Carlos Alcaraz returns to action at the ATP Cincinnati Masters after taking the Silver Medal at the Paris Olympics. The defending runner-up (missed one championship point in the final) starts his campaign against the ultimate entertainer in Gael Monfils. Can the veteran Frenchman produce one more massive upset in his career? Who do you think will prevail?

ATP Cincinnati Day 4 Predictions

Luciano Darderi vs Flavio Cobolli

Head-to-head: First meeting

Two players representing Italy (as in the hotbed of tennis talent recently) and having an awesome breakthrough season. Flavio Cobolli is the more capable hard-courter and recently made the final at Washington, has already posted a Top 20 win in each of the last three weeks too. But Luciano Darderi has some things going for him on quicker courts as well, his serve and forehand combo is pretty massive. On this surface Cobolli is the favorite with the more all-rounded game.
Prediction: Cobolli in 3

Brandon Nakashima vs Arthur Fils

Head-to-head: 1-1

If you thought the ATP 500 Hamburg title would fully wake up the beast that Arthur Fils can be, it’s clear he’s still got work to do. The Frenchman went out to Matteo Arnaldi at the Olympics and Ugo Humbert in Montreal with both becoming extremely unfavorable matchups for him. Returning to form here won’t be easy as he’s facing a fellow NextGen finalist in Brandon Nakashima. The American has already taken out Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz in the last two weeks and should put pressure on Fils’s groundstrokes on a court like this.
Prediction: Nakashima in 3

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Zhang Zhizhen vs Andrey Rublev

Head-to-head: Rublev 2-0

Andrey Rublev is in the middle of a very weird season. He’s almost lost his incredible consistency of beating lower-ranked opposition, but at the same time is the only multiple ATP 1000 finalist and is provisionally in the Turin qualification spots. His mental toughness has gone down a bit as well and it’s never easy to predict when he’ll explode. But Zhang Zhizhen might be a decent opponent for him here, after all the Chinese is a similar type of player with huge ball-striking but not much tactical awareness.
Prediction: Rublev in 3

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Carlos Alcaraz vs Gael Monfils

Head-to-head: Alcaraz 2-0

This matchup tends to get quite flashy with both players loving to entertain, sometimes even more than to execute the right play. Carlos Alcaraz won their both previous meetings in straights and it’s unclear what Gael Monfils could find here. The Spaniard isn’t at his most comfortable on the Cincinnati courts, but it didn’t stop him from almost winning the event last year. Monfils just hasn’t been playing well enough to make you think he’s going to endanger Alcaraz.
Prediction: Alcaraz in 2

Main Photo Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports