Predicted Winners in BOLD

Center Court (11 a.m. start)

[15] Sam Querrey (USA) vs. [WC] Stefan Kozlov (USA) – Querrey has been one of the stories of 2017.  I think he can do well in Cincinnati.

Gael Monfils (FRA) vs. [Q] Christopher Eubanks (USA) H2H (not before 8:30 p.m.) – Monfils grabbed a good win over Nishikori last week.  Can he win several more matches this week?

Grandstand

Donald Young (USA) vs. [WC] Tommy Paul (USA) H2H – Young likely wins this match.

Fabio Fognini (ITA) vs. Daniil Medvedev (RUS) H2H – Fognini is talented enough to trouble many players and troubled on court enough to lose to many players.

Mischa Zverev (GER) vs. Fernando Verdasco (ESP) H2H (not before 7 p.m.) – Mishca has to be proud of his brother’s recent wins.  This will be a tough match as Verdasco can crush the ball and play quite well but is also prone to patches of poor play.  Zverev will attack the net and pressure Hot Sauce.

Stadium 3

Richard Gasquet (FRA) vs. [Q] John-Patrick Smith (AUS) H2H – Gasquet has had the honor of coming closest to beating the younger Zverev on hardcourts this summer.

Feliciano Lopez (ESP) vs. Hyeon Chung (KOR) H2H – FLo likely wins.

[WC] Frances Tiafoe (USA) vs. [Q] Maximilian Marterer (GER) H2H – If solely for his comedic timing, I will pick TIafoe.

Court 10

Benoit Paire (FRA) vs. [Q] Mitchell Krueger (USA) H2H

Kyle Edmund (GBR) vs. [Q] Joao Sousa (POR) H2H

Court 4

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) vs. Jiri Vesely (CZE) H2H – I expect a lot of service holds, but Karlovic has so much experience in tiebreaks that early in the event, I’ll take the Ace Leader.