Carlos Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka, Stefanos Tsitsipas: Who needs a bounce-back week at Cincinnati Open?

ByJames Walker-Roberts

Published 14/08/2023 at 09:00 GMT

The Cincinnati Open starts this week as players continue their preparations for the US Open, which starts in New York on August 28. Men's world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz will be aiming for a big performance to stay ahead of Novak Djokovic in the rankings. Women's world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka and men's world No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas will also be looking for positive displays.

Part one of the Canadian Open-Cincinnati Open double header is in the books.

Jannik Sinner and Jessica Pegula were crowned champions in Toronto and Montreal respectively as several big-name players didn’t go as far as expected, including men’s world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and women’s No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka.

It’s a quick turnaround as the tours head to Cincinnati this week to continue preparations for the US Open later this month.

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With the final Grand Slam of the season approaching, who will be looking for a bounce-back tournament in Cincinnati?

Carlos Alcaraz

By his own admission, Carlos Alcaraz “did not play well” at the Canadian Open.

He made the quarter-finals but was not at the same electrifying level that had seem him win Queen’s and Wimbledon.

That is perhaps a new pressure for Alcaraz this season; being expected to light up the court every time he plays.

He has almost always succeeded in that so far, but his racquet smash against Tommy Paul was a rare show of frustration from the 20-year-old.

With Novak Djokovic hot on his heels in the race for world No. 1 ahead of the US Open, will Alcaraz hit top gear in Cincinnati?

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Stefanos Tsitsipas came into the Canadian Open with positive vibes after winning his first title in a year in Los Cabos and shaking up his coaching team, re-hiring Mark Philippoussis and giving father Apostolos a break.

Tsitsipas said the move to bring back Philippoussis was to help “maximise” his career.

• Sinner wins first ATP 1000 title in Toronto
• Alcaraz learns 'a lot of lessons' after Paul loss

But the first step of the new partnership did not go as planned as Tsitsipas was beaten in his opening match by veteran Gael Monfils.

Tsitsipas made the final in Cincinnati last year so has 600 points to defend.

Cameron Norrie

After a strong start to the season, Cameron Norrie has not hit the same heights this summer.

At Wimbledon, he was ousted early and in Los Cabos and Toronto he didn’t win a match.

Norrie has spoken about wanting to get to world No. 1, but he could be almost out of the top 20 if he doesn’t go deep in Cincinnati, where he made the semis last year.

Alexander Zverev

Alexander Zverev was among several leading players to lose early in Toronto, along with fifth seed Holger Rune and sixth seed Andrey Rublev.

But the one-sided manner of Zverev’s defeat to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina was perhaps most surprising.

Zverev was coming off a title run in Hamburg but produced a below-par display in a 6-1 6-2 defeat to Davidovich Fokina.

Highlights: Paul stuns world No. 1 Alcaraz in Toronto

Two years ago, Zverev won in Cincinnati and then went on to make the US Open semi-finals.

Can he find that level again this summer?

Aryna Sabalenka

“Just not the best day for me,” was how Aryna Sabalenka reflected on her last-16 loss to Liudmila Samsonova in Montreal.

Sabalenka arrived at the tournament with a chance to claim the world No. 1 spot from Iga Swiatek, but will now not be able to get to the top of the rankings until after the US Open.

Sabalenka showed fight against Samsonova but also threw in 11 doubles faults, including three in the same game towards the end of the match.

She will look to tidy things up in Cincinnati, where she made the semis last year.

Caroline Garcia

Last summer, Caroline Garcia was one of the hottest players on the WTA Tour, beating Swiatek on her way to winning in Warsaw, coming through qualifying to win the title in Cincinnati, and then making the US Open semi-finals.

The same form has eluded her for most of this season.

Caroline Garcia won Cincinnati last year

Image credit: Getty Images

The world No. 6 hasn’t won more than two matches in a row since the end of February and her summer hard-court season has started with back-to-back defeats.

Unless she can return to an improved level, she will soon be out of the top 10.

Marketa Vondrousova

Things have changed for Marketa Vondrousova after her shock Wimbledon win last month.

She admitted ahead of the Canadian Open that “expectations are very high” now and she is still getting “used to the pressure”.

Vondrousova didn’t play at her Wimbledon level in Montreal as she was beaten in just 62 minutes in the third round by Coco Gauff.

Having not previously won a match in three previous appearances in Cincinnati, Vondrousova will be hoping for a better run this week to lift her confidence ahead of the US Open.

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