The ATP 1000 tournament in Cincinnati is the last Masters tournament before one of the biggest tennis tournaments on the tour, the US Open. Both of last year's finalists in Cincinnati, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, withdrew from the tournament in the earlier rounds, so this year the tournament will have a new champion. The final match pits Russia's Danil Medvedev against Belgium's David Goffin. It's going to be a very interesting and hard-fought final, and we'll take a look at both finalists below.
Daniil Medvedev
The Russian, currently ranked No.8 in the world, is in the midst of a career turnaround and playing the best season of his career. Medvedev, who has been in incredible form over the last few weeks, has not only moved up to No.8, but tonight he will play his third consecutive final. Before coming to Cincinnati, the Russian played in the finals of the ATP 1000 tournament in Montreal and the ATP 500 tournament in Washington DC. Interestingly, in both tournaments Danil had not dropped a set until the final, but lost both finals against Nadal (No. 2) and Kyrgios (No. 27) in 2 sets. Of course, this is not difficult to explain by the fact that the player is still very young and did not withstand the pressure of the more experienced opponents in the finals, but it is likely that the more the Russian continues to play, the more confident his game should be in all the rounds of the tournaments.
As for the tournament in Cincinnati, many experts speculated that Medvedev would not dominate as he has in previous tournaments due to possible fatigue and the desire to prepare for the upcoming US Open, but the Russian proved his worth once again by reaching the final. The first four rounds, which were played against K. Edmund (no. 30), B. Paire (no. 29), J. Struff (no. 36) and A. Rublev (no. 70), were won confidently without conceding a set. In the semi-finals, the current top Russian tennis player had to face last year's champion Novak Djokovic, and after losing the first set, it seemed that the Russian's journey in this tournament would end in the semi-finals, but once again he managed to come up with his own by holding his own and taking the lead in the second set, and then finishing the match with 2 break points in the 3rd set. Watch the video below to see the highlights of the match:
Episodes from the match between Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic:
Interestingly, Medvedev was previously considered one of the best young tennis players, with a bright future, but a severe lack of stability. He was often mentally unstable and started to make a lot of unprovoked mistakes, but last year saw a change in Medvedev's personal life that had a positive impact on his career. In an interview with Tennis World, the Russian mentioned that his wife has given him a positive boost in his career - Medvedev managed to finish the season ranked 15th in the rankings when he was only ranked 60th that year, and has already moved up to the Top 10 this year. Read more read here: .
Medvedev's first serve is working well in this tournament, he is leading the tournament in aces and he is hitting well with both hands. It's hard to find any weaknesses in the Russian's game, as the form he has shown so far is impressive, and it's no wonder that he enters the finals as the clear favourite.
David Goffin
The 28-year-old Belgian, currently ranked 19, reached the final in the same way as Medvedev, dropping just one set in the whole tournament. In the first round, Goffin dropped a set to T. Fritz (No. 25) and went on to easily defeat G. Pella (No. 22), A. Mannarino (No. 59) and R. Gasquet (No. 56) in 2 sets. The ATP Masters is one of Goffin's favourite tournaments, as evidenced by his excellent results: last year's semi-final against Federer, where he had to retire early in the second set due to an injury, and the semi-final this year. The Belgian looks good on fast surfaces, taking his opponents' serves well and taking control.
For Goffin, this season is far from being the best of his career, and far from it: injuries and poor form led to the start of the grass season, more specifically the ATP 500 tournament in Halle, Germany. Goffin has failed to go further than the quarter-finals in 15 tournaments this year until the one in Germany, where he reached the final, losing to Federer 6-7 1-6. Since then, the results have started to improve and a quarter-final was reached at Wimbledon, where Federer lost to Djokovic. Goffin seems to be doing much better in the bigger tournaments, where the value is much higher.
Episodes of Gofin's game:
Ahead of the final match, the Belgian was delighted to have reached this stage and vowed to do everything he could in the final match to hang on for as long as possible and give himself a good chance to win the tournament. Since Goffin did not have to play the quarter-finals due to Nishioka's withdrawal, he should be in much better physical condition compared to Medvedev. Not only did the Russian have to play a long semi-final with Djoko, but this is his 3rd final in 3 weeks and he has played 15 matches in 19 days, while the Belgian has had a much lighter schedule.
Mutual history
These players have met each other 2 times and shared a win: Medvedev won 3-0 in 2019. Medvedev won the 2019 Australian Open and Goffin won Wimbledon 3-2.
Forecast
Both players are currently at the peak of their form and the match should be very tough and interesting. Although Medvedev is dominating and looks unstoppable, this is again a final, 2 of which the Russian has already lost, and on top of that he now has to play his 16th match in 20 days. It's only a matter of time before the effects of fatigue kick in, and with the added tension of the final, we can expect more unforced errors than usual, and worse episodes of play from the Russian. Goffin is a more experienced player and had a much more relaxed schedule before reaching this final, so he will have a big advantage here. Medvedev is considered a clear favourite by the bookmakers, but bets on Goffin have much more value here. The Belgian is very unlikely to lose by more than 3.5 games (1.87 kof. betsafe), while the more risk-loving can try and see Goffin win at odds of 3.
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