Cincinnati Open 2024 Preview: When is it, who is playing and what is the prize money?
The Cincinnati Open 2024 is almost upon us, featuring some of the top ATP and WTA stars attempting to get some hard court practice in ahead of the US Open.
And we, at Tennishead, have all you need to know about the iconic tournament ahead of its 125th edition:
When is the Cincinnati Open 2024?
The Cincinnati Open main draw will get underway on Monday 12th August, giving a quick turnaround for players who reach the latter stages in Canada this week.
Day sessions will generally begin at 11am Eastern Time (4pm BST), with night sessions starting at 7pm in Cincinnati (Midnight BST).
The ATP/WTA 1000 tournament will conclude on Monday 19th August, with both the women’s and singles finals, as well as the men’s doubles final all taking place on this day.
Qualifying to gain entry into the main draw will be conducted on Sunday 11th August and Monday 12th August.
Where is the Cincinnati Open held?
There were rumours that the iconic Cincinnati tournament was set to relocate to Charlotte, North Carolina, last year.
However, it has been confirmed that the tournament will remain at the Lindner Family Tennis Centre in Mason, Ohio, as it has done since 1987.
Not only that, but the tournament has also received a $15million commitment to keep the tournament in the city, which has led to improvements of the grounds this year and there are plans to continue this in the coming years.
Practice Courts pic.twitter.com/UX5oJHGwtB
— Cincinnati Open (@CincyTennis) August 8, 2024
There are eight matchcourts on the Ohio complex, headlined by Center Court (11,400 seats) and Grandstand Court (5,000 seats).
Who is playing at the Cincinnati Open 2024?
Both singles draws contains 56 players, with the top eight seeds gaining an automatic bye to the second round.
In the men’s field Jannik Sinner is the top seed as the World No.1, however the Italian is yet to surpass the third round of the Cincinnati Open.
After defending champion Novak Djokovic elected to skip the Masters 1000 event, Carlos Alcaraz is the second seed, as he looks to go one better than his runner-up finish in 2023.
Cincinnati will miss our defending champion 💔
We can’t to see more shirt rips in the future! pic.twitter.com/W3WKMO2adj
— Cincinnati Open (@CincyTennis) August 8, 2024
There are still some former champions returning to the Cincinnati tournament, with Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev and Grigor Dimitrov all set to return.
Borna Coric, who claimed the Cincinnati title in 2022, has to settle for qualifying after dropping down to No.94 in the rankings.
Wildcards for the hard court tournament have been awarded to 2021 Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini, Marcos Giron, Max Purcell and Reilly Opelka.
The men’s wild cards are in and ready to make a statement next week.
Who are you most excited to watch!? pic.twitter.com/vCZroI0YKf
— Cincinnati Open (@CincyTennis) August 7, 2024
In the women’s field, Iga Swiatek is set to return to action as the top seed after missing the Canadian Open due to fatigue.
Swiatek achieved her best result at the tournament last year by reaching the semi-final, before being beaten by eventual champion Coco Gauff in her only loss to the American.
Gauff returns as defending champion at the tournament she won before claiming the US Open title, but this year has the pressure of big ranking points to defend.
The 20-year-old will also face tough competition from the likes of Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Jasmine Paolini, Jessica Pegula and Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng.
We’ve got a gold medalist in the house 🥇 pic.twitter.com/R0xi3paBJj
— Cincinnati Open (@CincyTennis) August 8, 2024
Gauff is one of five former women’s singles champions in the Cincinnati draw this year, alongside Victoria Azarenka, Madison Keys, Caroline Garcia and Karolina Pliskova.
In the women’s draw, wildcards have been given to former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, and American hopefuls Peyton Stearns and Caroline Dolehide.
We present to you the women’s wild cards for the 2024 Cincinnati Open!
Which one of these ladies is going to make a statement at this year’s tournament? pic.twitter.com/XGWbFlsTz6
— Cincinnati Open (@CincyTennis) August 6, 2024
How many ranking points are on offer at the Cincinnati Open 2024?
