Alcaraz, Sinner learn Cincinnati fates

pa href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/carlos-alcaraz/a0e2/overview'Carlos Alcaraz/a will make his return to hard courts against either a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/gael-monfils/mc65/overview'Gael Monfils/a or a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alexei-popyrin/p09z/overview'Alexei Popyrin/a, as revealed by Saturday's draw for the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/cincinnati/422/overview'Cincinnati Open/a./p

pThe Spaniard has not competed on the surface since he reached the quarter-finals in Miami in March but arrives in Cincinnati holding fond memories, having advanced to the final last year./p

pstrongspan style="text-decoration: underline;"a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/current/cincinnati/422/draws" target="_blank"View Singles Draw/a/span/strong/p

pThe 21-year-old, who has won majors at a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/roland-garros/520/overview'Roland Garros/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a this year, is chasing his sixth ATP Masters 1000 crown in Cincinnati. Alcaraz is seeded to face a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/holger-rune/r0dg/overview'Holger Rune/a in the third round, with the Dane starting against former Top 10 star a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/matteo-berrettini/bk40/overview'Matteo Berrettini/a in a blockbuster first-round match./p

pAlcaraz could then meet seventh seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/casper-ruud/rh16/overview'Casper Ruud/a or ninth seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/stefanos-tsitsipas/te51/overview'Stefanos Tsitsipas/a in the quarter-finals, with fourth seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/daniil-medvedev/mm58/overview'Daniil Medvedev/a a potential semi-final opponent. Medvedev, who triumphed in Cincinnati in 2019, begins against a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jiri-lehecka/l0bv/overview'Jiri Lehecka/a or a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/mariano-navone/n0bs/overview'Mariano Navone/a./p

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pa href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/lorenzo-musetti/m0ej/overview'Lorenzo Musetti/a, a bronze medalist at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/archive/paris/96/2024/results'Paris Olympics/a, is seeded to play Medvedev in the third round, while fifth seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/hubert-hurkacz/hb71/overview'Hubert Hurkacz/a or 10th seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/tommy-paul/pl56/overview'Tommy Paul/a could await in the last eight. Hurkacz reached the semis in Cincinnati last year, while Paul is set for his fifth appearance./p

pTop seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jannik-sinner/s0ag/overview'Jannik Sinner/a will play a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/tallon-griekspoor/gj37/overview'Tallon Griekspoor/a or a qualifier in his opening match. The Italian, who became the first player to qualify for this yearrsquo;s a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/nitto-atp-finals/605/overview'Nitto ATP Finals/a on Saturday following his third-round win in Montreal, is in the same quarter as sixth seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andrey-rublev/re44/overview'Andrey Rublev/a. Rublev starts against Frenchman a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/giovanni-mpetshi-perricard/m0gz/overview'Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard/a or Chinarsquo;s Zhang Zhizhen. Sinner, a four-time titlist this year, is seeded to play a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/ugo-humbert/hh26/overview'Ugo Humbert/a in the third round./p

pThird seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alexander-zverev/z355/overview'Alexander Zverev/a is a potential semi-final for Sinner. The 2021 champ Zverev takes on a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/karen-khachanov/ke29/overview'Karen Khachanov/a or a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/francisco-cerundolo/c0au/overview'Francisco Cerundolo/a in his opening match. Washington champion a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/sebastian-korda/k0ah/overview'Sebastian Korda/a is a potential third-round opponent, with American a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/ben-shelton/s0s1/overview'Ben Shelton/a or a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/grigor-dimitrov/d875/overview'Grigor Dimitrov/a seeded to play the German in the last eight. Shelton faces countryman a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/reilly-opelka/o522/overview'Reilly Opelka/a in the first round./p

pThe ATP Masters 1000 hard-court event begins on Monday, with the final on Monday 19 August./p

p[NEWSLETTER FORM]/p