Can Kecmanovic win the battle this time?

The Serb has two deciding-set losses to Cobolli already this year...

Yep, it was back in Acapulco and then Indian Wells, shortly after each other! Something to note is that Cobolli was a slight underdog in both matches, and they were played on slower hardcourts, which should be more advantageous for the Italian. Now, we have him on a fast hardcourt, as a favorite! Is it justified? Well, the fact that he won both matches and had several successful tournaments after that (also reaching the RG final) is certainly a factor. While both of their matches have been tight, I don't think it's a matter of luck that Cobolli came out the winner! While he can be erratic at times, he is also someone who can be clutch in big matches, which is Kecmanovic's kryptonite - since it's probably his weakest spot. We see it all the time with Miomir, don't we? Matches that go to deciding sets and then he loses tiebreaks or deep in the set.

As for their recent form, Kecmanovic had to battle Carabelli on a "parking garage"-court, which had party music blasting non-stop. It is probably one of the best matchups for him, facing a counterpuncher on a fast court! While the scoreline was a comfortable 6-3, 6-3, it wasn't all that easy. He took advantage of a bad double fault to break Carabelli early on, but the second set turned into a real battle with Carabelli swinging his forehand freely! Kecmanovic managed in the end, but looked quite physically spent in the end, despite it being a short match. He does tend to recover OK, just something to keep in mind.

As for Cobolli, we know he is a player who is very streaky throughout tournaments; therefore, we need to be careful with him in the opening rounds. He has lost his last three opening rounds, actually, in Montreal, Umag, and Halle - all in straight sets. However, he has spoken a lot about how he is really excited to get going here and that he didn't feel all that good in Montreal. Words are only words, but at the very least we should see a big fight from Cobolli! While we prefer him in slower conditions, he is the kind of player who can play pretty well anywhere; we have even seen good matches from him here in Cincinnati in the past!