Coco Gauff has learned her possible path to defending her Cincinnati title as the American tennis star could have a few tricky matchups early on in the tournament.
Gauff, seeded at No. 2, has a first-round bye and she will probably start her campaign by taking on Yulia Putintseva in the second round. While the second-seeded American would enter that match as the big favorite, it should be noted that world No. 31 Putintseva upset Iga Swiatek earlier this summer at Wimbledon.
In the round-of-16, Gauff could face No. 13 seed Anna Kalinskaya or Paula Badosa, who won a WTA 500 tournament in Washington at the start of the North American hard-court swing.
If there are no major surprises, Cincinnati quarterfinal action could see Gauff taking on Paris Olympics gold medalist Zheng Qinwen. Then, the projected semifinal in the bottom half of the Cincinnati draw sees Gauff meeting fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina in a blockbuster clash.
Should Gauff make back-to-back Cincinnati finals, she would likely meet there either No. 1 seed Swiatek or third-seeded Aryna Sabalenka. 12 months ago, the 20-year-old American famously beat Swiatek in the semifinal for her first win over the Pole in the eighth meeting.
On paper, Gauff’s Cincinnati draw doesn’t look like an easy one but if…
