Djokovic, Zverev SF Clash | Aliassime Tough Draw at Cincinnati 2026 | Tennis News

The draw for the men has come out for Cincinnati, and it's looking pretty interesting, you know, there's there's obviously wide open with all the withdrawals. So, let's go have a look at the withdrawals though, because there are some big names that have pulled out. Okay, so the withdrawal list is pretty long, and it's pretty stacked as well. So, starting with Alcaraz, he's pulled out. Bublik's pulled out. Fucsovics has also pulled out. Khachanov, Munar, and Kwon have also withdrawn. Rune and Sinner have pulled out. So, Sinner and Alcaraz are not playing again, just like they didn't play in Canada. So, yeah, a bit of a shame, but there are some big names still playing, so let's go have a look at the draw. All right, 32 seeds in this one. Top of the draw is Zverev as the number one seed with the the exclusion of Sinner and Alcaraz, who had made the final last year, by the way. Sinner and Alcaraz was the final here. So, Sinner So, Zverev, he gets a bye in the first round. He'll take on either Nishioka or Prizmic in the second round. Then you've got Fucsovics versus Altmaier. Winner of that will take on the number 26 seed Etcheverry in the second round. Then you've got Paul, the 18th seed, who will take on either Moutet or Hurkacz in the second round. Then you've got a qualifier versus Barrere. Winner of that will take on the number 15 seed Barrere in the second round. Tricky draw for Zverev. I mean, maybe not so much Etcheverry, but I mean, Nishioka just had a really good week last week. I don't know. So, Zverev's got to be careful. Obviously got to watch out for Zverev in this section. He didn't do great last week in in Canada. So, really does need a you know, rebound here, especially with the opportunity of having no Sinner or Alcaraz in his way. Also got to watch out for Paul's section as well, and Barrere. We haven't seen much of him lately due to injury. But the player the unseeded player I'll be watching out for is Hurkacz. We know how dangerous he is, especially on this court. If it's a quick very quick court, his serve should do some real damage. Next part of the draw now, we've got the number 12 seed Hurkacz gets a bye in the first round. He'll take on either Shapovalov or Monfils in the second round. Then you've got Borna Coric taking on Struff. Winner of that match will take on the number 22 seed Taberner in the second round. Then you've got the 28 seed Brooksby. He gets a bye in the first round. He'll take on either Nakashima or Koepfer in the second round. Then you've got Hugo Carabelli taking on Kecmanovic. Winner of that match will take on the number seven seed Khachanov in the second round. So, yeah, this is kind of an interesting draw, too. Obviously, Hurkacz is probably the standout in recent weeks and and Khachanov is obviously had a great season, too. So, yeah, it's going to be fun to see how this this one plays out. Of course, you got to watch out for Khachanov who has struggled a little bit after making that French Open final a couple weeks ago. So, definitely needs to get some form here for for his for his sake. Also, you got to watch out for Hurkacz who's had a great season in the last 6 months, but also a great, you know, couple of weeks on the hard courts as well. Also, be watching out for Tiafoe and Brooksby. You know, have been dangerous at times this year as well. But, the unsung hero player I'll be watching out for in this section would be Shapovalov. I mean, we know Shapo is is super up and down, but if he's up, he is super scary. And he might play Hurkacz in the second round. That could be really fun. Next part of the draw, we've got number three seed Djokovic. He gets a buy in the first round. He'll take on either Barrere or Tsitsipas in the second round. Then you got Lorenzo Musetti taking on the wildcard Draper. Winner of that match will take on the 31 seed Annalise in the second round. Then you've got David Goffin, the 19 seed, gets a buy in the first round. He'll take on either Hijikata or Monfils in the second round. Then you got Schwartzman taking on Balucci. Winner of that will take on the number 14 seed Menshik in the second round. I don't know if this is an easy or tough draw for Djokovic. We haven't seen much of Nole at Cincinnati in the past, right? He hasn't played that much. He's sort of taken, you know, unfortunately, taking time off for this tournament and doesn't usually play during the pre-US Open, but we'll see what happens. Obviously, you got to watch out for Djokovic, one of the favorites going into this just because of his