Cincinnati Open Preview – Winner Odds, Betting Tips and Predictions

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The last big stop of the tennis calendar ahead of the US Open is here, with both the ATP and WTA Tours heading to Ohio for the 2024 Cincinnati Open.

With the final Grand Slam of the year less than a fortnight away, this tournament couldn’t be more crucial. There are players making their return from the Olympics, looking to adjust to the American hard court conditions, while others are desperately trying to grab momentum ahead of New York.

Can Carlos Alcaraz salve his Olympics final disappointment with a title in Cincinnati? Will Jannik Sinner’s hip be up to the task? What about Iga Swiatek, who is slightly less menacing on hard courts than clay–can she bounce back from a tough result in Paris? Or will Jessica Pegula carry on her freshly found form this week?

Let’s look at all there is to know about the Cincinnati Open, looking at the favorites to win each tournament, top seeds, betting odds and predictions ahead of the first ball.

ATP Cincinnati Betting Preview

A total of 56 men head to Cincinnati, but only one can lift the trophy. Who will it be? For context, here’s what the latest bookmaker odds and the tournament’s seeding has to say.

Men’s Cincinnati Open Betting Odds

• Carlos Alcaraz @ 2.40 (+140)
• Jannik Sinner @ 3.10 (+210)
• Daniil Medvedev @ 8.00 (+700)
• Alexander Zverev @ 12.00 (+1100)
• Sebastian Korda @ 29.00 (+2800)

As expected, there’s a gulf between top seeds Alcaraz and Sinner, and the rest of the field. The leading duo return 2.40 (+140) and 3.10 (+210) respectively. Behind them, there’s a big drop back to Medvedev on 8.00 (+700) and Zverev at 12.00 (+1100).

Korda rounds out the top five, but it’s another big leap back to the in-form American, with odds of 29.00 (+2800) for the local hero to prevail.

Top Men’s Seeds in Cincinnati

1. Jannik Sinner
2. Carlos Alcaraz
3. Alexander Zverev
4. Daniil Medvedev
5. Hubert Hurkacz
6. Andrey Rublev
7. Casper Ruud
8. Grigor Dimitrov

These are the eight players who will receive byes into the second round. The top four seeds largely align with the betting odds, but it’s clear that seeds five through eight aren’t as threatening in the bookies’ eyes.

Recommended Betting Tips for the ATP Cincinnati Masters 1000

You’ve seen what the bookies have to say, and how the Cincinnati Open is seeded, but what about our predictions. Here’s how we expect the week will pan out:

1. Medvedev to Win

It’s a bit of a controversial pick, but we’re backing Medvedev to go all the way this week. The Russian hasn’t been in the best of form, having lost third round at the Olympics and first round in Canada. However, he’s still an excellent hard court player, and has shown time and time again across his career that he’s the consummate professional that can dig himself out of a rut.

Just because Medvedev has taken a few losses this year, it’s easy to forget his impressive hard court achievements: a 75.3% win rate, 19 titles, five Masters, one Grand Slam and one year-end championship. Throw in the fact that he won Cincinnati in 2019, and there’s a strong case to be made for the 28-year-old winning this week.

We say that his case is made even stronger by what’s going on with Alcaraz and Sinner, two of his big rivals this week. Sinner showed worrying signs of his hip injury flaring back up in Canada, holding his hip and grimacing on several occasions. After the match, he even said he doesn’t expect to be 100 percent for Cincinnati.

Alcaraz, on the other hand, has taken some time away from the game since losing in the gold medal match of the Olympics. While we think this bodes well for his US Open chances, the combination of not much practice, plus new conditions, new balls, travel and a change in surface is enough to put a question mark over his head this week.

2. Berrettini to Go Deep

If you’re after a high return bet in Cincinnati this week, then consider Italian Matteo Berrettini.

The former world No 6 has blasted his way back into form after having struggled with injury issues for the first third of the season. Returning in Marrakech at the start of the clay season, Berrettini immediately won a title.

Though Marrakech was a light field, Berrettini quickly proved he was the real deal, making the final of Stuttgart in June. Most recently, he’s won back-to-back titles, claiming ATP 250s in Gstaad and Kitzbuhel to put him on a 10-match winning streak.

While hard courts aren’t Berrettini’s strength (his backhand struggles at times), there’s still merit in backing the big man this week. He faces Holger Rune in the first round; a win there would give him confidence, before a potentially shaky Alcaraz awaits in the third. 

