will likely be Monaco, but I like murray versus either.

Mikhail Youzhny VS (5) Kei Nishikori – I would not be shocked if Youzhny pulled an upset, but Kei “Bronze” Nishikori is favored.

Andrea Petkovic VS Lucie Safarova – Safarova is ever so slightly favored in my mind. (51-49)

(Q) Donna Vekic VS (10) Johanna Konta – Konta is is having a good summer.

(4) Garbiñe Muguruza VS CoCo Vandeweghe – Garbine seems quite unpredictable since Roland Garros, but sooner or later she should be her usual effective self again.

Tomas Berdych VS Jiri Vesely or Marcel Granollers – Berdych with coach Goran could be a great tandem, but even if Berdych is not playing better under Goran he should beat either player on a hard court.

John Millman VS (8) Dominic Thiem – Tough one … I think Thiem prefers clay, and Millman has had some nice results.  I’ll take a risk and say Millman wins.
(7) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga VS (WC) Reilly Opelka – If Tsonga can withstand the aces, he should win.

(9) Gael Monfils VS Marcos Baghdatis – This is a fun match, but Gael has been in great form since winning DC.

(14) Nick Kyrgios VS Borna Coric – Nick is a little further along than Coric so long as he keeps his mental game tight.

(5) Agnieszka Radwanska VS Andrea Petkovic or Lucie Safarova – This is complete guess work as I think the play-in match is so hard to decide and either could beat Radwanska.

(6) Roberta Vinci VS (LL) Tsvetana Pironkova – Sticking with Pironkova for this reason.  This tournament has been a rainy slog that followed a commute for many players from Rio rather  than Toronto/Montreal.  Players who already have ranking points in a place they like might be more prone to say this is a disaster and not dig as deep as a player who needs this win for direct entry and/or prize money.

(LL) Johanna Larsson VS Irina-Camelia Begu – Romanian power

Feliciano Lopez VS Grigor Dimitrov – Do we have a refocused Grigor after his drubbing of a typically tough Gilles Simon?

(Q) Alison Riske VS (7) Svetlana Kuznetsova – Riske can do it, but will she?

Johanna Larsson or Irina-Camelia Begu VS (8) Dominika Cibulkova – Again a lot of guess work here.

(Q) Yuichi Sugita VS Alexander Zverev

ATP TBF 4/6 3/5 1st Rd Ivo Karlovic VS (PR) Juan Monaco – I picked Ivo, but he is on the verge of defeat.  So I have to stick with my original pick, but it appears to have been very wrong.

(17) Elina Svitolina VS (Q) Daria Gavrilova – I only have a feeling here and it could be way off.

Kevin Anderson VS (13) Richard Gasquet – Anderson is due for some good results, but this is a 50-50 type match in my mind.

Yuichi Sugita  or Alexander Zverev VS Nicolas Mahut or Roberto Bautista Agut – *No idea*

(13) Belinda Bencic VS (Q) Timea Babos

(LL) Viktorija Golubic VS (Q) Kurumi Nara

(Q) Alizé Cornet VS (9) Carla Suárez Navarro – Cornet can win this match if she keeps it together mentally.

(LL) Misaki Doi VS (WC) Christina Mchale – I love McHale’s fight on court.

TBF 6/7(1) 0/1 1st Rd (Q) Kateryna Bondarenko VS Kristina Mladenovic

(14) Samantha Stosur VS Barbora Strycova

(12) Timea Bacsinszky VS Lesia Tsurenko

Nicolas Mahut VS (15) Roberto Bautista Agut

(Q) Jiri Vesely VS Marcel Granollers –

Steve Johnson VS (PR) Julien Benneteau – I think Steve will do well after his medal and warm reception in Cincy.

(WC) Fernando Verdasco VS (12) Marin Cilic – Cilic has been playing well since Queen’s Club, but he had a tough loss at Wimbledon and a tough loss at the olympic games.  He also split with his coach from his 2014 US Open run.  Hot Sauce is totally unpredictable and very dangerous.  I lean Cilic but barely.

Viktorija Golubic or Kurumi Nara VS (16) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – Guess work again

We can all hope for a dry Thursday