Taylor Fritz vs Novak Djokovic Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Cincinnati Open

Prediction published on 18/08/2023, 10:15  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 18/08/2023 at 14:38 in Tennis Predictions

World number two Novak Djokovic will take on the ninth-ranked Taylor Fritz in the quarter-final of the ATP Cincinnati Open on Saturday. The winner of this match will face either Adrian Mannarino or Alexander Zverev in the semi-final. These two have met on six occasions in the past, and Djokovic has won all six encounters, three of which were on the hard court. The Serbian comes into this match after beating familiar foe Gael Monfils in the last round in straight sets, while Alejandro Davidovich Fokina pulled out of the competition in the second set of round one. Djokovic is returning to the court here in Cincinnati for the first time since he was beaten in the Wimbledon final by Carlos Alcaraz. If the Serbian and Spaniard maintain their stellar form, we could see the pair face off again in the final of this competition. Djokovic is now 35-5 for the year and 17-1 on the hard court. His solitary loss on the surface came in Dubai back in February when he was beaten by Daniil Medvedev. This is the fourth hard-court tournament that the Serbian is playing this year, and he has already bagged two titles at the Adelaide 1 competition and the Australian Open. He also secured a clay court title at Roland Garros, which took him to three ATP titles for the year. Djokovic's last two wins over this opponent came on the hard surface, and the Serbian is strongly fancied to claim another victory here. 

Meanwhile, Taylor Fritz spent under an hour on the court in his last match as Dusan Lajovic retired hurt before the conclusion of the first set. Earlier in the competition, the American took down Lorenzo Sonego in round two and Jiri Lehecka in the opening round, both in straight sets. Fritz has had a solid season to date, but his undoubted best work has been done on the hard surface. His record for the year is currently 45-18 and 29-7 on this surface. Included in those 29 hard-court wins are three titles and two semi-final appearances. Fritz kicked the year off with a win at the United Cup and another just a month later at Delray Beach. After a relatively underwhelming clay and grass swing, the American returned to his favored surface in style by securing the Atlanta Open title in July and was narrowly beaten by Tallon Griekspoor in the penultimate round in Washington a week later. However, he faces a completely different type of opponent in Djokovic, who he has never managed to get the better of in his career. While he is expected to give another good account of himself, the bookmakers make him out to be a 4/1 outsider to upset the mighty Serbian in this one.