The ATP World Tour returns to Cincinnati this week for the seventh Masters 1000 event of the year. Held at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, the Western & Southern Open welcomes Rafael Nadal as its top seed and seven-time champion Roger Federer as the second seed.

1) No. 1 On the Line: Either Federer or Nadal will be World No. 1 following the Western & Southern Open. If Federer and Nadal meet in the Cincinnati final on August 20, the winner will reclaim No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on August 21. See below for all scenarios.

NADAL & FEDERER’s POTENTIAL POINTS IN CINCINNATI

2) Long Time Coming: Federer, 36, debuted at No. 1 on Feb. 2, 2004 and has not been No. 1 since Nov. 4, 2012. He is hoping to break a pair of Andre Agassi’s records. Federer, a seven-time Cincinnati champion, would be the oldest World No. 1 since rankings were established in 1973. The four years and 289 days since Nov. 4, 2012 would be the longest gap between stints at No. 1.

3) Third Time’s the Charm: Nadal is trying for the third time this summer to regain the No. 1 ranking. He would already be No. 1 had he advanced to the semi-finals at either Wimbledon or Montreal.

4) Thiem’s Travails: No. 3 seed Dominic Thiem is 5-5 since Roland Garros, squandering match point(s) in recent losses to Kevin Anderson at Washington and Diego Schwartzman at Montreal.

5) Sascha in Cincy: No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev is one of nine #NextGenATP players in the Cincinnati main draw. Zverev is on pace to qualify for both the Next Gen ATP Finals and Nitto ATP Finals. The German has already punched his ticket to Milan and is No. 3 in the Emirates ATP Race To London.

6) Title Drought: No. 6 seed Milos Raonic has played 31 tournaments since his last championship at 2016 Brisbane. He opens against either Borna Coric or Nikoloz Basilashvili. Zverev is a potential quarter-final opponent.

7) American Invasion: Among the 10 Americans in the main draw prior to the conclusion of qualifying are No. 13 seed Jack Sock, No. 14 seed John Isner, No. 15 seed Sam Querrey and #NextGenATP wild cards Jared Donaldson, Stefan Kozlov, Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe.

8) Qualifiers Make Their Mark: Seven players advanced to the main draw through qualifying, including two Americans. In his fifth year since turning pro, Mitchell Krueger will make his ATP World Tour Masters 1000 debut. It will be Krueger’s third ATP World Tour main draw of the U.S. summer (Newport, Washington). Also making his Masters 1000 debut will be Christopher Eubanks, who enjoyed a stunning run to the quarter-finals at the BB&T Atlanta Open last month. The college star at Georgia Tech opens against Gael Monfils.

9) Tipsarevic Lucky Loser: Former World No. 8 Janko Tipsarevic is making his return to the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 stage, receiving Lucky Loser entry into the main draw following Kei Nishikori’s withdrawal due to a right wrist injury. The Serbian, who opens against Steve Johnson or David Ferrer, is appearing in his first Masters 1000 event of the year and making his return to Cincinnati following a three-year absence.

10) The Odd Couple: Eight Grand Slam championship teams are in the field, but the talk of the Western & Southern Open doubles draw is a first-time pairing. Zverev, 20, and Leander Paes, 44, will make their team debut. Paes is a former World No. 1 and two-time Cincinnati champion.

Alexander Zverev put the writing on the wall early. Then he blew the wall over.

Zverev powered to a 6-3, 6-4 victory against Roger Federer in the final of the Coupe Rogers in Montreal Sunday with a stunning display of power tennis that constantly had the Swiss star under immense baseline pressure.

Zverev hit through Federer on the quicker Canadian court, upping his power level right from the beginning of the match to force forehand and backhand errors and capture the all-important first break of serve. When Zverev broke for 3-1 in the opening set, it proved to be a pivotal moment that Federer never recovered from.

Zverev’s forehand was the battering ram. He was averaging hitting his topspin, driving weapon at 119km/h (68mph) coming into the final, but he ramped it up an extra 12 per cent to 133km/h (83mph) through the first 23 points of the match. He came out guns blazing.

