The 2025 Cincinnati Open is set to begin on August 7 (Thursday), with Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz being the top two seeds in the men’s singles field.
The two top-ranked players in the world have not played on the Tour since their Wimbledon final, which Sinner won to clinch his fourth Major title. Previously, the duo also played an epic final at Roland Garros, which was won by the Spaniard.
Let’s look at the projected path to the finals at the upcoming 2025 Cincinnati Open
Carlos Alcaraz’s projected path to the Cincinnati Open final
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As per seedings, Alcaraz will face 26th-seeded Tallon Griekspoor in the third round. The Spaniard will be the favorite in that match-up as he has won all five matches he has played against the Dutch player.
Alcaraz's potential fourth-round opponent in Cincinnati will be 16th-seeded Jakub Mensik. The young Czech player has shown impressive results this year, winning the Masters 1000 title at the Miami Open. His serving skills on the hard courts will be a tricky challenge for Alcaraz, who will be going up against Mensik for the first time in his career.
Alacarz will most likely face sixth-seeded Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals in Cincinnati. Even though the Australian player is in good form, having won the title in Washington, he has not been able to win against the Spaniard in four previous attempts so far, the last of which came in the Rotterdam final this year.
Alcaraz will either face third-seeded Alexander Zverev or fifth-seeded Ben Shelton in the semifinals. Even though the Spaniard has a 3-0 record against the American, the German player is the only potential opponent against whom Alcaraz has a losing 5-6 record. The Spaniard will most likely face top seed Jannik Sinner in the final, against whom he has an 8-5 record, but lost the last encounter at the Wimbledon final.
Jannik Sinner's projected path to the Cincinnati Open final
Top seed and defending champion Jannik Sinner will begin his title defense at the 2025 Cincinnati Open with a bye in the first round, with a potential second-round meeting against Vit Kopriva. The Italian has never played the Czech before, but should not have any problems winning the match.
The potential third-round opponent for Sinner will be 30th-seeded Gabriel Diallo. The big-serving Canadian will be a first-time opponent for Sinner as well, but the top seed is expected to come thorugh. The fourth-round opponent for Sinner at this year's Cincinnati Open is likely to be either 13th seed Tommy Paul or 19th seed Tomas Machac. The Italian has a 4-1 and 2-0 head-to-head record against the American and Czech, respectively.
As per seedings, Sinner will most likely face countryman Lorenzo Musetti in the quarterfinals in Cincinnati, with the top seed having a 2-0 record against his compatriot. In the semifinal, the Italian's probable opponent will be fourth seed Taylor Fritz, who has won two titles on grass last month, and has reached the semifinal in Toronto so far. However, Sinner has a 4-1 head-to-head against the American.
Sinner will most likely face Carlos Alcaraz in the final in Cincinnati. The Italian won their most recent encounter at the Wimbledon final, but it is the Spaniard who has the overall 8-5 lead in the head-to-head record against the Italian.
