Wow.
That’s all I could say when I stepped onto the new and improved Cincinnati Open grounds for the first time. And from what I’ve heard, a lot of the players are feeling the same way.
After the last ball was struck here in 2024, construction began immediately on a massive upgrade to prepare for this year’s expanded draw. The tournament has officially joined the 10-day Masters 1000 club, with 96-player draws on both the WTA and ATP sides. The plans were ambitious—bigger fields, bigger space, bigger everything. Could they actually pull it off?
They did. And then some.
The whole place has that new car smell. It’s like seeing an old friend from high school who’s had a glow-up, or like when your neighbors win the lottery and suddenly have a perfectly manicured lawn and a sleek new mailbox. You are like “Oh, they got money!”
This is still the Cincinnati Open—but it’s Cincinnati 2.0.
Even though I’ve been to these grounds before, Day 1 was all about getting the lay of the land again. Some things feel familiar, but so much has changed and in all the right ways. Over the next few days, I’ll be spotlighting different parts of the revamped site and how they’ve improved since last year:
Practice Courts
Show Courts
Outside Courts
Food & Fan Areas
Landscaping & Layout
Stay tuned as I break down the upgrades from the ground up.
Media Day Vibes
Today was also Media Day—a usually chaotic but fun stretch spent waiting for players to come through the press area. For a lot of them, it’s the first time we’ve seen them since Wimbledon, so it was great to catch up.
Below, you’ll find audio snippets from the pre-tournament press conferences with:
Venus Williams
Iga Świątek
Aryna Sabalenka
Jannik Sinner
Carlos Alcaraz
🎧 Give them a listen—and welcome to Cincinnati.
Share this post