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A seemingly minor schedule change in the 2026 tennis calendar could be consequential for the sport’s top stars.
The Cincinnati Open, the tournament directly preceding the US Open on the international tennis calendar, announced it will return to a Sunday finish in 2026, a change from singles finals scheduled on Mondays over the last two years.
“We feel strongly that a Sunday final will deliver the best tournament experience,” tournament Director Bob Moran said in a press release.
The tournament, which will run from August 11 to 23 next year, had historically held its finals matches on Sundays until 2024, when it adjusted its schedule to accommodate the Summer Olympics. It stuck with a Monday finish in 2025 after the tournament expanded its player draw.
The extra day gives players an additional day before the start of the 2026 US Open.
For some players, that change means at least a full week off since the US Open main draw is scheduled to start on August 30. But for others, it could mean an increase from one to two days off, if the US Open brings back the highly criticized 2025 mixed doubles tournament format and schedule next year.
The 2025 US Open mixed doubles tournament adopted a new format and significantly increased its prize money to reel in singles stars—but it also started on August 19, one day after the Cincinnati Open men’s and women’s singles final. Cincinnati Open champions Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Świątek both made the turnaround, playing in New York a day after securing the title at the 1000-level tournament.
Świątek said it was the “most extreme” schedule turnaround she’s ever faced.
“I stretched, did ice bath, quick shower, media, and after like one and a half hour after the match, we already went to catch a plane. So that’s it. Yeah, it was pretty fast,” Świątek said at a US Open mixed doubles press conference.
The Cincinnati Open is owned and operated by Beemok Sports & Entertainment, which is owned by Ben Navarro, the father of women’s world No. 15 Emma Navarro. Beemok purchased the rights to the tournament in 2022, and in 2023, announced that it would keep the tournament in Ohio instead of moving it to Charlotte or Chicago.
Jannik Sinner, Alcaraz’s opponent in the Cincinnati Open final, bowed out of the match due to an illness and subsequently withdrew from the US Open mixed doubles tournament.
The US Open has yet to announce the schedule for the 2026 mixed doubles tournament.
The Cincinnati Open also said that it a drew record 285,571 fans attended this year’s event in Mason, Ohio, the same year it launched its $260 million campus transformation.
The tournament’s 2026 schedule will still overlap with the Canadian Open, another 1000-level tournament, which runs from August 1 to 13. Both Victoria Mboko and Naomi Osaka, the two women’s finalists in Montreal, withdrew from the 2025 Cincinnati Open.
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