2023 US Open Series: Western and Southern Open Preview

The US Open is over three weeks away, but before we get there, there is the US Open series.

The first three events of the US Open series are in the books. Taylor Fritz took home the title in Atlanta, with Dan Evans and Coco Gauff winning this past weekend at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. In Montreal, Jessica Pegula won the Women’s National Bank Open. While in Toronto, Jannik Sinner won the Men’s National Bank Open.

Now the US Open Series heads to Cincinnati for the Western and Southern Open. This is a combined event on the ATP and WTA Tour.

This a 1000-level event on both the men’s and women’s tour thus, it will be a similar field as we saw in Toronto and Montreal. Except on the men’s side of things, Novak Djokovic will return to action after losing in the Wimbledon final to Carlos Alcaraz. Alcaraz, who lost in the quarterfinals in Toronto, will look to make a deep run before defending his title in New York.

Along with those big names, who are on opposite sides of the draw, Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz, Holger Rune, Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jannik Sinner, Andy Murray, and Andrey Rublev, along with a loaded field of guys, have a chance to win this title.

On the women’s side of the field, the names include Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Maria Sakkari, Victoria, Azarenka, Carolina Garcia, and Elina Svitolina, to name a few. Again it is a loaded field in Montreal.

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The Western and Southern Open runs from August 12th through August 20th in Cincinnati.

As previously mentioned, it is one of the better events on both the ATP and WTA schedules. It is a loaded field in Cincinnati. We have seen some great matches and upsets take place at this event. There are a lot of intriguing first round matchups when the tournament opens including Ben Shelton vs Christopher Eubanks, Cameron Norrie v Gael Monfils, and Alexander Zverev v Grigor Dimitrov.

In addition we will see Felix Auger-Aliassime taking on Mattero Berrenttini. Plus Andy Murray v Karen Khachanov, Taylor Fritz v Kiri Lehecka, Toronto finalist Alex de Minaur v J.J. Wolf, defending champion Borna Coric v Sebastian Korda. There is a chance Medvedev and Zverev renew their rivalry in the third round.

If you look at the seedings and compare the odds, there is a reason why the players are ranked the way they are.

1. Carlos Alcaraz
2. Novak Djokovic
3. Daniil Medvedev
4. Stefanos Tsitsipas
5. Casper Ruud

Don’t count out players like Andrey Rublev, Jannik Sinner, or Fritz to make a deep run here. Fritz is playing some of his best tennis right now. Frances Tiafoe needs some momentum before returning to the US Open. The player who wins this event can sometimes go on to win the US Open. Sometimes that isn’t the case.

On the women’s side of the field, two of the top three favorites are players who have won major titles, including Swiatek, Sabalenka, and Rybakina. Sometimes the favorites do not always go to the final. Each of these players has a tough draw.

1. Iga Swiatek
2. Ayrna Sabalenka
3. Jessica Pegula
4. Elena Rybakina
5. Ons Jabeur

Don’t count players like Maria Sakkari, Coco Gauff, Carolina Garcia, Petra Kvitova, Beatriz Haddad Maia, and 2023 Wimbledon Champion Marketa Vondrousova.

Some interesting first round matches include Caroline Wozniacki vs Elina Svitolina, Donna Vekic v Jennifer Brady, and Karolina Pliskova v Jelena Ostapenko.

The 2023 Western And Southern qualifying is over and first-round action gets underway Monday. Odds are slowly coming out.