Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the ATP tennis match
Karen Khachanov
Karen Khachanov keeps disappointing. This summer, the Russian tennis player suffered one defeat after another. The list of opponents he’s lost isn’t impressive: Josef Kovalik, Aleksandar Vukic, Hong Seong Chan. At the recent Masters in Montreal, Khachanov didn’t last past the second round, losing to Matteo Arnalid (5:7, 5:7). At the same time Karen has nothing to show off in terms of performance history in Cincinnati. In five times, he has never reached at least the quarter-final, and last time, in 2020, he was eliminated in the first round.
Francisco Cerundolo
Since losing to Karen Khachanov at Masters in Rome, Francisco Cerundolo has worked on himself, and in the new head-to-head match, he is ready to show his better version. The Argentine was close to beating Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros, he won the title in Umag last month, and only lost to Casper Ruud at the Olympics. This is different from what he showed at the start of the season, now he is in his best form.
Karen Khachanov - Francisco Cerundolo Prediction
Karen Khachanov leads in the head-to-head matches 5-0, but this has little to do with the Russian's current form. However, Francisco Cerundolo has a very poor record on hard courts (3-6) this season, so the chances to win are equal. In this case, it seems better to bet on the underdog.
