 Welcome back to Tennis Talk, my name's Cam Williams, and we have another big event this week on the women's tour leading into the US Open. The WTA 1000 event in Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Masters, and we had that playing in New York last year, so it was a change of venue after last year's US Open got pushed a little bit back. So Cincinnati is back at home, but there are some players that are not playing this event, so let's go to the withdrawal list. So having a look at the withdrawals now, we've only got two big names really that are not playing. Sophia Kennan, she's not playing, and Serena Williams also pulling out of this one. Alright, starting at the top of the draw, and there's a stacked draw here, we have a lot of top 10 players playing. World number one, Ash Barty. She's going to get a buy in the first round. The top eight seeds actually get a buy in the first round. She buys a qualifier in the second round no matter what, because we've got two qualifiers going at it in the first round. Then we've got Risk versus another qualifier. Winner of that plays either another qualifier or the 14th seed as a ranker in the second round, so you can already see a lot of qualifiers in this part of the draw. Then we've got the number nine seed and French Open Champion, Kredgikova, playing against Kazakina, who's been very, very good of late, very fun first round matchup there. Winner of that match takes on either the Wild Card McNally or Jastremska in the second round. Then we have another qualifier in this part of the draw, taking on the Wild Card Sloane Stevens. Winner of that match takes on the number eight seed, Muga Ruta. So a lot of qualies in this part of the draw, but the players that are not qualifiers are actually very dangerous, the top players. So of course we're going to be watching Barty this week. Didn't have a great Olympic campaign, but still is the Miami Open Champion from the start of the year and of course won Wimbledon, so you've got to watch out for her. Also Muga Ruta had a great start to the year on the hardcourt, almost beat Osaka at the Australian Open, so you've got to watch out for her on every hardcourt event. And I'm also looking out for Azarenka, the number 14 seed defending champion of course. She won this tournament last year after Osaka with Drew from the final. So interested to see how she can do this year because she plays well in the North American hardcourt season. She has a tough draw, but we'll see her maybe play Barty in the third round, keeping an eye on Azarenka. Going to the second part of the draw now, we've got the number four seed, Spinalina. She gets a buy in the first round. She'll take on the winner of one of the best first round matches going around, Sakari versus Kerber. Circle that one as one to watch. That is a huge first round matchup, and the winner of that gets to play the fourth seed. Then we've got Oztapenko versus Zedinsek. Winner of that match takes on either Alexandroba or the number 13 seed Brady in the second round. Then we've got the number 11 seed, Kovitava, taking on Keyes in the first round. Another one to watch. Winner of that match takes on either Kudomitoba or a qualifier in the second round. Then we've got Jabor versus Kondivate. Winner of that takes on the number six seed, Sfiontek in the second round. So players to watch out for, you've got to watch out for Sfiontek. Didn't have the greatest Olympic run. She actually lost pretty early on and was pretty disappointed with her efforts, but she can definitely rebound here on the North American hardcourt season. Got to watch out for her. Also going to keep an eye on Svetolina as well. She had a terrible week last week in Canada, but she is still the bronze medalist at the Olympics. So you've got to keep an eye on her this week. Maybe she can rebound from last week. And also keep an eye on Jabor. Had a really good week last week in Canada. So really interesting to see how she does. She might be setting up a blockbuster second round with Sfiontek. So keep an eye on Jabor because she is in some form. Heading to the bottom half of the draw now and we've got Pushkova, the number five seed. She gets a buy in the first round. She'll buy the winner of Puttenseva, who takes on a qualifier in the first round. Then we've got Pagola versus a special entry player that has not been announced. Very random that we see that. Winner of that match will take on either Lynette or the number 12 seed, Halep in the second round. So Simone Halep after falling down to the rankings is now having to play first round matches. Then we've got the 15th seed, Mertens taking on Potoroska. Winner of that match takes on either the Wildcard Stoza or Rabakina in the second round. Then we've got Bodosa versus Martic. Winner of that plays the number three seed, Sabalenka. So we're going to be watching out for the big guns in this one. Sabalenka had a great week last week in Canada and so did Pushkova. They actually played each other in Canada so they could be playing again in the quarter finals of this one. And you've got to watch out for Simone Halep. Still on the comeback trail, had a pretty disappointing result last week losing to the informed Danielle Collins. But Halep, you've got to watch out for her. Number 12 seed, we know she's better than that at her best. So watch out for her. She could set up a third round meeting between herself and Pushkova, maybe a Sabalenka quarter final as well. So keep an eye on Halep in this one as well. And the bottom quarter of the draw now, it's pretty stacked. We've got Andrescu, the number seven seed, getting a buy in the first round. She was taking the winner of Mukava versus Conta who were going at it in the first round. Then we've got Collins versus Rogers. Winner of that takes on one of the best first round matches going around. Vondrosava versus number 10 seed Benchage. A replay of the gold medal Olympic match only a couple of weeks ago. So keep an eye on that one. Can Vondrosova get some revenge? Then we've got the 16 seed Pavachenkova taking on the wild card para. Winner of that plays either the wild card Taikman or Kostya in the second round. Then we've got a qualifier versus Coco Golf. Winner of that match takes on the number two seed, Naomi Osaka. So a lot of players will watch out for in this one because it is an absolute stacked part of the draw. Obviously, you've got to watch out for Osaka. She made the final here last year. She's a US Open champion. She's the Australian Open champion as well. So we know she loves playing on the hard courts, also on Drescu. Disappointing last week in her match, Rain Delay did affect her. She's playing again on the hard courts and she is really defending a lot of points at the US Open in a couple of weeks. So keep an eye on Drescu and you've got to watch out for Belinda Benchage. Coming off her gold medal win a couple of weeks ago. Can she back it up in her first tournament back since the Olympics? So there you have it. There is the draw for the Cincinnati Masters for the WTA massive event. Stacked event, lots of big names. Anybody could win it really. It's a very, very stacked event and very even event as well. A lot of blockbusters that could be happening in the second, third, fourth rounds, quarterfinals. I mean, it's an absolute stacked event. Let me know down in the comments below. Who do you think is going to win this event? I mean, for me, it's a flip of the coin. Very hard to pick one winner, but let me know down in the comments below who you're picking for this week. So having a look at the draw, it's again said very, very tough for me to pick. But I'm going to go with the eager Sviontek. I think she has a pretty good draw. Top half of the draw is not as stacked as the bottom half. The bottom half of the draw has some absolute killers. And I think the top half of the draw is a little bit more manageable. But Sviontek might have to play Jaborra in the second round. That won't be easy. But I'm going to go with Sviontek to win this one. She hasn't won a WTA 1000 event on a hard court before. So I'm going to pick her to win her first one. But again, it's going to be very tough. Literally anyone could win this event. It's that open again. Let me know down in the comments below. Who is winning Cincinnati for the women this week? So the WTA 1000 event in Cincinnati. It's back in Cincinnati. And it has a stacked field.