The 2024 Cincinnati Masters will be played from August 13 to August 19. It's the oldest tennis tournament in the United States that is still being played in its origin city. The Cincinnati Masters could've been a mandatory tennis tournament like the BNP Paribas Open, but the tour is stacked with too many tournaments during the summer and fall. Tennis bettors love this tournament because the winners would win the US Open, the fourth and final Grand Slam tournament of the season, if not have reached the finals. Cincinnati is THE key warm-up tournament in the US Open series.
The tennis landscape changed dramatically these past decades. The Cincinnati Open was a part of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Grand Prix Circuit during the heyday of Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe. Connors and McEnroe, who have 15 major titles between them, only won once in Cincinnati.
It was changed into one of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, or one of those week-long events that is ranked below the four Grand Slam tournaments and the season-ending ATP Finals. Lindner Family Tennis Center is the venue of the Cincinnati Masters, the hard courts reminded many tennis fans of the hard courts of the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York.
In fact, the pandemic forced the organizers of the Cincinnati Open to move the venue of the 2020 Cincinnati Masters from Cincinnati to New York. In that regard, it wasn't surprising that the winners of this Masters 1000 event are likely to win the US Open. Coco Gauff, who made her Grand Slam breakthrough in the 2023 US Open, defeated Karolina Muchova in the 2023 Western and Southern Open, in Cincinnati, two weeks prior. And Novak Djokovic outlasted Carlos Alcaraz in a three-set thriller.
If you still have doubts, then you must read further.
Roger Federer won the most men's singles titles. The Swiss Maestro had great success in the grass courts, but the Cincinnati Masters was one one several hard-court tournaments where he had the most success as well. He won seven men's singles titles, which was twice as many as the other greats have achieved.
This hard court suited Federer's game, but bettors didn't get it right all the time. (The Swiss great won the Cincinnati Masters and US Open in the same year. Twice.) It was rather an exception, but it would be long before another phenomenal player would match Federer's record (or eclipse it).
Many winners, and runners-up, of the Cincinnati Open went on to make a deep run in the US Open. Djokovic was a five-time finalist before winning his first Cincinnati Masters title in 2018. He became the first player to win all the Masters 1000 titles.
The youngest winner and oldest champ have one thing in common. And they have had greater success in the past. Boris Becker won the Cincinnati Open a month after his stunning win in Wimbledon. Djokovic was 36 years of age when he captured his third Cincinnati Masters. The German ace was the Serb's coach for many years.
Andy Murray won the shortest final. Ever. Murray, who retired after the Paris Olympics, had four Grand Slam runner-up finishes to his name. It doesn't mean that he was less successful than Federer, or Nadal, but a major breakthrough was the only thing he needed. The finals of the 2011 Cincinnati Masters saw Murray defeat an injured Djokovic in straight sets. Fans were disappointed at the results, but it was a portent of good things to come to the Scotsman.
Andy Roddick is the last American to win the Cincinnati Masters. American fans aren't surprised at this trivia, as the hard-hitting Roddick won this Masters 1000 event a few years after winning his first, and only, Grand Slam title in Flushing Meadows. Some would wish that the Cincinnati Open was the fifth major tournament. John Isner reached the finals of the 2013 Western and Southern Open, the other name of the Cincinnati Masters (for sponsorship reasons), the last American to do so.
Pete Sampras and Patrick Rafter have an intense rivalry in the North American hard courts. Tennis fans won't hear Pete Sampras getting pissed at an opponent that often, and it only happened during the summer of 1998 - and 1999. Patrick Rafter had his number in the 1998 Cincinnati Masters and then the semifinals of the 1998 US Open. The first-set tiebreaker is one of the best, if not memorable, set between these two greats. Aussie fans wished it would happen in Wimbledon.
Daniil Medvedev won his first Masters title in Cincinnati. Russia's top-ranked player won his first, and only, major title in Flushing Meadows in 2021, but we were getting ahead. Medvedev had the most success in the hard courts, and winning the 2019 Western and Southern Open was the first of his sixth Masters 1000 titles. His career skyrocketed after defeating David Goffin in the finals.
For the upcoming Cincinnati Masters Tennis, or Western and Southern Open, we are betting on Jannik Sinner to win his third Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati. Both Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic are exhausted from a grueling summer that included the French Open, Wimbledon, and the Summer Olympics. It happened in a span of a few months. Will the Italian win his second Grand Slam title in New York? Your thoughts?
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