Cincinnati Men’s Draw Notes: Life Continues Without Sincaraz at the Masters

As the quarterfinals and semifinals are taking place in Toronto and Montreal today, the draw at the Cincinnati Open was held. The final Masters 1000 event prior to the US Open features 96 players, 32 first-round byes and plenty of tantalizing matchups. What it doesn’t feature is Carlos Alcaraz, last year’s champion, or Jannik Sinner, last year’s runner up. 

Opportunity will be knocking in the Queen City, just as it is in Montreal, where all eight men’s singles quarterfinalists were born in or after 2000 for the first time in history. 

Here are a few notes about Tuesday’s men’s singles draw: 

Zverev at the Top 

A good chance for Sascha Zverev to re-establish himself at the top of the men’s pecking order after an early loss in Montreal. 2026 Roland Garros champion and Wimbledon runner-up Zverev, who fell to Tallon Griekspoor in his first match in Montreal, would like to head into the US Open with momentum. With Alcaraz and Sinner out of Cincinnati, and in doubt for the Open, he’ll be the favorite to win both events. Will he deliver? 

Zverev faces either Cameron Norrie or Dino Prizmic in the second round after a bye. He could face Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the third round, and either Tommy Paul or Valentin Vacherot in the round of 16. Zverev is slated to face either No.7 seed Flavio Cobolli or No.12 seed Rafael Jodar in the quarterfinals, and Novak Djokovic, seeded third, could be lurking in the semifinals. 

Should be a good test for the German, who won the title in Cincinnati in 2021 and lost to Alcaraz in the semifinals last year. 

Felix at the Bottom

Seeded second, Felix Auger-Aliassime will hope to make a quick recovery from the back injury that forced him to pull out of Montreal. It must have been serious, given that there is nowhere FAA would like to play more than his hometown of Montreal. Hopefully he’s made a full recovery and can hit the court running in Cincinnati.

Like all of the top men, he’ll want to get into top form to see if he can take advantage of a field that doesn’t include Sincaraz. The Canadian will face either Stefanos Tsitsipas or Valentin Royer in the second round. 

Frances Tiafoe, badly in need of a good tournament after a rough ride in DC and Montreal, and Learner Tien are in his corner of the draw, while No.8 seed Ben Shelton lurks as the next highest seed in his quarter.

In the top quarter of the lower half, No.6-seeded Taylor Fritz and fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev (also badly in need of form) anchor a section that also includes Casper Ruud, Joao Fonseca and suddenly surging Brandon Nakashima. 

First And Second Round Popcorn

Wild card Gael Monfils faces Australia’s Rinky Hijikata in what could be his last match at the event. Winner gets Luciano Darderi. Wild card Grigor Dimitrov faces Sebastian Baez in his first round match, with the winner getting Learner Tien next.

Another wild card, Jack Draper, faces Martin Landaluce. Landaluce carries a six-match losing streak at the moment, while Draper is locked in a Sisyphean struggle with his body.

Novak Djokovic will face either Thiago Augustin Tirante or Jan Choinski in his first match after a bye.

Alex Michelsen faces Jesper De Jong in the first round, and if he can get past the Dutchman he’ll have earned a second-round tilt with Taylor Fritz. Michelsen leads the pair’s head to head 2-1.