Venus Williams opens up Tuesday’s day session in Cincy against Lucie Safarova.  I’m really surprised that Venus hasn’t pulled out and even more so that she is scheduled first up! Jo-Wilfried Tsonga follows against Mikhail Youzhny and I could see Jo having a good week; his week in Toronto must have been mentally tiring, but he only played one three setter and has a favourable draw in Cincy.  There are five second round matches on the schedule in Cincy on Tuesday and the best of the bunch is the match at NB 8pm in the UK…

1. Madison Keys v Maria Sharapova (WTA Cincy, R2)

In a sure-to-be heavy hitting second round match, Madison Keys will take on the 2011 Cincy champion, Maria Sharapova.  Keys came through her opening match against Alize Cornet, 6-2 6-4.  Although she hit 46 unforced errors, it was a pretty comfortable victory for Madison and I thought she played quite well considering it was her first match of the week.  You can read my recap of Keys-Cornet HERE.  This will be the first ever time that Sharapova and Keys have met on the WTA tour adding to the intrigue of this match.  Keys has all the weapons to worry Maria, but she’ll have to play a fantastic match to threaten the world number six.  Sharapova did not play well at all in Montreal, losing in three sets to Carla Suarez Navarro in the third round.  Sharapova will be eager for matches before the US Open.  I’d be surprised if Madison can maintain her level to a high enough standard to threaten the win.

Prediction: Sharapova d. Keys in 2 sets (1 tight, 1 easy)

WTA Cincy 2nd Round Predictions

Simona Halep d. Kirsten Flipkens in 2 sets (1 tight, 1 easy)

Caroline Wozniacki d. Zhang Shuai in 2 sets

ATP Cincy 2nd Round Predictions

Novak Djokovic d. Gilles Simon in 2 sets

Stan Wawrinka d. Benny Becker in 2 tight sets