![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Clubhouse-Lobby.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nCINCINNATI — Growing up in Pittsburgh, Alison Riske-Amritraj dreamed of playing at the nearby Cincinnati Open.<\/p>\n
Her parents could never afford to take her to the Lindner Family Tennis Center when she was a child, so when she finally stepped foot on the grounds as a professional, it was emotional.<\/p>\n
All these years later, it still is.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was growing up, I didn\u2019t aspire to play the US Open,\u201d Riske-Amritraj, a former Wimbledon quarterfinalist, said. \u201cI aspired to play in Cincinnati. Each year they had the best players come. They all showed up and I knew that this was my community. My people. My tournament. For me, it\u2019s so much deeper than just another tournament on tour.\u201d<\/p>\n
And in 2025, it certainly won\u2019t feel like just another tournament on tour.<\/p>\n
To accommodate the larger field at this year\u2019s tournament — the main draw increased from 56 to 96 for both the women\u2019s and men\u2019s fields — the Cincinnati Open had to expand significantly. Not only was more space for players necessary, but the facility had to account for their teams, too. More buildings had to be constructed. More locker rooms had to be built. The workout centers weren\u2019t large enough. The dining area was too small.<\/p>\n
Led by Beemok Capital — founded by Ben Navarro, whose daughter is World No. 11 Emma Navarro — the Lindner Family Tennis Center underwent a complete overhaul and transformation. It\u2019s double the size it was in 2024, and among the additions are 10 more courts, brand-new pavilion and commons areas, and a 2,300-seat sunken stadium.<\/p>\n
And as part of the 11-month, $260 million sprint — the project began a week after the 2024 tournament concluded — a state-of-the-art facility loaded with new-and-improved amenities was built for the players.<\/p>\n
The crown jewel is the 56,000-square-foot clubhouse, which houses a restaurant and lounge area. Riske-Amritraj, who last played on the Hologic WTA Tour in 2023, marveled at the additional space, which is at a premium when so much of players\u2019 time is spent waiting and recovering.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When players are on-site for a week-plus, they need to feel like the facility is a second home. Riske-Amritraj, who reached a career high of No. 18 during her playing days, is confident the tournament\u2019s improvements will create that environment, this year and beyond.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThe majority of our day during an event is waiting,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s important to be able to find a quiet space where you\u2019re able to prepare and be away from people if you choose. They have multiple places indoors that you can rest. You can go to the patio upstairs if you choose to be outside. There are so many places where a player can sit back, put their feet up, wait comfortably and not have to be in the chaos — in a loud room or around a ton of people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the No. 1 thing, honestly. And [Tournament Director Bob Moran] and Ben just create a home environment, whether you\u2019re No. 10 in the world or No. 110. Players feel like they\u2019re home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former World No. 30 Shelby Rogers, who during a ceremony at this tournament in 2021 was awarded a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Indiana University East, noticed the little things that players will appreciate when they arrive. They might be small, but they make a significant difference — especially when you spend your life crisscrossing the globe from tournament to tournament, living out of a suitcase.
\u00a0
She hopes the reimagined facility, from the player amenities to the fan experience on the grounds, sets the standard for excellence in the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will raise the bar, hopefully, for all the other events,\u201d the former US Open quarterfinalist said. \u201cThis is what tennis deserves. This is what the players deserve. It will just produce a better product on-court. The matches are going to be better.\u201d \u00a0
\u00a0
Moran, who also oversees the Charleston Open, appreciated that acknowledgement. The little things are important to him; they help him achieve his goal of making players feel safe, healthy, and taken care of.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo we have to build a lounge in each one of the locker rooms?\u201d Moran asked rhetorically. \u201cNope. Do we know it will add a great feel to their experience? Yes. The nutrition bar in the gym, do we have to do that? No. Do we think it adds to the experience that they have when they\u2019re here? Yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n
With spacious recovery areas and best-in-class fitness equipment, players might be inclined to arrive earlier than usual, if their schedule allows. They also might stick around on-site after they\u2019ve been eliminated, rather than travel to the next city or make a quick pit stop home before hitting the road again. Anything and everything a player could want is on the grounds, which affords them less stress and fewer distractions, more peace of mind and ample time to prepare for their next match in an environment designed for efficiency and optimization.<\/p>\n
![\"There](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Clubhouse-Player-Lounge.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The world-class treatment is complemented by a famously familial atmosphere, which players have always appreciated greatly in Mason, Ohio. The tournament still feels delightfully small-town and local despite being one of the most publicized and well-attended on the calendar.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hometown vibe sticks out,\u201d she said. \u201cThe whole staff is super nice, and everyone knows each other and welcomes you. You get a family vibe from it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pushing to Be the Best on Tour<\/p>\n
The Cincinnati Open is one of the preeminent stops on the tour, and that\u2019s not just because of its standing as a WTA 1000 event. It has a strong historical pedigree and a deep tradition, tracing its roots to 1899 and boasting the distinction of being the oldest tennis tournament in the United States that\u2019s still played in its original city.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also notable, and beloved, for its inherently Midwestern flavor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is tennis in the Midwest,\u201d Moran proudly says, and he — along with Navarro, Beemok Capital COO Jansen Dell and the rest of their team — felt a tremendous responsibility to honor the tournament and its loyal fans with a transformed tennis center befitting of its stature and place in tennis history.<\/p>\n
There have been rumblings over the past few years that the tournament might move to another city. That is no longer in the cards, which makes hundreds of thousands of Midwestern tennis fans happy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It makes Riske-Amritraj happy, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so proud that the tournament kept the event in Cincinnati,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Rust Belt folks, the Midwesterners, we\u2019re a very proud community. We\u2019re proud of the events in our community, and we all back them wholeheartedly. This tournament is a testament to that. With Ben and Bob at the helm, this tournament is pushing to be the best on tour.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CINCINNATI — Growing up in Pittsburgh, Alison Riske-Amritraj dreamed of playing at the nearby Cincinnati Open. Her parents…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62495,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[99,428,1959],"class_list":{"0":"post-62494","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-tennis","10":"tag-text"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}