Cincinnati Masters
The seeds arrive at the Cincinnati Open on Sunday. All 32 of them sat out the first round on a bye, and the round of 64 is where the tournament actually begins — with Cameron Norrie handed the hardest draw in British tennis: top seed Alexander Zverev, against whom he has never won a set of a completed match in seven attempts. Jack Draper is already out. Katie Boulter is not. Below is the Sunday slate, what happened in round one, and where the value sits.
For the full field and outright angles, see our Cincinnati Open preview and outright betting tips. Broadcast details are in the how to watch guide, and the roll of honour is on the past champions page.
Round One: What Britain Learned
Three British players went into the opening round and the results split cleanly.
| Player | Result | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Cameron Norrie | Beat Dino Prizmic 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 | Alexander Zverev (1) |
| Katie Boulter | Beat Katie Volynets 7-5, 0-6, 6-4 | Linda Nosková |
| Jack Draper | Lost to Martín Landaluce 6-3, 7-5 | Out |
Draper’s exit is the one that stings. Playing on a wildcard as he works back from the arm problem that cost him a direct entry to the US Open main draw, he was out-hit by a 20-year-old who struck fewer winners but made half as many unforced errors. He now heads to New York needing to come through qualifying from 24 August.
Sunday’s Round of 64: The Matches That Matter
Only two men’s matches have confirmed slots so far. Everything else is to be scheduled.
| Match | Court | UK time |
|---|---|---|
| Alexander Zverev (1) v Cameron Norrie | Lindner Family Tennis Center | 01:10 BST (approx) |
| Rafael Jódar (12) v Denis Shapovalov | Grandstand | 00:00 BST (approx) |
| Stefanos Tsitsipas v Félix Auger-Aliassime (2) | TBC | TBC |
| Daniil Medvedev (4) v Marco Trungelliti | TBC | TBC |
| Ben Shelton (8) v Jaime Faria | TBC | TBC |
| Taylor Fritz (6) v Alex Michelsen | TBC | TBC |
| Lorenzo Musetti (10) v Daniel Altmaier | TBC | TBC |
| Aryna Sabalenka (1) v Talia Gibson | TBC | TBC |
| Elena Rybakina (2) v Taylor Townsend | TBC | TBC |
| Coco Gauff (4) v Liudmila Samsonova | TBC | TBC |
| Iga Świątek (7) v Emiliana Arango | TBC | TBC |
| Mirra Andreeva (5) v Oleksandra Oliynykova | TBC | TBC |
Note the times: Cincinnati’s night session lands in the early hours of Sunday morning in the UK, so Norrie’s match is a 01:10 BST start rather than a Sunday-afternoon watch.
Zverev v Norrie: The Only Number That Matters
Alexander Zverev leads this 7-0 at tour level. That is the context for everything else. Norrie has had the better fortnight — he came through Prizmic after dropping the opening set, in heat that has been the story of the week — but he arrives against a man who has beaten him every time they have met, on the surface where Zverev is most comfortable.
Norrie‘s route in is the one that has always been there: extend rallies, make Zverev play a fourth and fifth ball, and let the German’s second serve become a target. Zverev’s second-round exit in Montreal is the flicker of hope — he arrived in Ohio needing a reset, and top seeds who have not played a competitive match in ten days are vulnerable to a grinder in the opening round.
Best Bets
Norrie +1.5 sets
Backing Norrie outright against a 7-0 record is not the bet. Taking him to win a set is. Three of their meetings have gone to a deciding-set scoreline or a tie-break, and Norrie’s floor in this kind of heat is higher than most — he does not hand over cheap games. The handicap is where the value sits, not the match line.
Tsitsipas v Auger-Aliassime — over on games
Two players who serve well and return without much venom, both looking for form ahead of New York. Auger-Aliassime is the higher seed and the more reliable server this season, but neither has been breaking often on quick hard courts. A tight, tie-break-heavy match is the likeliest shape.
Ben Shelton to win in straight sets
The one seed with genuine momentum. Shelton defended his National Bank Open title in Montreal last week — the first man to go back-to-back there in a decade — and has moved to a career-high world No. 6 on the back of it. He faces Jaime Faria, who is yet to trouble a top-10 player on this surface. Shelton’s serve travels better than anyone’s in this half.
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Where the Draw Is Heading
On the women’s side the projection to watch is in the bottom half, where defending champion Iga Świątek and second seed Elena Rybakina sit in the same quarter — a last-eight meeting between them is live if both come through. Świątek arrives as the National Bank Open champion in Toronto, having beaten Rybakina in that final, which makes a rematch the tie of the tournament.
In the men’s half, Shelton and Taylor Fritz are the seeds carrying American hopes, with Novak Djokovic the headline entry in a field missing both Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who withdrew with a knee and a wrist problem respectively.
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Every event we cover is in the tournaments index, and the dates are in the 2026 tennis calendar.