Good week / bad week: Cincinnati

It’s the last big test before the US Open, and after a shaky start Cincinnati delivered in spades. But who fared well in the variably wet and sweaty conditions, and who could have done better? This is good week / bad week:

Good week:

Marin Cilic: Marin Cilic has always enjoyed the US hard court swing, but few expected him to beat Andy Murray in the Cincinnati final. He did, and the big serving Croat claimed his first ATP Masters 1000 title of the year – with one of the better ATP celebrations of recent years.

Now THAT is how you celebrate winning your 1st ATP Masters1000 title! ???? @cilic_marin https://t.co/StKfujt5eJ

— W&S Open (@CincyTennis) August 21, 2016

Karolina Pliskova: While it’s fairly self-evident that Karolina Pliskova had a good week in Cincinnati, it would do her a disservice to under-estimate the size of her achievement. Cincinnati is her biggest title to date, and she had to down both Muguruza and Kerber to lift the trophy.

Grigor Dimitrov: Is Grigor Dimitrov back? It’s way too early to say for sure, but the signs are promising. A stellar run through the Cincinnati draw, which included wins over Stan Wawrinka and in-form Steve Johnson, ended with a hard-fought defeat to eventual champion Marin Cilic.

An honourable mention to:
Angelique Kerber: So Angie’s bid for the No.1 spot fell at the final hurdle. However, the German has positioned herself perfectly to take the top spot if she can go deep at the US Open.

Bad week:

Tomas Berdych: Okay, so the defeat to Marin Cilic in the third round of Cincinnati wasn’t a complete disaster. But when you couple that defeat with an appendicitis that has ruled Big Berd out of the US Open, then you can say Tomas has had a shocker.

Ana Ivanovic: It’s not so much the fact that Ana Ivanovic lost to Donna Vekic that made this a bad week for Ana, it’s more the fact that losses like this are no longer a surprise. The Serb is making a habit of early, somewhat perplexing defeats, and her first round defeat to Vekic was just the latest in a string of them.

Rafa Nadal: Rafa would probably argue that he didn’t have a really bad week. And we’d agree… to a point. But Borna Coric ruthlessly exposed the Spaniard’s lack of match – and general – fitness in his 6-1 6-3 win, and raised doubts about Rafa’s ability to seriously contend for the title at Flushing Meadows.

An honourable mention to:
Cincinnati: Novak out. Serena out. Roger out. Puig out. Okay, the last one was less of a blow, but it was still a blow. However, despite being plagued by big name withdrawals at the start of the week, the tournament came good in the end.