The Cincinnati Open is the last significant hard-court tournament before the US Open, and the oldest tennis tournament in the United States still played in or near its original city. It began in 1899 and has been held at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, since 1979.
It is a combined event, staging an ATP Masters 1000 and a WTA 1000 at a single site with both draws running side by side, and it is the third-largest tennis event in the United States after the US Open and Indian Wells.
Tournament Basics
- Founded: 1899
- Venue: Lindner Family Tennis Center, Mason, Ohio
- Surface: outdoor hard
- Level: ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000
- Singles draw: 96 players in each event
- Doubles draw: 32 teams in each event
- Qualifying draw: 48
- Winner’s ranking points: 1,000 in both singles events
- Owner: Beemok Capital, the investment firm of Ben Navarro
- Calendar position: August, immediately before the US Open
History
The tournament was first staged in September 1899, which makes it older than three of the four Grand Slams in continuous association with one place. It has carried a long series of names across its history — the ATP Championship, the Thriftway ATP Championships, the Great American Insurance ATP Championships, the Cincinnati Masters and the Western & Southern Open among them — before settling on the Cincinnati Open.
The men’s event has run far longer than the women’s. By 2025 the men had reached a 124th edition and the women a 97th, the women’s tournament having gone unstaged for a long stretch in the late twentieth century. The women’s event was elevated to the top WTA tier in 2009, and the two tours have been staged together at the same site since 2011.
The Campus Transformation
The most consequential change in the tournament’s modern history was a $260 million rebuild of the Mason campus, completed in an eleven-month window ahead of the 2025 edition. It roughly doubled the venue footprint and added a new player clubhouse, reworked seating bowls on the show courts, additional shaded areas, new video boards and a set of sunken match courts.
The rebuild had a direct competitive consequence. It allowed both singles draws to expand from 56 players to 96, which changed the tournament from a one-week event into a thirteen-day one and brought it structurally closer to a Grand Slam than to a standard Masters. The tournament was subsequently named ATP Masters 1000 Tournament of the Year.
Format and Draw
Each singles draw holds 96 players. Because 96 is not a power of two, the draw is not a clean bracket at the start: the highest seeds receive first-round byes and enter in the second round, at which point the field resolves to a conventional 32-player bracket. Matches are best of three sets throughout, including the finals.
Entry is governed by the entry list cutoff, with additional places allocated through qualifying and a small number of wild cards. Seeding follows the published rankings at the entry deadline.
The champion in each singles event earns 1,000 ranking points, the maximum available outside the Grand Slams. That figure is what gives the event its weight in both the ATP rankings and the WTA rankings.
Why Cincinnati Matters
Cincinnati occupies a specific and awkward place in the calendar. It is the final substantial hard-court event before the US Open, which makes it the last chance to arrive in New York with match play and ranking points in hand. It is also the last chance to arrive there injured.
That tension shapes the field every year. Players chasing seeding for the US Open need the points. Players already seeded have less to gain and a fortnight of heat and hard court to survive, and withdrawals from the top of the draw are a recurring feature rather than an anomaly.
The conditions matter too. Mason in August is hot and humid, and the courts are generally regarded as quick, which rewards servers and shortens rallies. Hard courts do not all play the same, and a player who thrives in Cincinnati will not necessarily transfer that form to the slower conditions of Flushing Meadows two weeks later.
The Venue
The Lindner Family Tennis Center sits in Mason, roughly 30 miles northeast of downtown Cincinnati, which means the tournament is suburban rather than urban in character — closer to Indian Wells in feel than to the US Open. P&G Center Court is the main show court, with Grandstand Court the second stadium.
2026 Edition — details as of 29 July 2026
Dates, prize money and defending champions change annually. Everything above holds regardless of year.
- Qualifying: Tuesday 11 to Wednesday 12 August 2026
- Main draw: from Thursday 13 August 2026
- Singles finals: Sunday 23 August 2026
- Tournament length: 13 days, across 23 ticketed sessions
- Campus open to fans: from 8 August 2026
- Defending champions: Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek, both from 2025
- 2025 prize money: $9,193,540 (ATP) and $5,152,599 (WTA)
- 2026 WTA total commitment: $7,433,076
- Tournament director: Bob Moran
The 2026 edition moves the singles finals to a Sunday for the first time, after the previous two editions closed on a Monday. The final ten matches of the tournament, including all four singles semifinals and the four championship matches, are staged across the closing two days.
Recent Champions
In 2025 Carlos Alcaraz beat Jannik Sinner in the men’s final, and Iga Swiatek beat Jasmine Paolini in the women’s. The previous year Sinner took the men’s title and Aryna Sabalenka the women’s.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the Cincinnati Open played?
At the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, a suburb roughly 30 miles northeast of downtown Cincinnati. The tournament has been held there since 1979.
What surface is the Cincinnati Open played on?
Outdoor hard court. The conditions are typically quick, and August in Ohio brings significant heat and humidity.
How many players are in the Cincinnati Open draw?
96 in each singles draw and 32 teams in each doubles draw, following the expansion from 56 singles players in 2025.
Is the Cincinnati Open a Grand Slam?
No. It is an ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 event, the tier directly below the Grand Slams. Matches are best of three sets rather than best of five, and the champion earns 1,000 ranking points rather than 2,000.
Why is the Cincinnati Open important?
It is the last major hard-court tournament before the US Open, so it is where US Open seeding is often settled and where late-summer form is established. It also carries real injury risk immediately before a Grand Slam, which is why withdrawals are common.
How old is the Cincinnati Open?
It was first staged in 1899, making it the oldest tennis tournament in the United States still played in or near its original city.