With two big wins under his belt heading into the quarter-finals, you wouldn’t want to bet against Berrettini going all the way with his current form.

3. Musetti Falls Early

Another player who has been brilliant in recent months has been Lorenzo Musetti. 

The young Italian almost upset Novak Djokovic in the French Open. He then went and made the semi-finals in Stuttgart, final in Queen’s, and semi-final at Wimbledon. But he wasn’t done: Musetti then went straight to Croatia and made the final in Umag, before jetting to Paris and playing in the Olympics the very next day, where he’d go on to win a bronze medal.

It’s time for him to take a bad loss. He’ll be tired, and while we’re high on him overall this year, would not be surprised in the slightest if he crashed out in the first or second round in Cincinnati. 

WTA Cincinnati Betting Preview

Playing parallel to the men’s event, a similar 56-woman draw will unfold in the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open. Here’s what the betting odds and seeding is looking like ahead of the tournament:

Women’s Cincinnati Open Betting Odds

• Iga Swiatek @ 3.60 (+260)
• Aryna Sabalenka @ 4.75 (+375)
• Coco Gauff @ 6.50 (+550)
• Elena Rybakina @ 7.50 (+650)
• Jessica Pegula @ 11.00 (+1000)

Despite being on hard courts, Swiatek is still favorite to take out the title in Cincinnati with odds of 3.60 (+260). However, the usual large gap between her and the rest of the field is non-existent, with Sabalenka close behind on 4.75 (+375). 

Both Gauff and Rybakina are also in the mix at 6.50 (+550) and 7.50 (+650) respectively. It’s not until the fifth line of betting do the odds begin to lengthen significantly, with recent Toronto champion Pegulas paying a long 11.00 (+1000) to win.

Top Women’s Seeds in Cincinnati

1. Iga Swiatek
2. Coco Gauff
3. Aryna Sabalenka
4. Elena Rybakina
5. Jasmine Paolini
6. Jessica Pegula
7. Qinwen Zheng
8. Jelena Ostapenko

These eight will all receive byes into the second round in Cincinnati. By and large, the seeding is in line with the betting odds, with the notable exception of Paolini, who isn’t favored by the bookies this week.

Recommended Betting Tips for the Cincinnati WTA 1000

We’ve analyzed the odds and weighed up the path of each player through the Cincinnati draw. Based on this, here are our recommended betting tips this week:

1. Sabalenka to Win

Aryna Sabalenka opted to skip the Olympics and head to the North American hard courts early. In many ways, it seems as though this bet hasn’t paid off, with the Belarusian failing to win titles in either of her two events so far, in Washington and Toronto.

However, we say Cincinnati will be when Sabalenka’s decision pays off. Many players are complaining about how different the Wilson balls are, which are used for the North American hardcourt swing. While Sabalenka hasn’t got the results she would have wanted yet, she’s a fortnight ahead of the likes of Swiatek and Rybakina in her preparation.

She’s also not in terrible form. It’s been since January that she last won a title. Since then though, the world No 3 has made two WTA 1000 finals (lost to Swiatek in both), plus made a semi-final and quarter-final in her last two events. 

With Gauff out of sorts, Pegula having just played a lot of tennis, and Swiatek and Rybakina fresh from other surfaces, we have Sabalenka as our favorite to win in Cincinnati.

2. Andreeva to Go Deep

We’re also high on young Mirra Andreeva to go deep this week. The Russian teen is in red-hot form, having won her maiden WTA title last month and won a silver medal at the Olympics in doubles. 

It’s easy to forget that Andreeva was outside the world’s top 50 at the start of the year. She has had a brilliant year, however, winning three of her four matches against top 10 players, including against Sabalanka en route to the French Open semi-finals.

Andreeva’s trajectory is only heading in one direction, and it would be no surprise if she went on another tear here in Cincinnati.

3. Anisimova Falls Early

Amanda Anisimova just had a brilliant week in Toronto, reeling off four straight top 20 victories to make the final of the Canadian Open WTA 1000. While she was noticeably off her game in the final – looking energy-sapped and spraying unforced errors – she still dug deep and made a match of it by winning the second set.

After losing, she was visibly emotional. It was clear how much the run meant to her, given all she’s been through (Anisimova took a break from tennis in 2023 to protect her mental health). We expect she will go on to record some more great results over the coming months, but heading to Cincinnati and putting in a similar effort with no break seems like a big ask.

It would be no surprise if Anisimova withdraws, or struggles to find the same level and loses early this week.