Federer was trailing 1-2, 15/30, on serve at the time, and got back to 30/30 with an ace down the middle in the Ad court. At 30/30, Zverev crushed two consecutive backhands to force a forehand error from Federer out wide, with the Swiss simply unable to match the power level of his younger opponent. Zverev averaged hitting his topspin backhand at 121 km/h (75mph) before the final, but was already at 124 km/h (77mph) before he cracked those two gems.

Federer missed his first serve at 30/40, and Zverev unloaded with a huge forehand in the middle of the rally before finally forcing a Federer backhand passing shot wide for the break. Zverev quickly held to 15, and his 4-1 lead proved ominous, and indeed, insurmountable.

Zverev’s relentless forehand power continued through the first set, crushing six of his 10 winners from that wing. The match produced several one-sided stats, but none more than the average groundstroke speed in the opening set.

Set 1 – Average Groundstroke Speed
• Zverev 118km/h (73mph)
• Federer 100km/h (62mph)

Zverev averaged hitting his groundstrokes a significant 18 per cent harder than Federer, making the Swiss have to often half-volley, slice, and stretch out wide to stay in the point. Zverev’s average groundstroke speed dropped a touch by the end of the match, but Federer was never able to up his power level to pressure the 20-year-old German.

Full Match – Average Groundstroke Speed
• Zverev 115km/h (72mph)
• Federer (100km/h (62mph)

All of that firepower helped Zverev finish with 20 total winners, including nine from the forehand side, and five from the backhand. As Zverev has made his impressive run to the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, his backhand has been the more reliable shot, while his big forehand has taken a little more time to consistently find the court. That box can well and truly be checked now.

Rally Length
The beginning of the point in the final was a fertile time for Zverev to ramp up the power with his serve and the ensuing Serve +1 bruising groundstrokes. Overall, almost three out of four points (74 per cent) in the final saw both player hit just two shots in the court, with only five rallies reaching double figures.

Length Of Rally
• 0-4 shots = 74% (83)
• 5-9 shots = 21% (24)
• 10+ shots = 5% (5)

Zverev’s game style is built around crushing the ball first, and seeing where the dust settles later on. What’s interesting is that while Zverev played most of the match on the front foot, both players ran almost exactly the same distance. Zverev ran 867 metres, while Federer ran just two more at 869 metres.

The small holes in Zverev’s game are rapidly closing. He did miss several short, low, awkward balls when Federer pulled him forward in the court, and was sometimes too ambitious on defence playing down the line with offence.

Those outliers will soon be dismissed from his game, leaving opponents with a well groomed 6’6” power baseliner to wrestle with. The coming of Alexander Zverev is now in full force.

They say that Montreal is the Paris of North America, and French duo Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut certainly made it their home this week.

Herbert and Mahut claimed their ninth title together, edging Rohan Bopanna and Ivan Dodig 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 on Sunday at the Coupe Rogers. The fifth seeds improved to 20-8 this season after one hour and 22 minutes, firing four aces and notching 88 per cent of first serve points.

It was the fifth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown for the French duo, all coming at different tournaments. Last year, they prevailed in Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo, and earlier this year they lifted the trophy in Rome.

“It was a hard match against a really good team,” said Herbert. “We managed to win the first, they played really well in the second and we had a good level in the Match Tie-break.

“When I was younger, I came here with dreams and goals and to be able to win such big titles is a dream come true for me. My 10th title is great and I hope I’ll have many more with Nico.”

The #CoupeRogers doubles champions – @p2hugz and @nmahut – have a message for you… pic.twitter.com/Iq0VRnQrqK

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 13, 2017

Herbert and Mahut got off to a strong start on a sunny early afternoon on Court Central. The fifth-seeded tandem broke in seventh game of the opening set and closed out the opener with a hold to love.

Bopanna and Dodig rebounded nicely in the second, taking the set with a late break, but their French opponents were too dominant in the ensuing Match Tie-break. A quick 4/0 lead was too much to overcome and they would seal the victory on their fourth championship point, as Herbert fired a service winner.

“We had four tough matches,” said Mahut. “After having a few months without winning too much, it’s good to come back in the [Emirates ATP Doubles] Race to London.