ranking and his his who he is. Got to got to keep an eye on him. Obviously, you got to watch out for Menshik as well, having a really good week in Canada. Also, David Goffin had a pretty decent week in Canada, too. So, you know, not just a clay court guy. So, definitely got to watch out for him, too. But, the unsung hero player I'll be watching out for would be two of them. I'll be watching out for Draper. Let's see if he can stay healthy and and get some wins. But, also, you got to watch out for Monfils playing his last Cincinnati. And he's had some memorable moments on the American hard courts over the years. And yeah, definitely watch out for Monfils as well. Next part of the draw, we've got the number nine seed Lehecka. He gets a buy in the first round. He'll take on either a or Berrettini in the second round. Then you got Haase Paul on a qualifier. Winner of that will take on the number 21 seed Fucsovics in the second round. Then you got the 32nd seed Cerundolo gets a buy in the first round. He'll take on either a qualifier or Duckworth in the second round. Then you got Coric taking on another qualifier. Winner of that match will take on the number five seed De Minaur in the second round. So, Cerundolo is back for the first time since that you know amazing run at Wimbledon. There's a couple of guys there that need form but or are in form. Got to watch out for De Minaur really does sort of need to get a couple wins here because you know he's trying to get one of those top seeds at the US Open. And there's a bit of an opportunity there that he might be able to get maybe the fourth seed at the US Open which could be really really helpful for him. So definitely got to watch out for him. Also got to watch out for Lehecka had a good week this week and so did Fucsovics in Canada. So got to watch out for those guys. Also watch out for Cerundolo we haven't seen him since that Wimbledon run. So yeah good opportunity to see him again and he gets seeded here which is pretty awesome. The unseeded player I'll be watching out for is Berrettini. Berrettini Lehecka second round could be really really fun. We know how dangerous Berrettini has been on the hard courts in America in America in the past. Bottom half of the draw now we've got the number six seed Fritz. He gets a buy in the first round. He'll take on either Mikael Ymer or De Jong in the second round. Tough match if it's Mikael Ymer. Then you got Marozsan taking on Cilic. Winner of that will take on the 30th seed Bergs in the second round. Then you got the 23rd seed Fonseca. He'll take on either Van de Zandschulp or Griekspoor in the second round. Then you got a qualifier taking on Mayot winner of that will take on the number 11 seed Ruud in the second round. That's a that's a tricky draw. There's some unseeded players there that are very very dangerous right now. And and very dangerous on this kind of court for those seeds. So yeah this could be really interesting. Of course you got to watch out for Fritz needs to rebound after last week's disappointment in in Canada. So yeah and real opportunity for him to get another 1000 here cuz you know without Sinner and Alcaraz this is an opportunity. Also got to watch out for Ruud hasn't done great on the hard courts. You know obviously we know him more for his clay tennis. So really needs to sort of get it together. And also going to watch out for Fonseca. They played last week, Ruud and Fonseca, so there could be a rematch there. Uh and Fonseca obviously is having had a really good week as well in uh in Canada. Uh some of the unseeded players though, Mikaelsson, very dangerous. He has having a great week in Canada, very dangerous. Cilic as well. And I'll be watching out for a Greek sport. With that serve, we saw him beat Zverev last week in Canada. Could be really, really tough for Fonseca there. Next part of the draw, we got number 13 seed Rublev. He gets a bye in the first round. He'll take on either uh Machac or Carreno Busta in the second round. Then you got Borges taking on Kokkinakis. Winner of that will take on the number 20 seed Cerundolo in the second round. Then you got the 27 seed Nakashima, who will take on either Kovacevic or uh Haschnov in the second round. Then you got Medjedovic taking on a qualifier. Winner of that will take on the number four seed Medvedev in the second round. Very interesting draw this part. And and the lowest seed of this section is probably the most dangerous person because he's been in such great form, Nakashima, but obviously got to watch out for Medvedev. Opportunity, big opportunity for him to try and uh try and win a 1000 again