Cincinnati Open Picks: Tennis Channel experts Sam Querrey, Tracy Austin, and more on matches, players to watch

CHANDA RUBIN

1996 Australian Open semifinalist and Tennis Channel analyst

• Men’s Champion and Finalist: Carlos Alcaraz over Jannik Sinner
• Women’s Champion and Finalist: Aryna Sabalenka over Clara Tauson
• Men’s match you want to see: Ben Shelton vs. Daniil Medvedev
• Women’s match you want to see: Naomi Osaka vs. Jasmine Paolini
• One men’s player you’re monitoring: Alex Michelsen. It's been a consistent trajectory for him since his debut final two years ago in Newport, and he reached another career high in July. He has big weapons, an experienced coaching team, and I'll be looking see how he handles the Cincy conditions this year.
• One women’s player you’re monitoring: McCartney Kessler. This time last year, she was just breaking inside Top 100. Now she's around No. 30 in the world with a plenty of wins under her belt this season. Coming off of the doubles title in Canada, I'm curious to see how she'll do on these fast courts in Cleveland.

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PETE BODO

TENNIS.com writer and author of multiple books on the sport

• Men’s Champion and Finalist: Ben Shelton over Jannik Sinner
• Women’s Champion and Finalist: Iga Swiatek over Naomi Osaka
• Men’s match you want to see: Carlos Alcaraz vs Jakob Mensik, fourth round
• Women’s match you want to see: Madison Keys vs Elena Rybakina
• One men’s player you’re monitoring: Taylor Fritz has been playing great tennis, he's worked hard, understands the game, and even looks like he's moving better. His persistence reminds me of a line Pat Cash delivered when I asked him if he really thought he could win Wimbledon someday. "Every dog has his day, mate," Cash said.
• One women’s player you’re monitoring: Victoria Mboko, because, how could you not? This is a youngster who seems to have it all and it's completely comfortable dealing with it - as well as the accolades she has been receiving. She's just terrific.

RAJEEV RAM

Four-time Grand Slam doubles champion

• Men’s Champion and Finalist: Carlos Alcaraz over Taylor Fritz
• Women’s Champion and Finalist: Aryna Sabalenka over Clara Tauson
• Women’s match you want to see: Madison Keys vs Elena Rybakina
• One men’s player you’re monitoring: Tommy Paul. Tommy has been out with an injury and I want to see how he looks going into the US Open.
• One women’s player you’re monitoring: Naomi Osaka. It was great to see Naomi have so much success in Canada; let's see how she backs it up in Cincy.

STEPHANIE LIVAUDAIS

Editor and reporter for TENNIS.com

• Men’s Champion and Finalist: Alex de Minaur over Tommy Paul
• Women’s Champion and Finalist: Elena Rybakina over Coco Gauff
• Men’s match you want to see: Alex de Minaur vs. Andrey Rublev
• Women’s match you want to see: Emma Raducanu vs. Leylah Fernandez
• One men’s player you’re monitoring: Stefanos Tsitsipas. One year after parting ways with dad Apostolos following a mid-match blow-up in Montreal, Tsitsipas reappointed him back to the role in Toronto. Their first match back together was one to forget, but I’m still curious about how the team dynamics have changed in their second go-around.
• One women’s player you’re monitoring: Emma Raducanu. After putting together a string of positive results with a semifinal run in Washington, D.C. and third round appearance in Montreal, Raducanu arrived in Cincinnati with a new coach in tow: Francisco Roig, former longtime coach of Rafael Nadal.

FRANZISKA BRUELLS

Editor and reporter at our German-language website, TENNIS.com/de

• Men’s Champion and Finalist: Jannik Sinner over Ben Shelton
• Women’s Champion and Finalist: Jessica Pegula over Aryna Sabalenka
• Men’s match you want to see: Alexander Zverev vs. Arthur Fils
• Women’s match you want to see: Coco Gauff vs. Naomi Osaka
• One men’s player you’re monitoring: I'm keeping an eye on Carlos Alcaraz. It will be exciting to see how he performs after his defeat in the Wimbledon final and how he presents himself shortly before the US Open.
• One women’s player you’re monitoring: After a very successful week for Naomi Osaka in Montreal with a new short-term coach, it will be interesting to see if she can continue these results in Cincinnati and whether she keeps working with Tomasz Wiktorowski.

SAM QUERREY

Former world No. 11 and 2017 Wimbledon semifinalist

• Men’s Champion and Finalist: Jannik Sinner over Alexander Zverev
• Women’s Champion and Finalist: Aryna Sabalenka over Jessica Pegula
• Men’s match you want to see: Taylor Fritz vs. Ben Shelton
• Women’s match you want to see: Iga Swiatek vs. Amanda Anisimova
• One men’s player you’re monitoring: Alex Michelsen. He's got a new coach in Craig Boynton and made the Round of 16 last week in Canada. He's young, has a big game, and he plays with no fear.
• One women’s player you’re monitoring: Victoria Mboko. Does the Montréal champ make another run? Can she end the year Top 10? I think so.

