After a rain-interrupted day 2 at the Western and Southern Open, day 3 looks like it will be fine, which makes for a bumper day of tennis with the top seeds kicking off their campaigns at the Masters 1000 event.

Fresh off his unexpected triumph at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga looks to continue his form in Ohio when he takes on Mikhail Youzhny. Tsonga defeated Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Grigor Dimitrov and Roger Federer, along with Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Jeremy Chardy, to win the title last week, dropping just one set along the way. It was his first title since winning Marseille in early 2013, and should do wonders for his confidence after a sub-par 2014 to date. Youzhny has seemed to hit the wall in 2014, sporting an 11-17 record. He played Toronto last week, losing to Fabio Fognini in straight sets, and has just three wins on hard court for the year. Provided there is no ‘championship hangover’ for Tsonga, he should comfortably account for the Russian in this one.

Predition: Tsonga in two sets

Novak Djokovic has never won Cincinnati before, and Gilles Simon is the first obstacle he must navigate past should he wish to add a new trophy to his sufficiently-sized cabinet. The top seed here is coming off a third round loss to Tsonga at Toronto, 2-6 2-6, where he looked considerably off his game – taking nothing away from the strong performance the Frenchman put in. Simon also lost in the third round in Toronto, defeating Dominic Thiem 3-6 6-4 6-0 and losing to Tommy Robredo 5-7 4-6. Djokovic and Simon have met eight times, with the H2H 7-1 in favour of the current world no. 1. Simon’s one victory came in their first battle, back in 2008. They most recently faced each other at Wimbledon this year, with Djokovic taking the chocolates 6-4 6-2 6-4. Simon easily took care of Bernard Tomic in his opener here, winning 6-3 6-2, but faces a much sterner task today. Should he win in Cincinnati, Djokovic will become the first ever player to complete the Career Golden Masters (see video below); an incredible achievement if he manages to pull it off.

Prediction: Djokovic in two sets

Over on Grandstand court, Feliciano Lopez and Marin Cilic open the day’s play as they both attempt to progress. The two big servers, who were both defeated by Roger Federer at Toronto last week, now attempt to figure each other out as they meet for a fifth time. Lopez defeated Roberto Bautista-Agut, Tim Smyczek, Tomas Berdych and Milos Raonic at Toronto, losing to Federer in straight sets in the semi-final. Cilic got three set wins over Istomin and Jaziri before playing an epic match against the world no. 3, losing 6-7(5) 7-6(3) 4-6. Lopez and Cilic have alternated wins in their four matches against each other, with the Spaniard due to win should the pattern continue. This will be their first clash on outdoor hard courts, and should feature few breaks of serve.

Prediction: Cilic in three sets

Third seed, Stan Wawrinka, takes on qualifier Benjamin Becker as he continues to try and find his Australian Open form. Wawrinka defeated Benoit Paire 4-6 6-3 7-6(2) at Toronto last week, then lost to Kevin Anderson 6-7(8) 5-7. The Swiss no. 2 will be glad he is facing Becker, and not Ivo Karlovic, who the German knocked out in the first round, providing a less daunting task than the big-serving Croat would have. Becker has to be respected nonetheless, having defeated Wawrinka in Switzerland in 2008 as a rank outsider. Wawrinka did however defeat Becker 6-3 6-1 in Chennai this year, so he will feel confident coming in.

Prediction: Wawrinka in two sets

American fans will be getting right behind wildcard, Steve Johnson, as he takes on Benoit Paire, a qualifier from France. Johnson had a great run at Washington, reaching the semis with wins over James Duckworth, John Isner and Karlovic, and is ranked 55 after beginning the year 156th. Benoit Paire’s ranking has gone the opposite way in 2014, with injury and inconsistent play the reason for his descent. He looks to have started his North American hard court swing well, losing tight matches to Karlovic and Wawrinka while getting some wins under his belt. He qualified with ease here, defeating Alexander Zverev 6-1 6-3 and Blaz Rola 6-2 6-2, and will fancy his chances against the American.

Prediction: Paire in three sets

Away from the main courts, there is plenty of action to keep track of with courts 3, 4, 6 and 9 featuring men’s singles matches. On court three, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez takes on British qualifier, James Ward; Dominic Thiem faces American wildcard, Robby Ginepri; and French Open semi-finalist, Ernests Gulbis looks to break out of his latest funk against Ivan Dodig. Court four sees Canadian, Vasek Pospisil battle against veteran, Radek Stepanek; and 13th seed Roberto Bautista-Agut play Martin Klizan of Slovakia. The match between Santiago Giraldo and Andreas Seppi is the sole men’s singles affair on court six, while on court nine, Julien Benneteau takes on lucky loser, Blaz Rola.

Upset of the day: Ivan Dodig to defeat Ernests Gulbis. The Croat made a strong return last week at Toronto, defeating Isner and Seppi before losing in three sets to David Ferrer. Gulbis has only played five matches since the French Open and is yet to show he can recreate that form. Dodig is a solid pick to get the upset here.

Day three has a superb line-up, with Djokovic, Wawrinka and Tsonga headlining what should be a fantastic display of tennis, so enjoy!