ATP Cincinnati Draw Analysis - Which of the Big Four will triumph this week?

The second of the back-to-back Masters Series events heading into the US Open is underway in Cincinnati. Heading into last week’s Rogers Cup in Montreal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray were the clear favourites for the final Grand Slam of the year.

But Rafael Nadal has put himself back in the mix with his stunning title run in Montreal. Roger Federer is also back this week for his only hard court tune-up event before New York, setting the stage for an exciting week ahead. Here’s our preview of the men’s draw at the Western & Southern Open.

Novak Djokovic reacts to a lost point while playing Rafael Nadal during the semi-finals of the Rogers Cup at Uniprix Stadium on August 10, 2013 in Montreal, Canada. (Getty Images)

First Quarter:

World number one Novak Djokovic is the top seed in Cincinnati and will be aiming to win his first title here. The Serb has some dangerous names in his section – after a first round bye, Djokovic has a second round meeting with either Juan Monaco or Jurgen Melzer and a third round with possibly 15th seeded Gilles Simon or Montreal semi-finalist Vasek Pospisil.

Djokovic’s scheduled quarter-final opponent is the Frenchman Richard Gasquet. But the eighth seeded Frenchman has trouble lined up every step of the way before he can get another shot at the defending champion. American John Isner could await in the second round, and there’s Montreal finalist and the newest member of the world’s top ten, Milos Roanic, in the third round.

After reaching his first final at a Masters Series event, Roanic has taken another step towards claiming his spot in the elite of the game. But after playing six matches in seven days, it would be interesting how he sustains this form and his physical conditioning.

First round matches to watch out for – (12) Roanic vs. Jack Sock; Sam Querrey vs. Janko Tipsarevic

Prediction – Djokovic to beat Isner

Second Quarter: 

Djokovic catches a break here as Murray, Nadal and Federer are all in the bottom half of the draw. This quarter has third seeded David Ferrer and seventh seeded Juan Martin del Potro. Ferrer lost his first match in Montreal last week and could be marked out for another early exit as he meets the winner of the Ryan Harrison/Alexandr Dolgopolov match in the second round, and possibly the big-serving Jerzy Janowicz, seeded number 16, in the third round.

After winning in Washington, Potro went down to Roanic in a controversial third round match in Montreal, which means he should be fresher than some of the others for this event. Potro will meet either Benoit Paire or Nikolay Davydenko in the second round and possibly Kei Nishikori, who is aiming to become the first Japanese player to break into the world’s top ten, in the third round. If del Potro is fit, he is the favourite to emerge from this section.

First round matches to watch for – (10) Nishikori vs. Feliciano Lopez; (16) Janowicz vs. James Blake

Prediction – del Potro to beat Janowicz