Cincinnati 2022: Tommy Paul vs Denis Shapovalov preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds, and pick | Western & Southern Open
Match Details
Fixture: Tommy Paul vs Denis Shapovalov.
Date: August 17, 2022.
Tournament: Western & Southern Open 2022.
Round: Second Round (Round of 32).
Venue: Cincinnati, Ohio.
Category: ATP Masters 1000.
Surface: Hard.
Prize money: $6,280,880.
Match timing: Approx 12:30 pm local time, 4:30 pm GMT and 10 pm IST.
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video | India - Sport18.
Tommy Paul vs Denis Shapovalov preview
Tommy Paul and Denis Shapovalov are set for a second-round showdown at the 2022 Western & Southern Open on Wednesday.
Paul reached his first quarterfinal at the Masters 1000 level at last week's Canadian Open. He defeated Vasek Pospisil, Carlos Alcaraz and Marin Cilic before losing to Dan Evans.
Paul kicked off his campaign in Cincinnati against fellow American Jenson Brooksby. Both players managed to hold serve quite easily across the first five games of the match. Paul then snagged a break to go 4-2 up.
A couple of games later, he held a set point on Brooksby's serve, but failed to close it out. Nevertheless, he served out the set in the following game.
The second set was fairly one-sided, with Paul claiming the last five games of the match to win 6-3, 6-2. He'll now be aiming to get past the second round in Cincinnati for the first time in his career.
Paul stands tall 👏
@TommyPaul1 muscles past Jenson Brooksby 6-3 6-2 at #CincyTennis https://t.co/L01swDKN24
Denis Shapovalov arrived in Cincinnati in search of a much-needed victory, having lost in the first round in seven of his last eight tournaments. He was up against 16th seed Grigor Dimitrov in the first round.
Both players had very few break-point chances in the opening set, which headed into a tie-break later on. Shapovalov came out on top to win it and clinch the set. A solitary break of serve in the sixth game of the second set was enough for the Canadian to win the match 7-6 (4), 6-3.
His best result in Cincinnati was a third-round appearance on his debut in 2018. Since then, he hasn't made it past the second round.
Shapovalov notably made a winning start in the men's doubles as well, teaming up with Karen Khachanov to defeat Rohan Bopanna and Matwe Middelkoop.
Tommy Paul vs Denis Shapovalov head-to-head
Paul leads Shapovalov 2-0 in the head-to-head. He won their most recent encounter at this year's Queen's Club Championships in three sets.
Tommy Paul vs Denis Shapovalov odds
All odds are sourced from BetMGM.
Tommy Paul vs Denis Shapovalov prediction
Shapovalov will hope that his win against Dimitrov in the first round will herald a return to form. It was his best performance in quite some time, and if he's able to hold on to this level, he'll establish himself as a credible threat on the tour yet again.
Shapovalov hammered 10 aces, while striking 30 winners to just 18 unforced errors against Dimitrov. The numbers are in sharp contrast to his last few matches, where a ton of mistakes let him down.
Paul was also sublime against Brooksby in the first round and admirably didn't face a single break point over the course of the match. The American hit 21 winners and committed 14 unforced errors.
Both players will be pleased with their performances in the previous round and will be confident of their chances going forward as well.
Much will depend on Shapovalov's racquet. The Canadian is the better server and it'll give him a slight edge. However, he's prone to committing too many errors at times and going off the rails.
Paul's consistency makes him the safe pick, but if Shapovalov is back to his former level, he can run away with the match as well.
Pick: Tommy Paul to win in three sets.