Day 2 Preview: Sinner Squares Off Against Delbonis In Cincinnati

#NextGenATP Italian Jannik Sinner will look for a return to the form that carried him to a maiden ATP 500 title earlier this month when he opens his Western & Southern Open campaign against Argentine Federico Delbonis on Monday. The 11^th seed captured the biggest title of his career with victory in the Citi Open final little more than a week ago but fell to Aussie James Duckworth in his opening match in Toronto.

He has never faced the left-handed Delbonis, who plays his first match on hard courts since a loss to Jordan Thompson in the first round of the Miami Open in March. At 19, Sinner is the youngest man in the Top 15 of the FedEx ATP Rankings since Juan Martin del Potro in 2008.

"It’s great to have fans back in the stands, had people watching my practice yesterday...it will be nice to play in front of big crowds and stuff. I’m really looking forward to that." -@andy_murray #CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/9feqoglHmR

— Western & Southern Open (@CincyTennis) August 15, 2021

“When you see somebody is the youngest or whatever, I don't put much weight on that. There are a lot of players who have done much, much better than me," Sinner said following his triumph in Washington, D.C. "It's not about who is the youngest or whatever. I just want to improve, work hard.”

The last time former World No. 7 Richard Gasquet squared off against former World No. 1 Andy Murray he claimed the honours at the same stage in Cincinnati two years ago. Now ranked No. 53 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, the French veteran had to win through qualifying to take his place in the main draw, while Murrray had to rely on a wild card.

[FOLLOW 1000]

A two-time champion in Cincinnati, Murray leads their ATP Head2Head 8-4 and will bid to improve on his 33-13 record at the tournament. His countryman, Daniel Evans, also opens his campaign on Monday when he faces 10^th seed Diego Schwartzman.

The 31-year-old Evans is looking for his first win of the North American hard-court swing, while the Argentine comes off three-set round-of-16 defeats to Roberto Bautista Agut and Karen Khachanov in his two hard-court outings since Wimbledon. Schwartzman fell to Khachanov at the Tokyo Olympics and in 7-5 in the third set to Robert Bautista Agut in Toronto last week.

from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/3APFMyX