Not only is US Open hard court practice a big incentive for playing the Cincinnati Open, but also the large amount of ranking points on offer.
Here is a breakdown of the ranking points awarded in both the singles and doubles draws:
| Event | W | F | SF | QF | R16 | R32 | R64 | Q | Q2 | Q1 |
| Men’s Singles | 1,000 | 650 | 400 | 200 | 100 | 50 | 10 | 30 | 16 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men’s Doubles | 600 | 360 | 180 | 90 | 0 | — | — | — | — | |
| Women’s singles | 1,000 | 650 | 390 | 215 | 120 | 65 | 10 | 30 | 20 | 2 |
| Women’s doubles | 10 | — | — | — | — |
What is the prize money for the Cincinnati Open 2024?
The total prize money offerings for the Cincinnati Open this year is $10,007,270, with $6,795,555 going towards the ATP players and $3,211,715 for the WTA.
Unfortunately there is not currently a breakdown of the WTA prize money available, but here is how the ATP players can get a share of that prize pot:
| Event | W | F | SF | QF | R16 | R32 | R64 | Q2 | Q1 |
| Men’s Singles | $1,049,460 | $573,090 | $313,395 | $170,940 | $91,435 | $49,030 | $27,165 | $13,915 | $7,290 |
| Men’s Doubles | $322,000 | $174,920 | $96,090 | $53,010 | $29,140 | $15,910 | – | – | – |
Previous winners of the Cincinnati Open
Last year, Novak Djokovic saved a championship point against Carlos Alcaraz en route to claiming his third title in Cincinnati, in a contest that was labelled ‘match of the year’ by the ATP.
It was a more straightforward women’s singles final, with Coco Gauff beating Karolina Muchova to claim her first and only WTA 1000 title to date.
Here are all of the past 10 singles and doubles champions in Cincinnati:
| Year | Men’s Singles Champion | Women’s Singles Champion | Men’s Doubles Champions | Women’s Doubles Champions |
| 2014 | Roger Federer (6) | Serena Williams | Bob Bryan (5) & Mike Bryan (5) | Raquel Kops-Jones & Abigail Spears (2) |
| 2015 | Roger Federer (7) | Serena Williams (2) | Daniel Nestor (5) & Edouard Roger-Vasselin | Hao-ching Chan & Latisha Chan |
| 2016 | Marin Cilic | Karolina Pliskova | Ivan Dodig & Marcelo Melo | Sania Mirza (2) & Barbora Strycova |
| 2017 | Grigor Dimitrov | Garbine Muguruza | Pierre-Hugues Herbert & Nicolas Mahut | Latisha Chan (2) & Martina Hingis |
| 2018 | Novak Djokovic | Kiki Bertens | Jamie Murray & Bruno Soares | Lucie Hradecka (2) & Ekaterina Makarova |
| 2019 | Daniil Medvedev | Madison Keys | Ivan Dodig (2) & Filip Polasek | Lucie Hradecka (3) & Andreja Klepac |
| 2020 | Novak Djokovic (2) | Victoria Azarenka (2) | Pablo Carreno Busta & Alex de Minaur | Kveta Peschke & Demi Schuurs |
| 2021 | Alexander Zverev | Ash Barty | Marcel Granollers & Horacio Zeballos | Samantha Stosur & Zhang Shuai |
| 2022 | Borna Coric | Caroline Garcia | Rajeev Ram & Joe Salisbury | Lyudmyla Kichenok & Jelena Ostapenko |
| 2023 | Novak Djokovic (3) | Coco Gauff | Maximo Gonzalez & Andres Molteni | Alycia Parks & Taylor Townsend |
How can you watch the Cincinnati Open 2024?
You can watch the Cincinnati Open on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland, as well as across other parts of Europe, or on Tennis Channel in the United States of America. You can also watch the ATP tournament on Tennis TV worldwide.
For more information on how to watch the joint 1000 level event in your location, visit the official ATP website here or the WTA website here.
READ MORE: Novak Djokovic withdraws from Cincinnati Masters ahead of US Open title defence
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