As a Masters 1000 tournament of the 2026 ATP Tour and the WTA 1000 tournament of the 2026 WTA Tour, the 2026 Cincinnati Open is one of the most awaited tennis tournaments of the month of August. The official Cincinnati Open draw was released on Tuesday, 11 August at 3 pm local time, or 8pm BST for the UK residents. The main tournament will begin on Thursday, 13 August and last until Sunday, 23 August.
Cincinnati Open is the third largest US tennis tournament after the US Open and the Indian Wells Open. It also serves as a final major warm up for many players who will go on to participate in the US Open later on in August.
On this page, we will keep you updated on the latest developments regarding the tournament draw, announced brackets, seeds, and other relevant information.
Cincinnati Open Draw 2026
The official 2026 Cincinnati Open draw was released on Tuesday, 11 August. It included 96 singles players for both men’s and women’s events. Below you will find a detailed breakdown of how these 96 players are selected for both the ATP and WTA events.
The direct entries make up the bulk of the draw. Players qualify to enter the tournament automatically based on their positions in the corresponding ranking system. For the 2026 tournament, the men’s main draw will include 77 top ranked players, while the women’s main draw will include 76 top ranked players.
The first 32 players with the highest ranking on both lists are seeded. Their top positions get them a bye in the first round. This essentially means that they enter the tournament from the second round on, not having to play in the first round at all. That’s why, even though the total Cincinnati Open draw stands at 96 players, you will only see 64 of them involved in the first round – the remaining 32 will get into action in the next stage.
The two qualifying rounds provide another 12 players for the main draw. 48 players with lower rankings enter the first qualifying round. 24 winners compete with each other in the second round, and the remaining 12 will go on to participate in the first round of the main draw.
Wild cards are the players who are personally invited to take part in the tournament by the organisers. Possible reasons can be wanting to include a rising promising athlete who is yet to reach the top ranks or to have a player on the field whose rating has decreased due to an injury. For this season’s tournament, Cincinnati Open reserved 4 wild cards seats for the men’s competition and 8 wild cards seats for the women’s competition. Wild cards have to start playing from the first round.
Protected ranking is granted to players who have been missing from the game for more than six months due to a long-term injury, health condition, or maternity leave. It allows them to enter the main draw or the qualifying rounds based on their historical average ranking, not their current one that has dropped since their last game.
To summarise the distribution of numbers in the 2026 Cincinnati Open draw, the current data is presented below. Please keep in mind that these numbers might change due to various circumstances.
- Total players: 96 players in each group
- Main draw: 77 players for men and 76 players for women
- Seeded players in main draw: 32 players in each group
- Qualifiers: 12 players in each group
- Wild cards: 5 players for men and 8 players for women
- Protected ranking: 2 players for men
ATP & WTA Seeded Players
The top 32 players with the highest ATP or WTA ranking among the direct entries on both men’s and women’s lists are the seeded players. They get the privilege of passing directly on to the second round, while the remaining 64 players have to play in the first round of the main draw. If any of the seeded players withdraws due to an injury or other circumstances, their position is then given to the next qualifying player on the list.
This year, the following players made it into the seeded list:
ATP Players
- Alexander Zverev (Germany)
- Félix Auger-Aliassime (Canada)
- Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
- Daniil Medvedev (no flag)
- Alex de Minaur (Australia)
- Taylor Fritz (United States )
- Flavio Cobolli (Italy)
- Ben Shelton (United States )
- Jiří Lehečka (Czech Republic)
- Lorenzo Musetti (Italy)
- Casper Ruud (Norway)
- Rafael Jódar (Spain)
- Andrey Rublev (no flag)
- Jakub Menšík (Czech Republic)
- Valentin Vacherot (Monaco)
- Learner Tien (United States)
- Frances Tiafoe (United States)
- Tommy Paul (United States)
- Luciano Darderi (Italy)
- Francisco Cerúndolo (Argentina)
- Arthur Fils (France)
- Alejandro Tabilo (Chile)
- João Fonseca (Brazil)
- Ugo Humbert (France)
- Arthur Rinderknech (France)
- Tomás Martín Etcheverry (Argentina)
- Brandon Nakashima (United States )
- Alexander Blockx (Belgium)
- Ignacio Buse (Peru)
- Zizou Bergs (Belgium)
- Matteo Arnaldi (Italy)
- Arthur Fery (United Kingdom)
Jannik Sinner (Italy) and Carlos Alcaraz (Spain), who hold the first and the second places in the ranking system respectively and thus qualified as seeded players, withdrew from the tournament before the start due to injuries. Other withdrawn seeded players among men include Alexander Bublik (Kazakhstan) and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (Spain).
