Tennis Prediction Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Felix Auger-Aliassime: Cincinnati

🇺🇸 #Cincinnati

• 7 years of duels between these two, 10 matches, and always the same score: 7-6 7-6 in Shanghai, 6-3 7-6 in Bercy, 7-5 4-6 6-3 in Acapulco.

• Two players built around their serve, two returns that don't follow, and sets that stretch because no one gives up their serve.

• The cast hasn't changed. Tsitsipas remains one of the worst returners at the top level against a big first serve, and Auger-Aliassime remains a big first serve.

• On Friday, the Greek won 7-6 7-5 against Royer: 25 games, the typical match of his season.

• We need 23 games in the match. A tiebreaker somewhere and a 6-4 set is enough, and the slightest third set solves the question on its own.

• The first set at 11 games, it's the same spot in a spiced-up version: it requires that no one breaks early.

• And there, I have to name the risk: Auger-Aliassime hasn't played for 40 days, his Wimbledon semifinal. The rust of a server, in general, protects the totals.

• But a first set of comeback can also be given in 20 minutes on direct errors, and this line would not recover from it, when the over of the match would survive it.

• Two spots then, but not two equal convictions: the long match is the central reading, the long first set is its high-tension version, for those who want the big thrill from the first return game.