Spring has…sprung?#CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/tR8IfSJ3cd

— Western & Southern Open (@CincyTennis) March 21, 2018

Why Miami is played in March and Cincinnati in August

Predicted Winners in BOLD

Stadium (11 am. start)

[10] Angelique Kerber (GER) vs. Johanna Larsson (SWE) – Kerber’s excellent 2016 and strong 2015 seem to be more relevant than her poor 2017 campaign.

[1] Simona Halep (ROU) vs. [LL] Océane Dodin (FRA)

[13] Sloane Stephens (USA) vs. [WC] Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) – Stephens has been an enigma since winning her first major last September.

[14] Madison Keys (USA) vs. [WC] Victoria Azarenka (BLR) – I am not sure on this one, but Keys seems to be out of sorts on the court in recent months.

Court 1

[5] Karolina Pliskova (CZE) vs. Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) – If Makarova stops Pliskova from dictating with her serve, this could be an upset.

[7] Caroline Garcia (FRA) vs. [Q] Alison Riske (USA) – I don’t think Riske wins this match, but she is much better than most qualifiers so this is not a soft draw for Garcia.

Court 2

[30] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) vs. Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL)

[18] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) vs. Zarina Diyas (KAZ) – Kuznetsova keeps plugging away.

Court 7

[23] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) vs. Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR)

[32] Sorana Cirstea (ROU) vs. Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) – Cirstea being seeded is a testament to hard work and solid results.

Court 8

[25] Barbora Strycova (CZE) vs. Christina Mchale (USA) – This would be an upset, but McHale is capable.

[12] Julia Goerges (GER) vs. Carina Witthoeft (GER)

Court 9

[20] Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) vs. Alizé Cornet (FRA) – Cornet always seems to win a few tough matches.

[17] Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) vs. [Q] Monica Niculescu (ROU) – Have I gone upset crazy?

[27] Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) vs. [Q] Yafan Wang (CHN) – CSN FTW