Rogers Cup: Marin Cilic vs. Albert Ramos-Vinolas 8/9/21 Tennis Prediction

Marin Cilic meets Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the first round of the 2021 Rogers Cup on Monday, August 9th 2021. Who will make their way to the third round?

We have two veterans of the game going at each other so early on here in Toronto and we are ready for a very entertaining encounter, however, only one will get into the second round. Will it be the clay loving Spaniard or the hard court power hitter to come through?

Albert Ramos-Vinolas had a great first half of the 2021 season, winning lots of matches on clay and winning a title as well. However, in the last couple of months his form has dwindled slightly and he has been losing earlier than usual in tournaments. Albert knows he is experienced and can beat a lot of big name players on his day, but I think now that the focus has shifted to the US hard court season, he will not be as dominant as he was on his favourite surface of clay in the first half of the season.

Marin Cilic has been in solid form this year, winning the Stuttgart Open just over a month ago and now winning the silver medal at the Olympics in the doubles. Marin loves hard courts because he can hit so hard and fast through opponents, and he knows he has had success on this surface, having won the US Open years ago. Marin will come out here in Toronto determined to use the form he had in Tokyo and transfer it over to the singles as he aims to continue improving his level in 2021.

This is going to be the 8^th meeting between both players, and I expect a very tight match as these two know their game quite well and know how to play each other. Their prior matches have always been tight as the power of Marin is met by the composure and style of Albert, so we have a great match on our hands. However, because this is on hard courts and Albert has been not at his best in the last month of so, I expect Marin to come through this one through his power hitting game.