We are still not done with the Toronto masters but the Cincy draw is out and unlike other years, Cincy could be a historic tournament. You may ask why. It’s the first tournament that Nadal has a chance at taking the No. 1 spot if Federer fails to reach the quarters. With the draw that Federer has, he will probably have to go through Ginepri, Karlovic, and Roddick to reach the semis and meet the resurgent Murray there. Djokovic and Nadal should really make it to the semis again as Murray won’t be around to spoil their meeting like he did tonight by beating Novak.
My favorite match up is Nadal Youzhny and then Nadal Ferrer. But Ferrer and Youzhny need to make it there so we may not get these match ups after all. I think Cincy will be Novak’s tournament. He doesn’t really have anyone who can beat him in his draw and he should go on to face the winner of Kiefer – Gilles Simon – Blake in the quarter.
My pick is of course Nadal to win the whole tournament. Regardless of his match against Gasquet tonight and Murray tomorrow, Nadal is the best player on the planet right now, and with Federer losing his grip, it should be Nadal’s tournament to lose. Of course, Djokovic will have something to say about that.