WTA Players
- Aryna Sabalenka (no flag)
- Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan)
- Jessica Pegula (United States)
- Coco Gauff (United States)
- Mirra Andreeva (no flag)
- Linda Nosková (Czech Republic)
- Iga Świątek (Poland)
- Elina Svitolina (Ukraine)
- Amanda Anisimova (United States)
- Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine)
- Naomi Osaka (Japan)
- Belinda Bencic (Switzerland)
- Iva Jovic (United States)
- Diana Shnaider (no flag)
- Sorana Cîrstea (Romania)
- Ekaterina Alexandrova (no flag)
- Alexandra Eala (Philippines)
- Anna Kalinskaya (no flag)
- Maja Chwalińska (Poland)
- Madison Keys (United States)
- Elise Mertens (Belgium)
- Marie Bouzková (Czech Republic)
- Barbora Krejčiková (Czech Republic)
- Anastasia Potapova (Austria)
- Emma Navarro (United States)
- Jeļena Ostapenko (Latvia)
- Clara Tauson (Denmark)
- Ann Li (United States)
- Maria Sakkari (Greece)
- Leylah Fernandez (Canada)
- Donna Vekić (Croatia)
- Janice Tjen (Indonesia)
Among women, four seeded players withdrew before the start of the tournament, all due to health issues and injuries: Karolína Muchová (Czech Republic), Jasmine Paolini (Italy), Victoria Mboko (Canada), and Hailey Baptiste (United States).
Qualifiers, Wild Cards & Lucky Losers
Players who don’t have a high enough ranking to make it into the direct entries list can earn the right to play in the main draw by winning the qualifying rounds. 48 players enter the qualifiers, and after two rounds the winning 12 players advance to the main draw.
This year, the following players made it into the qualifying rounds:
ATP Players
- Luca Van Assche (France)
- Gustavo Heide (Brazil)
- Dušan Lajović (Serbia)
- Benjamin Bonzi (France)
- Quentin Halys (France)
- Kwon Soon Woo (South Korea)
- Francesco Maestrelli (Italy)
- Bu Yunchaokete (China)
- Jaime Faria (Portugal)
- Nikoloz Basilashvili (Georgia)
- Mackenzie McDonald (United States)
- Wu Yibing (China)
- Marcos Giron (United States)
- Henrique Rocha (Portugal)
- Nicolás Mejía (Colombia)
- Jacob Fearnley (United Kingdom)
- Alexander Shevchenko (Kazakhstan)
- Pablo Llamas Ruiz (Spain)
- Christopher O’Connell (Australia)
- Dane Sweeny (Australia)
- Marco Trungelliti (Argentina)
- Sebastian Ofner (Austria)
- Kei Nishikori (Japan)
- Francisco Comesaña (Argentina)
- Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (France)
- Trevor Svajda (United States)
- Moez Echargui (Tunisia)
- Michael Zheng (United States)
- Coleman Wong (Hong Kong)
- Hong Seong Chan (South Korea)
- Vignesh Gogineni (United States)
- Otto Virtanen (Finland)
- Sho Shimabukuro (Japan)
- Hugo Dellien (Bolivia)
- J.J. Wolf (United States)
- Shintaro Mochizuki (Japan)
- Hugo Gaston (France)
- Nicolai Budkov Kjær (Norway)
- Billy Harris (United Kingdom)
- Kyrian Jacquet (France)
- Martin Damm (United States)
- Stefanos Sakellaridis (Greece)
- Alexei Popyrin (Australia)
- Titouan Droguet (France)
- Aleksandar Vukic (Australia)
- Darwin Blanch (United States)
- Mark Lajal (Estonia)
- Dalibor Svrčina (Czech Republic)
WTA Players
- Lilli Tagger (Austria)
- Zhu Lin (China)
- Robin Montgomery (United States)
- Julia Grabher (Austria)
- Renata Zarazúa (Mexico)
- Yuan Yue (China)
- Kayla Day (United States)
- Taylah Preston (Australia)
- Lanlana Tararudee (Thailand)
- Emerson Jones (Australia)
- Victoria Jiménez Kasintseva (Andorra)
- Mananchaya Sawangkaew (Thailand)
- Sinja Kraus (Austria)
