Two Greater Cincinnati natives awarded qualifying wild card slots to the Cincinnati Open
MASON, Ohio —
Two Greater Cincinnati natives are set to compete in the Cincinnati Open this August, with one making his professional debut in Mason as the other returns to the tournament after a two-year hiatus.
JJ Wolf of Cincinnati and Vignesh Gogineni of Mason were both announced on Friday by tournament organizers as being permitted to take to the court in a matter of days at the Lindner Family Tennis Center.
JJ Wolf, 27 (left) & Vignesh Gogineni, 22 (right)
Each were granted wild cards to the qualifying round, meaning that they will have to play in preliminary matches to qualify for the tournament’s first official round.
Wolf is a 27-year-old Ohio State alum who currently ranks as the 563rd best player in the world for men’s singles tennis. He previously attended Cincinnati Country Day School prior to becoming a Buckeye, and played soccer, basketball and baseball in school before eventually deciding to focus on tennis. As a result, he counts himself as a dedicated Cincinnati sports fan on his ATP bio, with his grandfather serving as a coach for Cincinnati’s former NBA team, the Cincinnati Royals, during the 1960s.
Wolf has shown major potential in the sport’s uppermost levels in the past, peaking as the 39th-best player in the world in February 2023. However, Wolf has not played in a 1000-level match since 2024, with his upcoming appearance marking his first major tournament in that time.
Meanwhile, Gogineni is a 22-year-old recent Yale graduate who currently ranks as the 1,097th best player in the world. In his most recent collegiate season, he went 28-8 during his senior year, earning the No. 1 position among all Bulldogs tennis players. Prior to enrolling at Yale, Gogineni attended Mason High School, developing his tennis talent in the shadow of the Lindner Family Tennis Center.
In what is set to be a milestone moment in the young rising star’s career, Gogineni is listed as never having played in a tournament outside of the developmental level, and will make his professional tournament debut at the Cincinnati Open this year.
Elsewhere, on the women’s side, two other Greater Cincinnati natives have also confirmed that they will be returning to the Open this year: WTA athletes Peyton Stearns (ranked 58th in the world in women’s singles) and Caty McNally (ranked 73rd in the world in women’s singles) are both set to compete before a home crowd in Mason in just a matter of days. Notably, each also has a new championship title under their belt since the last time they played at the Lindner Family Tennis Center: Stearns won the women’s singles title at the ATX Open in March, and McNally won the women’s doubles title at the Charleston Open alongside fellow American tennis player Desirae Krawczyk just weeks later.
The Cincinnati Open’s qualifying matches will begin on Aug. 11, with the tournament’s final matches set for Aug. 23.