Cincinnati Daily Preview: Coco Gauff Begins Her Title Defense

Thursday features the conclusion of second round singles play in Cincinnati.

A year ago at this event, Coco Gauff won what was at the time the biggest title of her career, and then went on a few weeks later to win her first Major in New York. On Thursday, she begins the biggest title defense of her career to date, against a dangerous opponent in Yulia Putintseva. Other top WTA seeds in action on Thursday include Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, and Jessica Pegula.

A year ago at this event, Carlos Alcaraz suffered a devastating loss in an epic championship match against Novak Djokovic, and Alcaraz wouldn’t be the same player for the following six months. On Thursday, he plays his first match in Cincinnati since that final, against the always-entertaining veteran, Gael Monfils. Plus, Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud, and Stefanos Tsitsipas all face tough second round opposition.

Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s two most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule. Thursday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.

Yulia Putintseva vs. Coco Gauff (2) – Third on Center Court

52 weeks ago, Gauff upset Iga Swiatek in the Cincy semifinals, which remains her only victory in 12 matches against Swiatek. Coco would then defeat Karolina Muchova in the championship match. However, Gauff arrives in Cincinnati a year later lacking in confidence, coming off some disappointing results at big events. And Coco has not reached a tournament final since the very first week of this season.

Putintseva is 31-16 on the year, and had a great grass court season. After winning the title in Birmingham, she pulled off an upset of her own over Swiatek at Wimbledon. This is Yulia’s first tournament since The Championships, and she eliminated Harriet Dart in the first round.

Gauff is 3-0 against Putintseva, with all three matches taking place on clay. Coco will be feeling pressure this week that she’s never before felt in her career, as she’s never defended a title this big. But while Putintseva is fully capable of the upset, Gauff should still be favored, as her firepower is much more explosive than Putintseva’s.

Gael Monfils vs. Carlos Alcaraz (2) – Not Before 7:00pm on Center Court

Alcaraz appeared shellshocked when he walked off this court a year ago, and in his last match prior to this year’s tournament, he walked off the court in tears. After losing the gold medal match at the Paris Olympics, Carlitos was heartbroken that he failed to win gold for Spain. But it’s still been a tremendous season for Alcaraz, who has won the last two Majors.

Monfils is just 19-17 this year, after taking out recent Montreal champion Alexei Popyrin on Wednesday. He reached the third round here a year ago, with nice wins over Cam Norrie and Alex de Minaur. But Gael is a modest 15-11 lifetime in Cincinnati.

These are two of the fastest men to ever play the game, but their previous meetings have been a bit one-sided. Alcaraz leads 2-0, most recently defeating Monfils at the last Masters 1000 event to take place on American soil, this past March in Miami. Unless Carlitos suffers an emotional letdown coming off his Olympic disappointment, the Spaniard is a considerable favorite on Thursday.

Other Notable Matches on Thursday:

Alexander Zverev (3) vs. Karen Khachanov – This is a rematch of the gold medal match from the Tokyo Olympics, which Zverev won in straight sets. Overall Sascha leads their head-to-head 4-2, and he owns more than twice as many wins this season as Karen.

Leylah Fernandez vs. Elena Rybakina (4) – This will be Rybakina’s first match since the Wimbledon semifinals, where she lost to eventual champion Barbora Krejcikova. Earlier this year in Doha, she beat Fernandez in straights.

Aryna Sabalenka (3) vs. Elisabetta Cocciaretto – Sabalenka is coming off a quarterfinal upset last week in Toronto at the hands of Amanda Anisimova. Cocciaretto is a 23-year-old Italian who has never advanced beyond the second round of a WTA 1000 event.