PREVIEW Cincinnati Open ATP 2025: Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz renew their rivalry as Fritz and Shelton aim to continue hot streak

The ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati Open 2025 will be held from August 7 to 18 with a draw of 96 players—expanded from the 56-player draw it had until 2024—and will be played on outdoor hard courts. It is the seventh Masters 1000 of the season and will be the final test for the big stars before the US Open.

The tournament will mark the return of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz to their first event since their Wimbledon final, which ended with the Italian as champion of his fourth Grand Slam title. Both players were absent from the Canadian Open to prolong their rest time before traveling to North America, and they will be looking to go for the title and an injection of confidence on hard courts.

Other major names in the draw include Taylor Fritz, Alexander Zverev, Ben Shelton, Holger Rune, and Alex De Minaur, who will be looking to build good momentum for the year's fourth Grand Slam.

The tournament was expected to feature Novak Djokovic, but the Serbian star withdrew at the last minute, making him one of the most significant absences along with other star names like Jack Draper, Grigor Dimitrov, Hubert Hurkacz, and Nick Kyrgios, all of whom are out due to injury.

The focus will be on Sinner and Alcaraz, the top two seeds, who will have a new episode of their renowned rivalry. The Italian world No. 1 won the Wimbledon final and the title nearly a month ago, giving new life to his rivalry with Alcaraz, as he broke a five-match winning streak Alcaraz had in direct duels and got revenge for the Roland Garros final. On hard courts, Sinner seems to have a slight surface advantage, and it remains to be seen if Alcaraz has something prepared to counteract the Italian's power, while the fight for world No. 1 reappears in the coming weeks, considering that Sinner is the defending champion at both Cincinnati and the US Open.

Sinner—the defending champion and first seed—is waiting to find out his opponent between Vit Kopřiva and a qualifier. In the bottom half, Alcaraz is the leader, waiting to find out the winner between Damir Džumhur and Mattia Bellucci. A potential duel between Alcaraz and Sinner could only happen in the final, just as it did in the last three tournaments where both were in the draw (Rome, Roland Garros, Wimbledon).

Alexander Zverev is one of the names that will arrive among the favorites, especially after a notable campaign at the Canadian Open. The German, the first seed in Toronto, has already reached the semifinals (he will face Karen Khachanov) and can still advance further in the tournament. He might even arrive in Cincinnati with a new Masters 1000 title. It remains to be seen if the large number of matches in a few days will affect Zverev's participation or if he will arrive fresh enough to be a candidate.

The case is similar for Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton, two players who will face each other in the second semifinal of the Canadian Open and who will be contenders in Cincinnati. The Americans have shown consistency in recent months, and at least one of them will play in the Toronto final on Friday 8 in search of the title.

Lorenzo Musetti will have a new chance to show the level he had in the first part of the year, after an injury completely interrupted his ascent. After reaching the semifinals at Roland Garros, he withdrew from a good part of the grass-court season, returning at Wimbledon with a first-round loss. He took a couple more weeks of training to return to hard courts and lost in his debut at the DC Open. Just this week in Canada, he returned to winning (against James Duckworth) but fell in the second round to Alex Michelsen. The Italian has now had a few tournaments to get back in rhythm, and this could be the moment for him to take a leap forward after the injury and reclaim a spot among the best ahead of the year's last Grand Slam.

Another player who needs a good campaign at the Cincinnati Open is Holger Rune, who was defeated early in the first round of Wimbledon and then suffered an injury that prevented him from taking the court at the DC Open. The Dane traveled to Toronto and got a couple of comfortable wins, but he ended up losing to defending champion Alexei Popyrin in the Round of 16. Rune continues to be one of the most prominent names on the Tour and one of the few who seems to have the potential to compete against Sinner and Alcaraz, but he has yet to consistently establish himself to fight for all the major titles.