and get, you know, get his ranking up a little bit higher for that uh US Open in a couple weeks, of course. Got to watch out for Rublev, too. Hasn't been great on the hard courts in in recent weeks, but, you know, did win a clay court title not that long ago, so, yeah, opportunity again. I mean, like I said, everyone has an opportunity here. Uh also got to watch out for Nakashima. We saw how good he is and he has been winning in Canada, too, so hopefully has some gas left in the tank because he's been playing so good on the North American hard courts. Uh but the unseeded player I'll be watching out for would be Haschnov. It's very weird to see him unseeded. Uh usually Haschnov is in the top 30, top 20, uh but dropped down in recent weeks. So, yeah, definitely got to watch out for Haschnov. Uh very dangerous unseeded player now. Next part of the draw, we've got the number eight seed Shelton. He gets a bye in the first round. He'll take on either a qualifier or Brooksby in the second round. Then you got Walton taking on another qualifier. Winner of that will take on the number 29 seed Rusev in the second round. Then you got the 24 seed Humbert. He'll take on either Marozsan or a qualifier in the next round. Then you got another qualifier taking on Altmaier. Winner of that will take on the number 10 seed Musetti in the second round. So, a of qualifiers in that section. A lot of qualifiers in that section. But, you got to watch out for Shelton having a decent run in Canada. And with that serve in Cincinnati, it should be a match made in heaven. You also got to watch out for Musetti on the comeback trail. Has had a couple of rough draws having to play Hurkacz the last 2 weeks, but at least this week he won't have to do that. But yeah, he's he's trying to get some form back after some injuries. And also got to watch out for could be very dangerous on the hard courts. But, the unseeded player I'll be watching out for is Brooksby. We know that you know Brooksby can be unorthodox and a bit dangerous on all surfaces. So, yeah, be watching out for Brooksby in this section as well. In the bottom part of the draw now, we've got the number 16 seed Tiafoe gets that by in the first round. He'll take on either the byes or Dimitrov in the second round. Then you got Zhang taking on Sonego. Winner of that will take on the number 17 seed Tiafoe in the second round. Then you got the 25th seed Rune Holger Rune he also gets a by in the first round. He'll take on either a qualifier or Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the second round. Then you got Ruud taking on Tsitsipas. Winner of that match will take on the number two seed Auger-Aliassime in the second round. Of course, FAA last week in Canada had to pull out last minute. So, hopefully he's healthy enough to be able to compete in Cincinnati. But, you've got to watch out for Felix trying to get you know continue that run that he had at Wimbledon, right? He had a really good win run at Wimbledon. Lost to Djokovic in an epic match. And you know, again, like I keep saying with all these guys, it's an opportunity to win a 1000 title which are very hard to come by after what Sinner was doing at the start of the year. So, yeah, he's he's got a big opportunity here and he needs to take it. Got to watch out for Tiafoe he's playing really well in Canada. But again, another opportunity to win a 1000 title potentially. Also got to watch out for Tiafoe. Again, same as Felix, same as Tiafoe, right? Opportunity to to potentially get you know he's made the semi he's made the final here before. So, you know maybe he can go one better without you know Sinner and Alcaraz being in the way. But, the unseeded player I'll be watching out for is Dimitrov and Tsitsipas, you know obviously Stef has a rough draw again trying to get his ranking back up. But, Dimitrov against Tiafoe that could be really fun in the second round as well. So, here There That's the men's draw for Cincinnati and it's going to be a pretty interesting tournament without, you know, the top guns. No sinner, no Alcaraz. Like Canada, it's kind of a bit wide open. If there's upsets like there was in Canada, then maybe even more so there's going to be a chance for a new champion to to lift the trophy. But let me know in the comments below, who are you picking to win this trophy? Are you going with Zverev who's been really good up until that tournament in Canada last week where he had a really bad match up? Or you going with Djokovic? You going to believe that he can win Cincinnati again? But there it is. That is the draw for Cincinnati and it starts in a couple days.