- Marina Bassols Ribera (Spain)
- Polina Iatcenko (no flag)
- Claire Liu (United States)
- Eva Lys (Germany)
- Katarzyna Kawa (Poland)
- Dominika Šalková (Czech Republic)
- Anna Blinkova (no flag)
- Solana Sierra (Argentina)
- Aoi Ito (Japan)
- Harriet Dart (United Kingdom)
- Moyuka Uchijima (Japan)
- Alina Korneeva (no flag)
- Varvara Lepchenko (United States)
- Rebecca Marino (Canada)
- Alina Charaeva (Armenia)
- Hanne Vandewinkel (Belgium)
- Akasha Urhobo (United States)
- Rebecca Šramková (Slovakia)
- Elsa Jacquemot (France)
- Wang Xiyu (China)
- Bianca Andreescu (Canada)
- Carol Young Suh Lee (United States)
- Polina Kudermetova (Uzbekistan)
- Emiliana Arango (Colombia)
- Aliaksandra Sasnovich (no flag)
- Nadia Podoroska (Argentina)
- Ella Seidel (Germany)
- Anastasia Zakharova (no flag)
- Lucrezia Stefanini (Italy)
- Himeno Sakatsume (Japan)
- Léolia Jeanjean (France)
- Oksana Selekhmeteva (Spain)
- Elizabeth Mandlik (United States)
- Mary Stoiana (United States)
- Veronika Erjavec (Slovenia)
The tournament retains the right to directly invite players to take part in the tournament regardless of their current rating. This may apply to veteran players, promising young athletes who haven’t yet earned a high enough rating, or others. These players are called wild cards.
This year, the following players made it into the wild cards list:
ATP Players
- Marin Čilić (Croatia)
- Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria)
- Jack Draper (United Kingdom)
- Rinky Hijikata (Australia)
- Gaël Monfils (France)
WTA Players
- Loïs Boisson (France)
- Caroline Dolehide (United States)
- Elvina Kalieva (United States)
- Sofia Kenin (United States)
- Sloane Stephens (United States)
- Darja Vidmanova (Czech Republic)
- Katie Volynets (United States)
- Venus Williams (United States)
If a player returns after having been missing from the field for over six months, they will participate in the draw using their protected ranking. This means their decreased rating doesn’t affect their place on the list. Instead, their historical average ranking is applied to determine their participation.
This year, the following players made it into the protected ranking list:
ATP Players
- Thanasi Kokkinakis (Australia)
- Shang Juncheng (China)
And finally, the draw might get amended further on, if any lucky losers enter the game. These are the players who, despite having lost a round and eliminated as a result, get a chance to advance to the next round because a qualifying player withdrew due to an injury.
Potential Matchups to Watch
While the seeded and unseeded players have already been drawn, the Cincinnati Open is still waiting on the full results of the qualifying rounds to complete the draw with the 12 qualifiers. The schedule and order of play will be available on the official website of the tournament.
With both Jannik Sinner, who currently holds the first place in the ranking system, and Carlos Alcaraz, who is the second highest ranking player and the defending champion of the Cincinnati Open, absent from the court, the power distribution shifts quite significantly.
All attention is now focused on Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic and their potential face off. As both players sit in the same half, they have a chance to meet in the semifinals. One player that everyone keeps talking about is Rafael Jódar who comes to Cincinnati Open 2026 in amazing form.
