Lindsay Davenport praises Cincinnati Open’s Tennis Channel coverage
Lindsay Davenport talks about the Tennis Channel’s coverage of the Cincinnati Open and what makes it such a unique tournament on the tennis calendar.
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No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 1 Jannik Sinner are on a collision course to meet in the ATP final.Cinderella qualifier Terence Atmane has No. 1 Jannik Sinner between him and the final.No. 3 Iga Swiatek is the highest remaining seed in an unlikely WTA final four.
MASON, OH − There are eight players remaining and two titles up for grabs as the Cincinnati Open moves into its final days.
Aug. 16 will feature both ATP semifinals at the Lindner Family Tennis Center with the two WTA semifinals scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 17.
The Cincinnati Open finals will be held Monday, Aug. 18.
Here’s a breakdown of this weekend’s semifinals at the Cincinnati Open.
ATP: No. 1 Jannik Sinner vs. Terence Atmane
It’s the ultimate David vs. Goliath in this matchup as Terence Atmane tries to keep his Cinderella Cincinnati run alive against the best player in the world.
Beginning in qualifying Aug. 5, Atmane won seven matches in a nine-day span in what he called “the best days of my life.”
It’s surely been a life-changing week for Atmane, who will move into the ATP Top 100 for the first time and has doubled his year-to-date prize money. Can he slay a giant in Jannik Sinner, who has looked unstoppable in Mason?
Sinner has yet to drop a set at the Cincinnati Open and is one of five players this century to notch 25 consecutive hard-court wins. Sinner needed just 59 minutes to dispatch Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals to move to 30-3 on the season.
Sinner needs two victories to become the first back-to-back Cincinnati Open men’s singles winner since Roger Federer (2014-2015).
ATP: No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz vs. No. 3 Alexander Zverev
Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are chasing the year-end No. 1 ranking and could meet in another final. Alcaraz is one victory away from reaching the Cincinnati Open finals for the second time in three years after losing to Novak Djokovic in an epic 2023 clash.
Alcaraz has had spurts of both brilliance and lackluster play thus far in the tournament, but overcome his stagnant second sets in the end, especially against Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals.
Alcaraz, chasing a sixth title this season, will put his 15-match ATP 1000 winning streak on the line against No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev, who needed just 1 hour, 16 minutes to dispatch Canadian Open champion Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals.
Zverev is the sixth player since 2000 to reach the Cincinnati Open semifinals four times and knows what it’s like to hoist the Rookwood Cup having won it all in 2021. Alcaraz and Zverev have split four career meetings on outdoor hard courts and Zverev holds a 6-5 all-time advantage over the Spaniard.
WTA: No. 3 Iga Swiatek vs. No. 9 Elena Rybakina
Is this the year Iga Swiatek breaks through at the Cincinnati Open?
Swiatek has been bounced from the semifinals of the event in back-to-back years by the eventual champion (Coco Gauff in 2023, Aryna Sabalenka in 2024), and the Cincinnati Open is one of three WTA 1000 events on the calendar she has not reached the finals in.
Swiatek has been stellar thus far, winning every set and capturing 36 of 55 total games over four matches thus far. In the quarterfinals, she quickly got past No. 28 seed Anna Kalinskaya, 6-3, 6-4.
Swiatek has her toughest test in the semifinals against No. 9 seed Elena Rybakina, who knocked out Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals.
Swiatek and Rybakina have met nine times with Swiatek holding a 5-4 advantage. Swiatek has prevailed in the last three on hard courts.
WTA: No. 7 Jasmine Paolini vs. Veronika Kudermetova
Seeded players were gashed from the top part of this bracket, opening up a nice path on paper for No. 7 Jasmine Paolini or No. 2 Coco Gauff.
Paolini and Gauff capped off the night session on Center Court Aug. 15 with the 29-year-old Italian pulling out a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory. Paolini, who is 3-0 against Gauff in 2025, is seeking her third career WTA 1000 title.
Up next is Veronika Kudermetova, who has been a giant killer in Mason with three wins over seeded foes before a swift 6-1, 6-2 victory over qualifier Varvara Gracheva in the quarterfinals Aug. 15.
Kudermetova is in the semifinals at a WTA 1000 level event for the third time in her career and is still searching for her first title.