Avery Perri

Carlos Alcaraz headlines Tuesday’s Cincinnati Open predictions.

The pregame narrative: The ATP World No. 2 survived a scare in his opener but should make light work of the unseeded Hamad Medjedovic in the round of 32. Elsewhere, a Wimbledon rematch between Coco Gauff and Dayana Yastremska has my attention.

Check out my top Cincinnati Open predictions for Aug. 12.

Cincinnati Open predictions

Best Bet: Medjedovic under 8.5 games won (-125)

This is a great way to back Alcaraz without paying extraordinary premiums on his outright (-835) or straight-set (-225) lines.

His game spread is set at -4.5, which should be a breeze, but I find this “fade” on Medjedovic a bit safer.

A 6-4, 6-4 win for Alcaraz would get this done, and I can easily see the Spaniard closing things out without dropping a serve.

This year, Alcaraz has tended to start tournaments slowly before finding his rhythm. He needed five sets to get past the first round at Wimbledon before cruising to the final.

That same narrative rang true on Sunday, when the No. 2 seed won 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 against 33-year-old Damir Dzumhur.

Alcaraz only had a 60% first serve rate, but he made up for it by winning 65% of his second serves and converting five of 10 break points.

Medjedovic only wins 17% of his return games, which would rank 67th on the ATP Tour had he played enough matches to qualify. I expect Alcaraz to dial in his serve for Tuesday’s match and limit his mistakes on that side of the court.

Key stat: Alcaraz is on a 17-match winning streak against opponents outside of the ATP top 50, winning 11 of those matches in straight sets.

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Yastremska vs. Gauff best bet

Yastremska/Gauff Over 20.5 games (-112): Confidence is key in tennis, and I’m sure Yastremska is oozing with it right now.

The Ukrainian is 8-3 since the start of Wimbledon, and that run began by knocking off Gauff in straight sets in the opening round.

I’m sure the WTA No. 2-ranked player will want some revenge, but I don’t think it will come so easily. Two of Yastremska’s three losses in that 11-match span went over this total, with the outlier landing on exactly 20 games.

Gauff has also struggled since her victory at the French Open, going 3-3 with two of those wins requiring three sets.

The American has had a dizzying 50 double faults in her last four matches, and that should help Yastremska secure breaks and extend this Wimbledon rematch over the total.

Cincinnati Open predictions made at 1:03 p.m. on 08/11/2025.

I’m backing three favourites to advance in the Toronto draw at the National Bank Open on Sunday.

The pregame narrative: Alex de Minaur is flying high and holds value to dispatch Frances Tiafoe in straight sets. Two ATP top-10-ranked Americans — Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton — are in action, and there’s reason to believe both will advance.

Check out my top National Bank Open parlay predictions for Aug. 3.

National Bank Open predictions

Parlay: de Minaur -1.5 sets | Fritz to win | Shelton to win (+255)

de Minaur -1.5 sets (-112): de Minaur entered this tournament on a high, capturing his 10th ATP singles title with a win at the Citi DC Open.

The problem for him in Toronto, in my mind at least, would be conditioning. The Aussie had won five matches in five days before heading north of the border, which is a lot of strain to put on the body.

But de Minaur made light work of his first opponent and was gifted a walkover in his round of 32 match against fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell, who pulled out with an abdominal injury.

Now the tables have turned, as de Minaur will have three days of rest against Tiafoe, who is playing in a doubles match on Saturday.

And I haven’t been particularly impressed with the American so far.

Tiafoe needed three sets in each of his matches and actually lost more games (17) than he won (15) against ATP No. 158 Yosuke Watanuki in the round of 64.

de Minaur is 38-11 on outdoor hard courts since the start of 2023. He won 26 of those matches in straight sets.

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Tennis parlay picks

Fritz to win (-265): One American I am impressed by is Fritz, who is enjoying a career year.

He won the Indian Wells Open earlier this year to capture his first ATP 1000-level title and then picked up two more wins overseas at the Eastbourne International and BOSS Open.

Fritz has won 13 of his last 15 matches, with one of the losses coming to Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinal at Wimbledon. It’s hard to scoff at that.

He’s also 3-0 against Sunday’s opponent, Jiri Lehecka, winning both meetings on hard courts in straight sets.

Shelton to win (-275): Finally, let’s turn to Shelton, who takes on an up-and-coming Italian, Flavio Cobolli.

Shelton’s powerful serve has helped him dominate on hard courts. The 22-year-old has a 14-6 record on the surface this year, advancing to the Australian Open semifinals in January.

He should easily beat a player who’s fighting out of his depth.

Cobolli is 1-8 against top-10 ranked players in the past year. His only win came against Holger Rune on clay, which is the Italian’s preferred surface.

National Bank Open predictions made at 12:10 p.m. on 08/02/2025

The National Bank Open round of 16 begins on Saturday, and two games from the Toronto draw have my attention.

The pregame narrative: Holger Rune has looked sharp through two rounds and has value to breeze past Alexei Popyrin, who is having a down year. After that, I expect Francisco Cerundolo to give top-seeded Alexander Zverev everything he can handle.

Check out my top National Bank Open predictions for Aug. 2.

National Bank Open predictions

Best bet: Rune -3 games (-106)

Rune started his career as a clay court specialist, but the 22-year-old is finding a groove on outdoor hard courts.

He’s 33-16 since the start of 2023, reaching the Indian Wells final this year while beating names like Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets.

And Rune’s recent partnership with the legendary Andre Agassi has me thinking the Dane can elevate his game to another level.

“It was insane. I’ve never met a guy who sees tennis that way, and I found it interesting … he makes things simple on the court,” Rune said of Agassi, who helped train him ahead of the National Bank Open.

The early results have been encouraging — a pair of straight-set wins over the hard-serving Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and No. 29-seeded Alexandre Muller. Rune covered a -3.5 spread in both of those matches.

Popyrin just beat an out-of-form Medvedev, but the Australian entered this tournament having lost five of his last six matches.

I think Rune can finish this one quickly.

Key stat: Popyrin is 4-7 on hard courts this year.

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Quick pick

Zverev/Cerundolo over 22.5 games (-112): Zverev might be the tournament’s top seed, but things haven’t come easy so far.

He needed a tiebreak and 23 games to beat wild-card Adam Walton (ATP No. 88) in the first round, and it took three sets to down Matteo Arnaldi (No. 41) in the round of 32.

Cerundolo is a rising star and is one of the few players who can say he’s undefeated against the German superstar.

The Argentine has a 3-0 record against Zvervev. While all of those victories were on clay, Cerundolo knows he’s capable of pulling off an upset.

Cerundolo is 10-3 on hard courts since the start of the Australian Open, with two of his three losses going over this game total.

National Bank Open predictions made at 12:00 p.m. on 08/02/2025.