MARK PETCHEY

Coach of Emma Raducanu and Tennis Channel analyst

• Men’s Champion and Finalist: Jannik Sinner over Alex de Minaur
• Women’s Champion and Finalist: Iga Swiatek over Coco Gauff
• Men’s match you want to see: Carlos Alcaraz vs. Jannik Sinner
• Women’s match you want to see: Iga Swiatek vs. Amanda Anisimova
• One men’s player you’re monitoring: Ben Shelton. I love how the Toronto champion plays and the energy he brings to tennis. Great charisma.
• One women’s player you’re monitoring: Clara Tauson. She looked so complete in Montréal and has the game to be part of that wider conversation of who can win major titles.

DAVID KANE

Editor and reporter for TENNIS.com

• Men’s Champion and Finalist: Ben Shelton over Frances Tiafoe
• Women’s Champion and Finalist: Aryna Sabalenka over Clara Tauson
• Men’s match you want to see: Jakub Mensik vs. Carlos Alcaraz
• Women’s match you want to see: Naomi Osaka vs. Coco Gauff
• One men’s player you’re monitoring: Alejandro Davidovich Fokina has already had a pretty wild summer, making a final in DC and beefing with the Toronto organizers over an early match he ended up winning. Can he continue to keep things interesting in Cincy?
• One women’s player you’re monitoring: Emma Raducanu is playing her best US Open swing since she won the title in 2021; in range for a seed, the Brit could clinch one with a strong run in Queen City.

TRACY AUSTIN

Former world No. 1, two-time US Open champion and Tennis Channel analyst

• Men’s Champion and Finalist: Jannik Sinner over Carlos Alcaraz
• Women’s Champion and Finalist: Aryna Sabalenka over Jessica Pegula
• One men’s player you’re monitoring: Alex de Minaur
• One women’s player you’re monitoring: Clara Tauson

ED MCGROGAN

Senior Editorial Manager, TENNIS.com

• Men’s Champion and Finalist: Jannik Sinner over Jakub Mensik
• Women’s Champion and Finalist: Elena Rybakina over Emma Navarro
• Men’s match you want to see: Ben Shelton vs. Arthur Fils
• Women’s match you want to see: Venus Williams vs. Aryna Sabalenka
• One men’s player you’re monitoring: Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Greek is going through a lot right now and needs wins badly. He hasn’t won more than two matches at a tournament since mid-May—seeing a [25] seed next to this incredible talent’s name is downright stunning. The 26-year-old hopes reappointing his father as coach can help stabilize him both on and off the court.
• One women’s player you’re monitoring: Jessica Pegula. In a four-tournament stretch from late February to early April, the American won two titles and went 17-2. Since then, she’s 11-9. Her inconsistency has been puzzling on all surfaces: a fourth-round run at Roland Garros was soured with a loss to 361st-ranked Lois Boisson, and she followed her Bad Homburg title with a first-round loss at Wimbledon. More concerning is her play in North America: she heads into Cincinnati, where she’s defending runner-up points, having lost of her last three on hard courts.

NICK MONROE

Host of Tennis Channel 2's Second Serve and reached world No. 30 in doubles

• Men’s Champion and Finalist: Jannik Sinner over Carlos Alcaraz
• Women’s Champion and Finalist: Aryna Sabalenka over Coco Gauff
• Men’s match you want to see: Jakub Mensik vs. Carlos Alcaraz
• Women’s match you want to see: Coco Gauff vs. Naomi Osaka
• One men’s player you’re monitoring: Holger Rune. Is there an Agassi effect? I feel like he has a big run in him.
• One women’s player you’re monitoring: Victoria Mboko. The Montréal champion has 53-9 win-loss record for the season. Can she keep her run going?

EMMA STOREY

Editor and reporter at our German-language website, TENNIS.com/de

• Men’s Champion and Finalist: Jannik Sinner over Carlos Alcaraz
• Women’s Champion and Finalist: Aryna Sabalenka over Jessica Pegula
• Men’s match you want to see: Alexander Zverev vs Arthur Fils
• Women’s match you want to see: Katie Boulter vs Emma Raducanu
• One men’s player you’re monitoring: Flavio Cobolli. Despite the ill-tempered end to his defeat against Ben Shelton in Toronto, he’s translated the impressive level of performance we saw from him during the grass-court season into the hard-court swing. If he can overcome a likely last-16 showdown with Taylor Fritz, I can see him going on an even deeper run than he did in Canada.
• One women’s player you’re monitoring: Naomi Osaka. Going deep in back-to-back 1000 tournaments is a formidable challenge for any player, but the turnaround in Osaka’s form in Montreal has been nothing short of phenomenal. I’m hoping she can ride that momentum to another good showing In Cincinnati. Special mention too for Venus Williams, because, well… how can you not?!