“I couldn’t have expected to win 19 titles when I started. I’m pretty happy, but I want to have the most among Frenchmen. More than Michael Llodra!”

Herbert and Mahut are the first French team to win the title at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Canada. They split $277,030 in prize money and 1,000 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points. Individually, 26-year-old Herbert won his 10th tour-level doubles title and 35-year-old Mahut claimed his 19th.

Bopanna and Dodig, meanwhile, share $135,630 in prize money and 600 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points. Bidding for his third title of the season, the Bangalore native falls to 16-26 in doubles finals. His Croatian teammate, who was also vying for his third victory of the year, drops to 8-12. Dodig had won the title in Toronto in 2016 with Marcelo Melo.

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What a difference a week – and saving match points – makes!

Denis Shapovalov emerged as the talk of Canada and the tennis world this week after his breathtaking run to the semi-finals of the Coupe Rogers in Montreal. But had he not saved four match points in the opening round against Rogerio Dutra Silva, the 18 year old would be battling in relative obscurity next week at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Vancouver, still at around No. 150 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

History will show that Shapovalov fought off those four match points, then beat Grand Slam champions Juan Martin del Potro and Rafael Nadal en route to the Montreal semi-finals, where he pushed World No. 8 Alexander Zverev to 6-4, 7-5. That result will see him move inside the Top 70 of the Emirates ATP Rankings on Monday. Talk about a game changer!

“I don’t even think I realise it yet; it’s a huge jump from 144 to 67,” Shapovalov said. “My whole life has changed in the past five days. It’s crazy how it is. I go from being not known to being so known in the tennis world, in Canada in general. It’s going to be a little bit of a change to me. I’m going to have to adapt…

“On TV, I wasn’t expecting to hear my name every two minutes. It’s like, ‘All right, guys, enough, enough (smiling). It’s quite a change going from just being a junior coming up to kind of now people consider that I’ve made the transition…  regardless, this is one week. It’s just a small part of this season. I still have to work really hard. I still have so many aspects of the game I can improve.”

But if you think the new-found fame will change the left-hander, think again. Shapovalov says those closest to him will help him to keep life in perspective.

“I think personally I’m very lucky because I come from a very humble family that went through a pretty tough life. Not terrible life, but they had to work for a living and stuff. I have two parents that are always going to keep me grounded. My brother is going to do the same. No matter who I play against, he’s always on top of me just making sure I don’t get too big.

“Obviously it’s a little bit of a change for them, as well. My mom’s club is getting so much publicity because of this. They even had a bunch of news reporters come out, just randomly showed up. It was weird. They just had a camp. All of a sudden there’s all these news reporters showing up. It’s a little bit of a change for all of us. But we’ll get through it together.”

By reaching the Montreal semi-finals, Shapovalov will on Monday slash his Emirates ATP Ranking in half. That opens the door to the big time and, in the near future, direct entry to the ATP World Tour tournaments of his choice. However, in the short term he has a couple of decisions to make. Will he travel cross-country to stick with his plans to play in the Vancouver Challenger? Or will he rest up and focus on playing US Open qualifying?

“A lot’s changed in the past five days. [I was supposed to play] a lot of Challengers, a little bit of ATPs, try to get me into the Top 100. Now since I’m going to be around 67, I feel like it’s going to be a little bit more ATPs and maybe a couple of Challengers. I have to talk with the team. It depends on how I’m feeling, how I’m playing.”

In reflecting on his breakout week, Shapovalov said that everything was still sinking in. “It was a dream week for me. Obviously, I didn’t expect it. Saved four match points the first round, just played loose after that, just went with it. I mean, I beat one of my idols [Nadal].

“I’ve kind of seen that I’m capable to push these guys. I went pretty tight with Tomas, took out Kyle on grass. I think maybe the serve is getting bigger. That could be from the racquet change. As soon as I went to Yonex, I felt that little bit more pop on my serve and my forehand. Yeah, I have more feel with the racquet. So it could be that.

“I just think I’m improving every week. I’m playing a lot, but I’m also working a lot with Marty [Laurendeau]. This is still a transition year for me. I’m really trying to improve my game so that I can anchor myself in the Top 50, Top 20, Top 10.”