Taylor Fritz will meet Sebastian Baez in the First Round of the 2022 Western and Southern Open. The match will be played on Tuesday August 16th, 2022.
Taylor Fritz is the 11th seed here at the Western and Southern Open and is ranked 13th on the ATP Tour. The big serving American has been having an outstanding season, in which he captured his first ever Masters-1000 title in Indian Wells. Fritz has been quite disappointing in recent weeks however, with back to back losses to Dan Evans in the Round of 16 at both the Washington Open and Montreal. He will have high hopes of doing well in his home country at the Cincinnati Open, however he is yet to advance past the First Round here on three attempts. He is a much improved player now however, and enters this match against the dangerous Sebastian Baez as the big favorite.
Sebastian Baez is unseeded at the Western and Southern Open and is ranked 35th in the world. The Argentine is enjoying a breakout season of sorts, winning his first ATP title. However, the clay-court specialist is currently undergoing a five match losing streak, that he hopes to break here. However, he will be up against one of the premier hard courts players in the world in Taylor Fritz, and should be considered the massive underdog. While Baez is more at home on the clay he remains a dangerous opponent and shouldn’t be underestimated with his never say die attitude and elite consistency. He is certainly the underdog but could potentially spring a surprise if Fritz isn’t at his best.
This looks like a difficult match on paper, however the gulf between them on a hard court is quite wide. Taylor Fritz is far more experienced and has far more firepower than Sebastian Baez, and I expect that to be reflected in the result here. Baez is a fighter so he won’t roll over easily, but expect him to be no match for the elite serving and groundstrokes of his American opponent. Taylor Fritz has his eyes firmly set on the US Open, and I am banking on him going deep in the draw here in Cincinnati, starting with a hard fought straight-sets win over Sebastian Baez.