Here’s everything you need to know about the Cincinnati Open, including the draw, who’s playing and the schedule. You can watch all the drama unfold live on Sky Sports Tennis.
What Brits are in action? Why no Emma Raducanu?
Emma Raducanu failed to receive a wild card for the tournament in Cincinnati, but British No 1s Katie Boulter and Jack Draper will feature in the women’s and men’s singles respectively.
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Draper crashed out of the Canadian Open in Montreal after a straight-sets defeat to Jordan Thompson in the first round
Draper will face Spanish qualifier Jaume Munar in the first round, ahead of a potential second-round clash with ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, while Boulter is up against Poland’s Magda Linette.
Cameron Norrie was also due to participate in the men’s draw but has pulled out of a third consecutive tournament due to injury which casts his participation at the US Open in doubt. Norrie has not played since the Swedish Open in mid-July, withdrawing from the Paris Olympics and Canadian Open.
The Cincinnati Open serves up as tune-up for the last Grand Slam of the year at Flushing Meadows, which begins on August 26 and is also live on Sky Sports.
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Emma Raducanu missed out on a semi-final spot in the Citi Open after losing to Paula Badosa in a mammoth three-set match that lasted just under three hours
Raducanu, the US Open champion in 2021, reached the quarter-finals of the Mubadala Citi Open in Washington earlier this month before losing to eventual champion Paolo Badosa.
That is now likely to be the 21-year-old’s last competitive action before heading to New York.
Harriet Dart has also added to the British interest at the tournament after she came through 6-4 6-1 in her qualifying final against Elina Avanesyan.
Who is in first-round action on Tuesday?
British No 1 Boulter begins her tournament on Tuesday, taking on Linette of Poland from 10pm UK time, with Dart‘s opening match against Putintseva following immediately after its conclusion – both live on Sky Sports Tennis.
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Watch highlights of the match between Katie Boulter and Aryna Sabalenka at the Canadian Open.
Wimbledon semi-finalist and Olympic silver-medallist Donna Vekic, the Croatian seeded 16th in the women’s draw, is in action against the USA’s Ashlyn Krueger from 8pm, while three-time Grand Slam semi-finalist Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine faces China’s Yafan Wang from midnight.
In the men’s draw, another Wimbledon semi-finalists, Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti, seeded 14th, opens up against Chile’s Nicolas Jarry from approximately 8pm, whiled US 11th seed Taylor Fritz takes on fellow American Brandon Nakashima from midnight.
Further American hopefuls Blake Shelton and Frances Tiafoe, who met at the quarter-final stage of last year’s US Open, also kick off their campaigns in Cincinnati on Tuesday.
Shelton, seeded 10th, faces countryman Reilly Opelka from approximately 8pm, while Tiafoe has a tricky opener against Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina from roughly 6pm.
Defending champion Djokovic withdraws
Defending Cincinnati Open champion Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the tournament following on from completing the golden slam with his Olympic gold medal at Paris 2024.
Novak Djokovic celebrates after winning a first Olympic gold medal at the Paris Games
The record 24-time Grand Slam champion beat Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 7-6 in the men’s singles final.
It was also Alcaraz who Djokovic beat to take the Cincinnati title last year, the Serbian emerging victorious 5-7 7-6 7-6 from an epic final which lasted for three hours and 49 minutes.
Djokovic won the Cincinnati Open last year, beating Carlos Alcaraz in an epic final
Djokovic is the defending champion of the US Open, having claimed his fourth title at Flushing Meadows and his most recent slam success there last year.
Who are the big names featuring in Cincinnati?
Alcaraz makes his return to hard courts following his Olympic silver medal on the Parisian Clay of Roland Garros.
The reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion is seeded second and will therefore enter the men’s singles in the second round where he will face either Gael Monfils or Alexei Popyrin.
Should he win that match, Alcaraz could end up facing Holger Rune in the third round, with the Danish 15th seed starting against former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini in a blockbuster first-round match.
Alcaraz could then potentially play Draper in the quarter-final, with the Brit having got the better of him 7-6 6-3 in their last meeting at Queen’s Club earlier this summer.
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Highlights of Jannik Sinner’s shock defeat to Andrey Rublev in the quarter-final of the Canadian Open
Men’s world No 1 Jannik Sinner plays Tallon Griekspoor or a qualifier in his opening second-round match, with German third seed Alexander Zverev a potential semi-final opponent for the Italian.
In the women’s draw, Coco Gauff looks to defend her title which helped tee up her first Grand Slam triumph at the US Open a few weeks later.
Coco Gauff won the Cincinnati Open last year on her way towards a first Grand Slam success at the US Open
Meanwhile, world No 1 Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina and Jasmine Paolini will all be aiming to reach their maiden final in Cincy.
Cincinnati Open schedule
- Tuesday, August 13 – First round, live on Sky Sports+ from 4pm (night session midnight)
- Wednesday, August 14 – Second round, live on Sky Sports+ from 4pm (night session at midnight)
- Thursday, August 15 – Second and third round, live on Sky Sports+ from 4pm (night session at midnight)
- Friday, August 16 – Third round, live on Sky Sports+ from 4pm (night session at midnight)
- Saturday, August 17 – Quarter-finals, live on Sky Sports+ from 4pm (night session at midnight)
- Sunday, August 18 – Semi-finals, live on Sky Sports+ from 4pm (night session at 11pm)
- Monday, August 19 – Men’s and Women’s singles finals, live on Sky Sports+ from 6pm
What’s coming up on Sky Sports Tennis?
In the run-up to the final Grand Slam of 2024 – the US Open – you can watch all of the biggest tennis stars in action live on Sky Sports as they compete across the hard-court season.
- Cincinnati Open (ATP 1000) – 12-19 August
- Cincinnati Open (WTA 1000) – 13-19 August
- Winston-Salem Open (ATP 250) – 18-24 August
- Tennis in the Land, Cleveland (WTA 250) – 18-24 August
- Abierto GNP Seguros, Monterrey (WTA 500) – 19-24 August
- US Open (ATP/WTA) – 26 August – 8 September
Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app – giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost.