Cincinnati Masters 2022: Taylor Fritz vs. Andrey Rublev Tennis Pick and Prediction

TennisSection previews the 2022 Cincinnati Open as Taylor Fritz takes on Andrey Rublev in the Round of 32 on Thursday, August 18th, 2022.

Will Taylor Fritz get the win? Will Andrey Rublev pull off the upset? This will be a fascinating one, where we have a rivalry dating back to the juniors with two of the biggest hitters on the ATP Tour. Who will triumph and move on to the quarterfinals at the 2022 Cincinnati Open?

Taylor Fritz got an amazing win over Nick Kyrgios, although Kyrgios had his own issues, Fritz served really well and he’s got a lot to be confident over as he comes up against the 6th seed in Andrey Rublev. Although he may be the form favorite, Rublev loves these quicker courts and the matchup goes both ways for these two. If he wants to win, he’s going to have to play some really aggressive tennis here at the 2022 Cincinnati Open.

Andrey Rublev had a tough battle with Fabio Fognini, needing 3 sets and 2 tiebreakers before closing out the Italian 6-2 in the 3rd. In order to be competitive against Taylor Fritz, he’s going to need to step it up. His 2nd serve will be pounced on by Taylor, so any opportunity he gets he needs to take instantly, he doesn’t want to get into the longer rallies, or else I suspect he’ll be out and Fritz could move through to the last 8 here at the 2022 Cincinnati Open.

Taylor Fritz and Andrey Rublev have met five times before, with Taylor Fritz leading the head to head 3-2. They’ve already had quite a few meetings, and as I mentioned earlier, the matchup goes both ways, Taylor mentioned that he really likes the way Rublev strikes the ball as it’s really in his own strike zone, but Rublev will love the flat ball exchanges and will try to thrive off of those exchanges. While we may get more than we expect, in the end I can’t see Rublev taking out Fritz at their current levels as the American looks to please his home crowd and move through to the quarterfinals at the 2022 Cincinnati Open.