The 2025 Cincinnati Open marks the final big event before the US Open and it will feature most of the big-name players on the WTA Tour as world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka returns to action.
The Cincy tournament – in its 97th edition – is the eighth out of 10 WTA 1000 events on the 2025 calendar and the final one of the North American hard-court swing.
Last year, then world No 3 Sabalenka defeated world No 1 Iga Swiatek in the semi-final and Jessica Pegula in the showpiece match to win the tournament for the first time.
This year, Sabalenka will be the top seed as she has been No 1 in the WTA Rankings since October last year when she replaced Swiatek, but she might be slightly undercooked as it is her first tournament since Wimbledon.
The defending champion’s match was her semi-final defeat to Amanda Anisimova at the grass-court Grand Slam as she opted to skip the Citi DC Open and this week’s Canadian Open, but her postion at No 1 in the WTA Rankings was not under threat at either of those events and it won’t be under threat in Cincinnati as she has a 4,000-plus point le cad over Coco Gauff.
2024 winner Gauff, reigning Wimbledon champion Swiatek, Pegula and Anisimova complete the top five seeds for the 2025 Cincy Open in Ohio.
Sabalenka, Gauff and Madison Keys, who won the tournament in 2019, are the only former champions in the main draw.
Besides the usual top seeds, Grand Slam winners Emma Raducanu, Naomi Osaka, Petra Kvitova, Marketa Vondrousova, Bianca Andreescu and the great Venus Williams will also be in the field.
When is the draw?
The expanded Cincinnati Open is a 96-player singles field with 32 seeds. Seventy-two players have received a direct entry through their ranking/protected ranking, eight have received wildcards and 12 will come through the qualifying tournament.
WTA News
The main draw ceremony is set for Tuesday, August 5 with the first-round matches getting underway on Thursday, August 7. The final will take place on Monday, August 18.
Points On Offer At Cincinnati Open
The WTA uses a rolling 52-week, cumulative system for the WTA Rankings so players will drop/defend points they earned during the corresponding period in 2024.
Example: Sabalenka won the tournament last year and will drop those 1,000 points from her title run at the start of event, but will then earn back ranking points for every win at the 2025 edition.
Full points breakdown:
First round: 10 points
Second round: 35 points
Third round: 65 points
Round of 16: 120 points
Quarter-finalists: 215 points
Semi-finalists: 390 points
Runner-up: 650 points
Champion: 1,000 points
Prize Money At Cincinnati Open
Sabalenka collected a cheque of $523,485 when she won the 2024 title while runner-up Pegula received $308,320 for her efforts, but there is a nice increase in the prize money this year. Although it is still not as much as the men receive.
The men’s champion will earn $1,124,380 compared to $752,275 on the WTA side while the losing ATP finalist will receive $597,890, while the WTA runner-up will earn $391,600.
Full prize money breakdown:
First round:$11,270
Second round: $18,200
Third round: $32,840
Round of 16: $56,678
Quarter-finalsts: $106,900
Semi-finalsts: $206,100
Runner-up: $391,600
Champion: $752,275