The 2017 Cincinnati Masters continued on Wednesday and, at the time of writing, most of the matches were complete. Two players that advanced to the round of sixteen were Nick Kyrgios and Dominic Thiem. At this time on tour, with so many high-ranked players missing from injury, each of Kyrgios and Thiem takes on higher significance at the Masters Series level than at most previous points in their careers. They will each separate contest matches on Wednesday as they each continue a bid for a spot in the tournament final later this week.
Thiem faces Mannarino
Thiem will play in Grandstand in a match that will start not before 2 pm local time. The Austrian will face Adrian Mannarino, a French player that is enjoying a very good summer. Mannarino was in the fourth round of Wimbledon in July, and he was deep in the Rogers Cup tournament last week. He will be looking for his second Masters Series quarterfinal on Thursday in a match that looks like a coin toss. Thiem is certainly the more proven player relative to Mannarino, but the Austrian's form remains elusive on the hard-court surface.
Karlovic threatens Kyrgios
Nick Kyrgios' match will follow as the Australian will challenge Ivo Karlovic for a spot in the final eight. Karlovic is up to his normal tricks as the 38-year old took out a high seed in Cincinnati.
The Croat has taken a lot of top players out of draws over the years with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga the victim this time around. Karlovic had 19 aces in the 2nd-round match, one that finished in straight sets. He also won 82% of his first-serve points and 59% of his second-serve points. If he tosses in any kind of statistical results like that on Thursday, then Kyrgios will be in a whole heap of trouble.
Other key players for men's singles that are on Thursday's schedule include David Ferrer, Karen Khachanov, Grigor Dimitrov, Juan Martin del Potro, and John Isner. Rafael Nadal may yet join these players on the schedule, however, at the time of writing he had not yet won his first match in Cincinnati (up 5-2 in the first set against Richard Gasquet).
If Nadal won on Wednesday night, he would face Albert Ramos-Vinolas in what looks like a favorable contest for Rafa. Both players are better on the clay-court surface than the cement, but Nadal is more the man for all surfaces.
The low-key match on Thursday will be between Nikoloz Basilashvili and Jared Donaldson. Donaldson is into the round of sixteen behind an earlier upset over Roberto Bautista-Agut. These are two players ranked 65th in the world and 60th. With a spot in the quarters of the Cincinnati Masters up for grabs, one of them will be making a bigger name for himself. These players are alive in a quarter where Alexander Zverev went out, so there will be a low-ranked player in the semifinals, likely John Isner.
