Update, Aug. 7: Holger Rune has also withdrawn, and Daniel Mérida moves out of qualifying into the main draw in his place. Gabriel Diallo is expected to miss the tournament after retiring in Montreal. The full list of Cincinnati Open withdrawals and replacements is tracked separately.
Update, Aug. 4: Carlos Alcaraz has withdrawn from the Cincinnati Open. The defending champion will not play, extending an absence that began at April’s Barcelona Open. He remains entered at the US Open. The entry list below has been amended.
Jannik Sinner skipped the Canadian Open to protect his body for Ohio. Novak Djokovic did the same. Carlos Alcaraz will not be there at all. The Cincinnati Open has become the most consequential stop of the North American hard-court swing before a ball has been struck.
For Sinner the withdrawal carried a cost. He has won all five ATP Masters 1000 events staged so far in 2026, and skipping Montreal ended any chance of taking all nine in a calendar year, a feat no player has achieved. What remains at Cincinnati is a sixth Masters title of the season, which would match the record Novak Djokovic set in 2015.
Alcaraz will not defend his title. The right wrist injury sustained at the Barcelona Open in April, an absence of roughly four months, forced his withdrawal on Aug. 4. With Montreal skipped and Cincinnati gone, he has no hard-court preparation at all before the US Open.
The 2026 Cincinnati Open has revealed its initial men’s singles field. World No. 1 Jannik Sinner headlines a lineup that includes the full ATP Top 10 with the exception of Carlos Alcaraz, the defending champion, who withdrew on Aug. 4. Three-time winner Novak Djokovic is in, alongside the heaviest American contingent of the hard-court swing. The tournament runs Aug. 8–23 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, opening with Community Weekend on Aug. 8–9 and qualifying on Aug. 11–12, with main-draw play beginning Aug. 13 and the men’s final set for Aug. 23.
Sinner leads a loaded top of the draw
Sinner arrives in Ohio as the tour’s dominant force. The Italian, who successfully defended his Wimbledon crown against Alexander Zverev in July, leads the ATP with six titles in 2026 and has been the story of the men’s season. Cincinnati is one piece of unfinished business: Sinner reached the 2025 final here but was forced to retire against Alcaraz, so the top seed will be chasing a first Rookwood Cup on his least-conquered big stage.
Zverev, a former Cincinnati champion (2021) and the 2026 Roland-Garros winner, is the most obvious counterweight at the top of the field, with the rest of the Top 10 filling out the seedings behind them.
Alcaraz withdraws, and will not defend his title
No absence carries more weight than Carlos Alcaraz’s. The defending champion has withdrawn with the right-wrist injury that has kept him off the court since April’s Barcelona Open — an absence that has now cost him the French Open, Wimbledon, Montreal and Cincinnati.He had been listed in the field since mid-July, and reporting in July indicated the wrist had healed, but neither Alcaraz nor his team ever confirmed he would play. On Aug. 4 the tournament announced he had withdrawn. No reason beyond the wrist injury was given, and no statement followed from the player. His absence guarantees a new champion in Ohio and leaves him without a competitive match before the US Open, where he is also the defending champion and remains entered.
Djokovic confirmed — his first Cincinnati since 2023
Novak Djokovic, the 2023 Cincinnati champion, has confirmed he will play, ending the doubt that hung over his entry. In a video posted to the tournament’s social accounts on July 30, the 24-time major winner said he was happy to be returning for the first time since 2023 — the year he beat Alcaraz in a final that ran three hours and 49 minutes. The confirmation marks a departure from recent habit: Djokovic skipped the Ohio event in both 2024 and 2025 and has spoken openly about trimming his schedule to prioritize the Grand Slams late in his career. Read the full story on what his return means for the field.
American firepower and the next generation
The home crowd has plenty to cheer. The tournament reports 24 Americans across both singles fields, led on the men’s side by Top-10 duo Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz. Rising star Learner Tien, the explosive Frances Tiafoe, and Tommy Paul round out a deep US group that has genuine seeding and title ambitions on home soil.
There is intrigue further down the list, too. Former World No. 4 Holger Rune returns to the top tier following Achilles surgery and could be a dangerous early-round draw. Brazilian prodigy Joao Fonseca and Spain’s Rafael Jodar bring youth and travelling support, while Britain’s Arthur Fery earns direct entry on the back of a breakout Wimbledon semifinal run. Jack Draper was among the four men awarded main-draw wild cards on July 31, though his participation is no longer certain after his Montreal return. Former World No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas headlines the men’s qualifying field as its highest-ranked entrant.
What comes next
The published field is the initial entry list only. Wild cards for the men’s main draw were announced on July 31; the qualifying draw and the seeded bracket will be confirmed closer to Aug. 13, and withdrawals remain possible right up to the start of play, as Alcaraz’s own late exit demonstrated. As the last Masters 1000 before the US Open, however, Cincinnati has again assembled a field that looks every bit like a Grand Slam preview.