The women’s draw is packed with a powerful lineup, with ten Grand Slam winners and five past Cincinnati Open winners on the list. While Jasmine Paolini and Karolina Muchova have withdrawn from the tournament, such heavyweight names as Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, and Mirra Andreeva lead the entries list.
As Sabalenka, Gauff, and Andreeva are in the same half, Gauff and Andreeva are projected to meet in the quarterfinal, with the winner then playing against Sabalenka in the semifinal.
For the quarterfinal, the following are the projected high profile matchups:
ATP Quarterfinals
- Alexander Zverev (1) vs Flavio Cobolli (7)
- Novak Djokovic (3) vs Alex de Minaur (5)
- Taylor Fritz (6) vs Daniil Medvedev (4)
- Ben Shelton (8) vs Felix Auger-Aliassime (2)
WTA Quarterfinals
- Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs Elina Svitolina (8)
- Coco Gauff (4) vs Mirra Andreeva (5)
- Linda Nosková (6) vs Jessica Pegula (3)
- Iga Świątek (7) vs Elena Rybakina (2)
But the main draw starts with round one that will begin on Thursday, 13 August, and it is equally packed with notable matches. Experts single out the following matchups for ATP:
- Martin Landaluce vs Jack Draper
- Cameron Norrie vs Dino Prižmić
- Rinky Hijikata vs Gaël Monfils
- Botic van de Zandschulp vs Tallon Griekspoor
Among the WTA matches, the following draw special interest:
- Katie Boulter vs Katie Volynets
- Daria Kasatkina vs Zeynep Sonmez
- Caty McNally vs McCartney Kessler
- Ashlyn Krueger vs Lois Boisson
- Taylor Townsend vs Camila Osorio
Other interesting early matches include:
- Corentin Moutet vs Hubert Hurkacz
- Denis Shapovalov vs Adrian Mannarino
- Román Burruchaga vs Jan-Lennard Struff
- Thiago Tirante vs Jan Choinski
- Qualifier vs Matteo Berrettini
- Alex Michelsen vs Jesper de Jong
- Daniel Mérida vs Marin Čilić
- Nuno Borges vs Thanasi Kokkinakis
- Qualifier vs Jenson Brooksby
- Sebastián Báez vs Grigor Dimitrov
- Shang Juncheng vs Lorenzo Sonego
- Valentin Royer vs Stefanos Tsitsipas
Cincinnati Open 2026 Tournament Information
As we mentioned before, the 2026 Cincinnati Open falls under a Masters 1000 event category on the 2026 ATP Tour and a WTA 1000 event category on the 2026 WTA Tour. It is played in a single knockout format, so the player has to win each subsequent match to advance to the next round. Since it is the final major warm up event for the players who plan to participate in the US Open, the tournament holds a significant position in the annual tennis season.
Since 1979, Cincinnati Open has been conducted at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, Mason, Ohio. The transfer to this venue meant a change in the surface as well – if previously the tournament was conducted on a clay surface, starting from 1979 it was held on hard outdoor courts. It is also considered the oldest tennis event in the United States to still be conducted in or around its city of origin.
The announced prize pool for 2026 for the men’s Association of Tennis Professionals Masters 1000 event stands at USD 9,415,725, while the prize pool for the Women’s Tennis Association WTA 1000 tournament stands at USD 7,433,076.
The full overview of the tournament is below:
- Venue: Lindner Family Tennis Center, Mason, Ohio, United States
- Surface: outdoor hard court
- Tournament category: ATP Masters 1000 on the 2026 ATP Tour & WTA 1000 on the 2026 WTA Tour
- Official draw release: Tuesday, 11 August 3:00 pm (8:00 pm BST)
- Tournament dates: Thursday, 13 August – Sunday, 23 August 2026
- Format: single knockout
- Singles draw size: 96 players men and women
- Doubles draw size: 32 players men and women
- Prize money: USD 9,415,725 for the ATP Masters 1000 tournament & USD 7,433,076 for the WTA 1000 tournament
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