Frances Tiafoe vs Diego Sebastián Schwartzman Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Cincinnati Open

Prediction published on 18/08/2021, 10:03  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 18/08/2021 at 11:03 in Tennis Predictions

Diego Schwartzman is the tenth seed for the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. He takes on world number 51 Frances Tiafoe in the second round with the winner facing either eighth seed Casper Ruud or Reilly Opelka. Schwartzman is the world number 14 but began the year in ninth place. He won a clay court tournament in his native Argentina earlier this year and reached the last eight at Roland Garros, losing in four sets to Rafael Nadal. Away from clay courts, Schwartzman got to the last 16 at the Olympics and last week was beaten by Roberto Bautista Agut in the last 16 after beating Benoit Paire in the first round. He had a tough first round match in this tournament, having to go to three sets to beat Daniel Evans (middle set lost). He's had one previous match against his opponent, beating him in three sets in Barcelona this year.

Frances Tiafoe can climb into the top 50 in the live rankings if winning this match. 2021 began with the American in 62nd place in the rankings, well below his best ever 29th two years ago. He had a disappointing set of results in the first half of the year but then won a Challenger tournament on grass in Nottingham but without beating any top 100 ranked opponents. Wimbledon saw him beat fourth seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round but then lost in round three. Tsitsipas got his revenge when beating Tiafoe in the second round at the Tokyo Olympics. Last week saw him beat Denis Shapovalov in Toronto but he then lost to Gael Monfils. He beat Ugo Humbert 7-5 7-6 in the first round of this tournament. This could be another close match but the tip is for Schwartzman to get the win, have a side bet on a tie-break.