13. 08. 2011. ·
Photo: Getty Images
The draw for the Western & Southern Open, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati (hard, $2,430,000) is out. The tournament starts on Sunday, August 14.
Nole is top-seeded and has a first round BYE. This will be his seventh appearance in Cincinnati.
The 2008 and 2009 runner-up will face either world no.22 Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela or American Ryan Harrison in the second round.
Novak leads 2-0 against Chela and has never played Harrison before.
Potential rivals of the world’s best player in the later stages of the tournament are:
3rd round: Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI, 16), John Isner (USA)
Quarter-finals: Gael Monfils (FRA, 6), Andy Roddick (USA, 11)
Semi-finals: Roger Federer (SUI, 3), Tomas Berdych (CZE, 8), Nicolas Almagro (ESP, 9), Viktor Troicki (SRB, 14), Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG)
Rafael Nadal (ESP, 2), Andy Murray (GBR, 4), Mardy Fish (USA, 7), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA, 15) … are in the bottom half of the draw.
Nole won 11 out of 17 matches at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters. Last year he lost in the quarter-final to American Andy Roddick, 4-6, 5-7.
World no.3 Roger Federer is the defending champion. The Swiss beat Mardy Fish in three sets in last year’s final.
For more information about the tournament visit www.cincytennis.com.
