Djokovic and Fritz among matches to watch at Cincy Open on Friday

After many rain delays and some major upsets, we have reached the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Open. Fortunately, there are some fantastic matchups for Friday. This includes Novak Djokovic versus Taylor Fritz.

Mind you, Fritz has never beaten Djokovic. The Serb will have played two straight matches against players who have never beaten him. On Thursday, Djokovic demolished Gael Monfils 6-3 6-2 and Djokovic is now a cool 19-0 against the Frenchman.

But Fritz has a puncher’s chance against Djokovic simply because the American has an excellent serve. If he can have one of the best service games of his life, he will be in a position to win. While Fritz is a major underdog, we thought the same thing of Tommy Paul against Carlos Alcaraz at the National Bank Open last week.

Djokovic, Alcaraz, and Swiatek are all in action in Cincy quarterfinals Friday

Top-seed is also in action against Aussie Max Purcell. They have never faced each other. Alcaraz also seems to be struggling a bit for him as he has been taken to three sets in each of his Cincinnati Open matches so far. Maybe Purcell can pull off a huge upset.

In the other two matches on the men’s side, Hubert Hurkacz will play Alexie Popyrin. Popyrin wasn’t supposed to be in the main draw at Cincinnati but got a last-minute call that he was going to play. Now he’s made it all the way to the quarterfinals. Also, Alexander Zverev will play Adrian Mannarino.

On the women’s side, there are even better matchups. Fifth-seeded Ons Jabeur versus second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka? Yes, please! That match should feature some brilliant shotmaking by Jabeur against Sabalenka’s great serve.

Top-seeded Iga Swiatek takes on red-hot and tenth-seeded Marketa Vondrousova. Vondrousova won Wimbledon, of course, and is playing just as well in her first tournament back since she won the major. Swiatek has dominated most of her matches, however.

The other matches on the WTA side feature seventh-seeded Coco Gauff against qualifier Jasmine Paolini, and Karolina Muchova versus Marie Bouzkova. Muchova and Bouzkova know each other well and both are Czechs. Basically, call off from work today and spend the day watching some excellent tennis.