Top seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev faces the unseeded Mackenzie McDonald of the United States in the Second Round of the 2021 Cincinnati Open. The match is scheduled to be played on Wednesday August 18th, 2021.
World number two Daniil Medvedev is in search of his second consecutive Masters-1000 title here at the Cincinnati Open, after winning the Rogers Cup last week. The Russian is seemingly peaking at the right time just before the US Open Championships where he will be one of the main contenders for the title. First up in his path is local player Mackenzie McDonald who has been in good form lately, but is now up against one of the very best players in the world. Can he cause the massive upset on home soil and send the top seeded Russian packing?
Daniil Medvedev is ranked #2 in the world and is the top seed here at the Cincinnati Open. The Russian star has been in fantastic form this year, and will be one of the favorites to lift his first Grand Slam title at the US Open in a couple weeks. Medvedev was in fantastic form last week as he won the Rogers Cup, and is the big favorite to win the title here in Cincinnati. His all court game is perfectly suited to the hard courts, as he is equally comfortable on offense or when counterpunching. He is one of the best returners in the game, can normally nullify the big servers even on the quicker surfaces. He is the big favorite here against Mackenzie McDonald and is expected to come through this match unscathed.
Mackenzie McDonald is unseeded here at the Cincinnati Open and is currently ranked #64. The American was given a Wild Card into this event and made the most of it, defeating fellow American Wild Card Brandon Nakashima 7-5, 6-2. It was a dominant display to defeat his countryman who has been in fine form in recent weeks, reaching his first ATP Tour Finals in Atlanta and Los Cabos. McDonald has also been in great form, reaching the Final last week in Washington where he lost to Jannik Sinner, and with his current results will be very confident heading into this match. However, he is drawn up against the most in-form player on the Tour at the moment in Daniil Medvedev and will have to play the match of his life to have even the slightest chance here.
This will be the first time that the two players are facing each other on the ATP Tour, with Daniil Medvedev winning on all four previous occasions. Despite Mackenzie McDonald’s great form, I expect the big Russian to cruise to victory here. He is simply too good and is in fantastic form after winning the title last week in Toronto. The American lacks the firepower to be able to trouble Medvedev and I see him going down in straight sets here. Daniil Medvedev will win this match comfortably, advancing to the Round of 16 here at the Cincinnati Open.