Fans watching the Cincinnati Open this week should not expect to see “the best tennis in the world” – the speed of the court makes life difficult for some players.

There has been a trend in recent years for courts to become slower in general, perhaps most evident at Wimbledon.

This has sparked a debate about whether there is sufficient differentiation between surfaces and tournaments – but it seems unlikely that Cincinnati will be involved in this debate.

The combined Masters and WTA 1000 event appears to have some of the fastest courts in tennis, and some players have struggled to cope with their sheer speed.

Among those who have had their fair share of play is British number 1 and world number 28 Jack Draper, who has so far achieved two three-set victories.

Draper defeated Jaume Munar in the first round before a surprise win over ninth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas catapulted him into the third round.

“The courts in Cincinnati are the fastest I have ever played on in my life,” said Draper, who is making his tournament debut.

“I won the game because I competed like that and was so determined to win. I showed that in the decisive moments.”

“All players are used to playing on slow pitches. When you get served, you see the ball above you. There are many mistakes that normally only a few players make.

“It won’t be the best tennis in the world, but taking your chance will make the difference.”

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Although Draper was a rookie for Cincinnati before this year’s tournament, even those with plenty of tournament experience emphasized how fast they are.

Alexander Zverev won the title in 2021 and the world number four goes into this year’s event as one of the title favorites.

The third seed handled his second round match against Karen Khachanov with ease, defeating the Russian 6-3, 6-2 to set up a third round match against Pablo Carreno Busta.

“This is probably one of the fastest pitches we’ve played on this year,” commented the third-place finisher.

“The conditions here are very, very fast. I think the ball flies through the air very, very fast. It’s difficult to control the ball sometimes… it really takes time to get used to it.”

Due to the speed of the courts, all players may need to put in a lot of work on site at Flushing Meadows in the run-up to the US Open.

The courts in New York are considered slower and will therefore likely behave differently than those in Cincinnati.

Read more: The 4 men who completed the “Summer Sweep” of the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open – with Rafael Nadal and Andre Agassi