Tennis Prediction Nuno Faria vs Walton: Cincinnati

🇺🇸 Cincinnati

• Two qualifiers in the round of 16 of a Masters, same number of wins this week: 4 all. Except you have to read the menus.

• Walton's: Mejia, Buse, players outside the top 100. Faria's: Basilashvili, Wu, Brooksby, and last night Ben Shelton, the man who had just beaten Tiafoe, Nakashima, Mensik and Bergs. 6-4 6-4, without trembling, without a set lost all week.

• The seasons tell the same gap. On the main tour in 2022: 26 wins for 11 losses on Faria's side, 15 for 17 on Walton's. The Australian is an excellent Challenger player visiting the tour; the 23-year-old Portuguese is settling in, with scalps like Van de Zandschulp this summer.

• No freshness advantage to look for, they both have the same mileage this week. The match will be decided on raw level, and the raw level has an owner.

• The real danger, I name it because we've seen it twice this fortnight: the comedown. Faria is coming off the match of his life. Tirante after his scalp of Fritz, Vallejo after Vacherot: the day after exploits have mowed down some nice stories here. If the Portuguese wakes up again in his match from yesterday, Walton is exactly the kind of diligent player who will take advantage.

• But between a player who beats a top 10 without dropping a set and a player who hasn't faced a top 50 this week, the hierarchy for tonight is clear. I'm taking Faria, and I'll watch his start.