This article is part of our Tennis Picks series.
Championship Sunday at the 2022 Western and Southern Open will have some surprising participants. A multi-slam winner will face one of the hottest players on the WTA Tour in the women's final, while the men's championship match pits a player who has returned to form after an injury against one who has won a couple of Masters 1000 titles on clay but is searching for his first on a hard court. All tennis odds and lines are taken from DraftKings Sportsbook, but you can sometimes find more favorable odds on some of these matches by checking other mobile sportsbooks such as FanDuel, BetMGM or Caesars.
Both the men's and women's matches at this event are best of three sets, and all of the remaining players have proven adept at handling the fast-paced hard courts in Cincinnati. Read on for a preview of Sunday's men's and women's finals.
MEN
Stefanos Tsitsipas (-200) vs. Borna Coric (+165)
Tsitsipas has been locked in all tournament. After a first-round bye, he took out Filip Krajinovic and 16th-ranked Diego Schwartzman in straight sets before beating both John Isner and Daniil Medvedev 6-3 in the third. The win over Medvedev was especially impressive considering Tsitsipas came in with a 2-7 head-to-head record against the top-ranked Russian, but Tsitsipas had the benefit of swinging freely as the underdog in the semis. The 24-year-old from Athens will have to deal with the pressure of being favored in the final despite never having won an outdoor hard court title of any sort in his ATP career.
If Coric wins this match, it will be a title run for the ages. The world No. 152 took out talented youngster Lorenzo Musetti in the first round before reeling off four consecutive wins over top-20 opponents. Coric dropped just one set in defeating Rafael Nadal, Roberto Bautista Agut, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Cameron Norrie, as he's clearly back in top form after being hindered by a shoulder injury for over a year. The former world No. 12 has noticeably beefed up his serve compared to his pre-injury heyday, and Coric won't lack belief here given what happened the last time these two played.
The only previous full match between Coric and Tsitsipas came at the 2020 US Open, where Coric eventually won a fifth-set tiebreak after fighting off six match points to hand Tsitsipas one of the most heartbreaking losses of his career.
Prediction:
Coric def. Tsitsipas 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
WOMEN
Petra Kvitova (-135) vs. Caroline Garcia (+110)
Kvitova was a point away from losing in the first round against Jil Teichmann, but the two-time Wimbledon champion managed to get through that match and has gone on an impressive run since. Continuing to serve well will be key for Kvitova given Garcia's affinity for stepping in on second-serve returns. Kvitova has made over 60 percent of her first serves in four of five matches this week while topping 70 percent twice. She'll be awfully tough to beat if she breaks 60 percent again Sunday.
Garcia hasn't played as many big matches late in major tournaments as Kvitova over the course of her career, but the Frenchwoman has thrived in big moments recently. Her 12-1 record over the past three tournaments includes four wins over top-10 opponents, as Garcia took out top-ranked Iga Swiatek en route to the title in Poland and has added victories over Maria Sakkari, Jessica Pegula and Aryna Sabalenka in Cincinnati.
Kvitova leads their career head-to-head 5-3, but Garcia has won both of their three-set encounters, and the player who wins the first set has gone on to win all eight of their previous meetings.
Prediction:
Kvitova def. Garcia 7-6, 2-6, 6-4
