Preview / Schedule 2024 Cincinnati Open Day Four - Thursday 15 August featuring Alcaraz-Monfils, Pegula-Muchova, Fernandez-Rybakina

The Cincinnati Open continues on Thursday 15 August with the schedule and Order of Play confirmed including the return of action for Carlos Alcaraz as well as some top WTA ties worth watching. Our preview looks ahead to Day Four in Mason, Ohio.

As well as Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev starts his campaign. Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka among others also start all playing on the main show courts but as ever with these tournaments, there are top ties wherever you look.

Alexander Zverev will kick proceedings off on Thursday. Losing to Sebastian Korda in the Quarter-Finals of the Canadian Open, he has been steady as of late despite looking like he was going to miss some time with an injury. He faces off against Karen Khachanov albeit the Russian is always a spoiler so could prove thus again this time around.

After that, two of the main WTA seeds are in action as Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff are involved. Albeit both have more questions than answers going into Cincinnati. The former has been back on the tour for the first time since Wimbledon after withdrawing with a shoulder injury.

But it has been hit and miss. She reached the semi-finals in Washington losing to Marie Bouzkova in a tournament and line-up that she would've been expecting to win. While in Canada, she was defeated by Amanda Anisimova. Albeit a real stylistic matchup that doesn't work for the Belarusian hence the 8-2 deficit in Head to Head.

So while there will be questions for a player of her calibre, she has had steady form. While Gauff had a pretty poor Olympic Games and also Canada which saw the American lose out albeit to a rising star in Diana Shnaider but in the second round.

She defends Cincinnati this time and truth betold looked untouchable last year going into her US Open win so the spark needs to be lit firmly again.

Carlos Alcaraz will anchor the Night Session albeit taking the defacto defending champion role due to Novak Djokovic not playing. But he faces a real entertaining clash with Gael Monfils up first.

Monfils took down Alexei Popyrin who won Canada and did nothing to help the curse of Canada. But a match that perhaps given the age of the Frenchman we maybe wouldn't have seen gets aired on Thursday.

Before another top tie and perhaps the best of the day from a WTA sense in terms of closeness and stylistically is Jessica Pegula v Karolina Muchova.

Pegula won Canada last week and going into her home Grand Slam again, she will look to finally make her mark at Flushing Meadows. While Muchova is on the comeback trail. Defeating Dayana Yastremska yesterday, she spent just under a year off the court and needs matches. Especially given that she will defend her semi-final run at the US Open last year this time around.

Poor at the Olympic Games but most players were, Muchova showed a glimmer albeit on a different surface reaching the Palermo final so is certainly a player to watch also in upset watch against Pegula.

Elena Rybakina begins the Grandstand action and in similar circumstances to the Pegula v Muchova tie, it is quality on paper. She faces Leylah Fernandez who bounced back after a poor run in Canada by defeating Yue Yuan albeit in three sets.

What version of the Kazakh will turn up though? Her playing in the first place is perhaps surprising given that she was unwell only weeks ago and all of the chat from the Rybakina camp pointed to her being a doubt for the US Open no mind Cincinnati. But despite not knowing when she was going to return, she suddenly popped up practicing in Cincinnati. So either we get top level Rybakina or one under the weather and not at 100%. Very intriguing to decipher.

Another player with intrigue is Casper Ruud who headlines the Night Session on Grandstand. He faces Felix Auger-Aliassime. The former had not been seen since curiously withdrawing from Canada with illness and some thought he may not play Cincinnati due to him only practicing a day or two before. But aside from a late withdrawal, he does play on Thursday.

Other ties include Jack Draper who faces Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jasmine Paolini returns to action and will face Anastasia Potapova. Two ties back-to-back on Court 10 to keep an eye on are Anna Kalinskaya facing Paula Badosa followed by Mirra Andreeva taking on Karolina Pliskova.

Holger Rune, Elina Svitolina and Diana Shnaider also lead the line-ups on the outside courts with stories as ever everywhere in Ohio. But will it be plain sailing for the big seeds or will there be plenty of Upset Watch?

(3) Alexander Zverev v Karen Khachanov

(3) Aryna Sabalenka v Elisabetta Cocciaretto

(2) Coco Gauff v Yulia Putintseva

(2) Carlos Alcaraz v Gael Monfils

(6) Jessica Pegula v Karolina Muchova

Leylah Fernandez v (4) Elena Rybakina

Zhizhen Zhang v (6) Andrey Rublev

(12) Ben Shelton v Tomas Martin Etcheverry

Not before 7:00pm: (7) Qinwen Zheng v (Q) Magdalena Frech

(7) Casper Ruud v Felix Auger-Aliassime

(5) Hubert Hurkacz v Yoshihito Nishioka

(8) Grigor Dimitrov v Fabian Marozsan

Jack Draper v (9) Stefanos Tsitsipas

Not before 5:00pm: Anastasia Potapova v (5) Jasmine Paolini

(WC) Caroline Wozniacki v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Elina Avanesyan v (8) Jelena Ostapenko

Liudmila Samsonova (10) v Magda Linette

Anna Kalinskaya (13) v Paula Badosa

Mirra Andreeva v Karolina Pliskova

Luciano Darderi v Flavio Cobolli

Max Purcell v Pablo Carreno Busta

Brandon Nakashima v Arthur Fils

Holger Rune (15) v Nuno Borges

Elina Svitolina v Jessica Bouzas Maneiro

Ashlyn Krueger v Diana Shnaider

Taylor Townsend v (9) Daria Kasatkina