JIMMY ARIAS

Tennis Channel analyst who reached world No. 5 and the 1983 US Open semifinals

• Men’s Champion and Finalist: Jannik Sinner over Carlos Alcaraz
• Women’s Champion and Finalist: Aryna Sabalenka over Naomi Osaka
• Men’s match you want to see: Jannik Sinner vs. Tommy Paul
• Women’s match you want to see: Aryna Sabalenka vs. Marketa Vondrousova
• One men’s player you’re monitoring: I'm curious to see how Jerry Shang continues his comeback after six months off the court, and wondering if Daniil Medvedev can pick up steam before the US Open. He left is racquets on the court after his loss in Toronto and I want to make sure he found them!
• One women’s player you’re monitoring: Jessica Pegula. The US Open finalist has lots of points to defend and I'm curious if she has the motivation and form to turn her year arouns.

STEVE TIGNOR

TENNIS.com writer and author of High Strung: Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, and the Untold Story of Tennis's Fiercest Rivalry

• Men’s Champion and Finalist: Jannik Sinner over Carlos Alcaraz
• Women’s Champion and Finalist: Aryna Sabalenka over Jessica Pegula
• Men’s match you want to see: Jannik Sinner vs. Tommy Paul
• Women’s match you want to see: Coco Gauff vs. Dayana Yastremska
• One men’s player you’re monitoring: France Tiafoe. This is his go time. He made the final here last year, and the semis at the US Open, and looked ready for his first Grand Slam final. Is that going to be his peak, or can he rise to the challenge of playing that well again?
• One women’s player you’re monitoring: Jessica Pegula. Like Tiafoe, this is when Pegula comes to play. But also as with Tiafoe, will we look back at the summer of 2024 as this 31-year-old’s peak? She made the finals in Cincy and the US Open last year, but this time she’s not on a hot streak, and has already failed to defend her title in Canada.

JOEL DRUCKER

TENNIS.com writer and author of multiple books on the sport

• Men’s Champion and Finalist: Carlos Alcaraz over Jannik Sinner
• Women’s Champion and Finalist: Iga Swiatek over Coco Gauff
• Men’s match you want to see: Alex Michelsen vs. Holger Rune
• Women’s match you want to see: Iga Swiatek vs. Aryna Sabalenka
• One men’s player you’re monitoring: Frances Tiafoe: Tiafoe plays with so much passion and now wants to bring all of that to the US Open. A great run in Cincy would surely help.
• One women’s player you’re monitoring: Leylah Fernandez: DC title run was impressive, so can she build off it in hopes of coming close to her ’21 US Open run to the finals?

DANI KLUPENGER

Tennis Channel host at tournaments around the world

• Men’s Champion and Finalist: Jannik Sinner over Ben Shelton
• Women’s Champion and Finalist: Madison Keys over Jessica Pegula
• Men’s match you want to see: Taylor Fritz vs. Frances Tiafoe
• Women’s match you want to see: Iga Swiatek vs. Amanda Anisimova
• One men’s player you’re monitoring: Daniil Medvedev’s results have been head-scratching recently. He has lost his first match in the last three big tournaments: Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and now Toronto. He has only made one final this year and usually loves the hard-court swing. I’m curious to see if he can find his momentum again.
• One women’s player you’re monitoring: Jessica Pegula because she hasn't had a deep run at a 1000 tournament since the Miami Open in March. She’s a favorite anytime she’s on U.S. soil and I’m interested to see how she finds momentum going into the home slam.

JON LEVEY

TENNIS.com gear and instruction expert

• Men’s Champion and Finalist: Jannik Sinner over Carlos Alcaraz
• Women’s Champion and Finalist: Aryna Sabalenka over Karolina Muchova
• Men’s match you want to see: Jannik Sinner vs. Tommy Paul
• Women’s match you want to see: Iga Swiatek vs. Amanda Anisimova
• One men’s player you’re monitoring: It wasn’t long ago that Daniil Medvedev was considered one of the best hard-court players in the world. As of late, however, he’s struggling to string together wins and looks even more agitated than usual on court. With his ranking now outside the Top 10, Medvedev has some work to do to get back to contender status.
• One women’s player you’re monitoring: Jessica Pegula has hit a rough patch. She’s got just one match win in her last three tournaments. It hasn’t been an off year for her by any stretch—she’s already won three tour titles—but with finalist points to defend at the US Open she could use a deep run in Cincinnati to boost her confidence.