Cincinnati Open Showcases $260M Bet to Be Tennis’s Fifth Slam

Tennis stars have regularly complained about the sport’s hectic schedule, both on the ATP and WTA tours. Yet there is still an arms race over which combined 1000 tournaments could serve as the sport’s fifth Grand Slam.

The Cincinnati Open is making its strongest case this year, the first iteration of the tournament featuring its $260 million renovation supported by Ben Navarro, father of American tennis player Emma Navarro and founder of Beemok Sports, the tournament’s license holder. The renovation includes 10 additional courts—including a new, 2,000-seat sunken stadium—and a two-story players lounge.

Women’s world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who won last year’s tournament, called the renovations “impressive” following her first-round win Saturday—though she also added that she was hoping for a bigger dining room.

“Other than that, oh my gosh, it’s even more enjoyable to be here,” Sabalenka said.

She’s far from the only player who has been complimentary of the improvements in Cincy. Asked whether it felt like the fifth Grand Slam, 2019 men’s singles champion Daniil Medvedev said, “Yes, it does.”

“It’s a great tournament, nothing bad to say, only good things,” Medvedev said.

Jeļena Ostapenko, the 2022 women’s doubles champion, also said it feels like the fifth Grand Slam, adding that she has “a lot of respect for the Navarro family.”

Major Hurdles

While there is no concrete way to determine the most prestigious of tennis’s combined 1000 tournaments, the Cincinnati Open does lag behind in one respect. Four of the other five tournaments are in major cities, while Indian Wells takes place outside Los Angeles. 

The Cincinnati Open doesn’t even take place in Cincinnati. It’s in Mason, Ohio, about 30 miles north of Cincinnati—with a population of fewer than 40,000 people.

Six combined 1000 tournament locations:

• Indian Wells Masters: Indian Wells, Calif.
• Miami Open: Miami, Fla.
• Canadian Open: Toronto (ATP) and Montreal (WTA)
• Italian Open: Rome
• Madrid Open: Madrid
• Cincinnati Open: Mason, Ohio

According to The Athletic, tournament director Bob Moran said the team “looked at every option” to hold the event, but settled on staying in Mason.

The timing of the event also makes it difficult to consistently attract all of tennis’s best players, given it’s just weeks before the US Open and overlaps with the Canadian Open. Victoria Mboko and Naomi Osaka, the women’s singles finalists in Montreal, both were last-minute withdrawals from the Cincinnati Open.

Its proximity to the US Open, however, could also be a positive. It has served as a spoiler for the New York–based Grand Slam for the last two years, as the two tournaments share the same men’s and women’s singles champions (2023: Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic, 2024: Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka).