On Monday, we saw several top players depart Mason, Ohio.

The biggest blow is without question, Roger Federer due to a back injury. The withdrawal comes after a straight set loss in Canada to Alexander Zverev. This announcement also opened the door to No. 1 for Rafael Nadal. An interesting coincidence, Nadal reached the No. 1 ranking the week of August 18th, 2008 after a semifinal finish in Cincinnati. Despite this stroke of luck, No. 1 is no fluke. Rafa has done the work to give himself this opportunity dominating the 2017 clay season.

Notable Players Departing Mason on Monday:

WTA

No. 21, Coco Vandeweghe lost to friend and Fed Cup teammate Madison Keys

No. 13, Kristina Mladenovic lost to No. 26, Daria Gavrilova

No. 20, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova lost to Lesia Tsurenko                                        

Rio Gold Medalist, Monica Puig lost to American qualifier, Taylor Townsend

No. 51, Timea Babos lost to No. 42, Roberta Vinci

ATP

NextGen, No. 51, Daniil Medvedev lost to No. 25 Fabio Fognini

No. 33, Fernando Verdasco lost to No. 26, Misha Zverev

No. 57, Donald Young lost to American [WC] Tommy Paul

No. 21, Gael Monfils withdrawal due to illness

No. 9, Kei Nishikori withdrawal due to wrist injury

No. 2, Roger Federer withdrawal due to back

WTA and ATP Round Table Conversations

For those not familiar, early in each tournament, media representatives literally get to sit down at a round table with the players to chat. Monday was that day in Cincy. Below are a few key conversation points. Overall round tables are fun, more relaxed than pressers and the personalities of the players really shine through. I wish that every fan could have this experience.

 Top-ranked Karolina Pliskova reflected on her top position and handling the pressure of her new role while reminiscing about the value of Fed Cup in her growth as a player.

Former No. 1 and current No. 3, Angelique Kerber spoke about learning the importance of learning to say no and now understands that is part of taking care of herself. Self-time is key along with a good cup of coffee!

Roger’s Cup Champion and No. 4-Elina Svitolina was beaming! She also addressed balancing her schedule to avoid exhaustion, taking some time for herself every now and then.

Grand Slam Champion and No. 8, Svetlana Kuznetsova believes in “Never say never” and “Sveta 2020” may not be out of the question. And… she wishes people would understand that No. 5-Caroline Wozniacki is having a good year.

French Open Finalist and No. 2-Simona Halep offered the advice to never charter a small private plane. She prefers driving through Buffalo, New York to Cincy. She acknowledged that her partnership with coach Darren Cahill remains a positive for her game.

Wimbledon Champion and No. 6-Garbine Muguruza revealed that she does not like to be “ice” in press, but when she shows emotions like in Paris, the message gets twisted sometimes. Family note - her older brothers were easy on her.

ATP No. 1-Rafael Nadal was not celebrating his return to world no 1. In typical fashion for Rafa, only a true win is worthy of celebration. He stressed that his success continues to be very much a team effort…and Thiem and Zverev won’t be getting advice from him any time soon. (Smiling) really, they don’t need it…

ATP No. 8-Dominic Thiem talked about struggles at Cincy and how he is much more relaxed playing on clay. At home, he is happy that his success has become a catalyst for growing the game tennis once again in Austria.

Monday Match Summaries

Vinci d. Babos

Italy’s Roberta Vinci won a very tight match over Hungarian, Timea Babos. Final score 7-5, 7-5. The first set when to 4-4 with Vinci capturing the first break in game 9. At 5-4, Babos would not be outdone breaking back with powerful serves and deep grounders, score 5-5. Veteran Vinci wasted no time creating another opportunity and broke back with her typical style of all court tennis. She served out the set 7-5.

The second set was and exchange of early breaks with Babos up 4-1. But Vinci held her nerve, pressed Babos to make errors and continued her strategic placement. She would finish winning the last 5services games 7-5. Next up for Roberta is either Anastasija Sevastova or Peng Shuai. 

Zverev d. Verdasco

Under the Grandstand lights, Misha Zverev defeated Fernando Verdasco 6-4 6-4. Ranked No. 26, Mischa won a well fought match against Verdasco. This win was proof that serve and volley is alive and well. Delivering solid service games, he showed patience, precision and poise.  Zverev advances to Round 2 with potential next opponents, Pablo Carreno Busta [ESP] or Paolo Lorenzi [ITA].

Tuesday Match Picks

WTA

No. 9, Venus Williams [USA] v. Alison Riske [USA]

Taylor Townsend [USA] v. No. 2 Simona Halep [ROU]

Sloane Stephens [USA] v. Lucie Safarova [CZE]

Doubles: Kristina Mladenovic [FRA]-Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova [RUS] vs. Lucie Hradecka [CZE]-Katerina Siniakova [CZE]

ATP

No. 8-Dominic Thiem [AUT] v. Fabio Fognini [ITA]                              

David Goffin [BEL] v. Nick Kyrgios [AUS]

Ivo Karlovic [CRO] v. Jo-Wilfred Tsonga [FRA]

Three Star Pick Doubles: Leander Paes [IND]-Alexander Zverev [GER] vs. Feliciano Lopez [ESP]-Marc Lopez [ESP]