Carlos Alcaraz vs Jordan Thompson Prediction & Betting Tips - Cincinnati, USA

Prediction published on 15/08/2023, 10:00  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 15/08/2023 at 13:45 in Tennis Predictions

Top seeded Carlos Alcaraz bids to bounce back from last week's loss to Tommy Paul in Toronto. The Spaniard takes on unseeded Jordan Thompson in the first round of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. One of the possible opponents in the third round is Tommy Paul. Alcaraz has won six titles this year but wasn't too happy with his performance in Toronto where he was beaten in the last eight. That defeat ended an unbeaten run of 14 matches that had seen him win both the Queen's Club and Wimbledon titles. They were both on grass and this is an outdoor hard court event. His form on this surface has already seen him win the Masters tournament at Indian Wells.

Jordan Thompson has a mountain to climb in this match. He began the tournament ranked 55th and had to qualify to get into the main draw. The Australian had to go to three sets to beat Alexandre Muller in his first match but then had a straight sets victory over Marc-Andrea Husler. That took him into a first round match against big-serving John Isner and he won that via two tie-breaks. That success has taken him up to 47th in the live rankings. That's just four places below the career high he achieved four years ago. The 29-year-old is in good form though and reached the last eight in Washington but could then only win six games against Taylor Fritz. Grass is his best surface but he has won a couple of Challenger Tour events on hard courts this year. This is so much tougher though and we go for Alcaraz to win this in straight sets.