How to watch Cincinnati Open including Swiatek-Paolini Final live on TV or stream in UK, USA and Australia

The 2025 Cincinnati Open will take place from August 7 to August 18 in Ohio, USA. This will be the second Masters 1000 (ATP) and WTA 1000 on North American hardcourts, serving as the last major event before the start of the US Open. It will mark the return of several major stars, following the mass withdrawals of top players from the Canadian Open the previous week.

Amidst a busy calendar, some of the top players decided to skip the Toronto event and will travel directly to Cincinnati to prepare for the US Open. This will be the comeback for Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and Novak Djokovic, who are seeking a highly competitive event before the year's final Grand Slam. Similarly, Aryna Sabalenka will return on the women's side, defending her title in her first tournament after Wimbledon.

Cincinnati is played the week immediately after the Canadian Open, a tournament that suffered several high-profile withdrawals. Both Jannik Sinner – recent Wimbledon champion – and Carlos Alcaraz – last Roland Garros champion – opted to take a break before starting the North American hardcourt swing and chose to skip the first hardcourt tournament after the European clay/grass tour.

Therefore, Cincinnati will mark the return for both, where Italian World No. 1 Sinner is the defending champion, while Carlos Alcaraz reached the final in 2023. It will be a key event for both, where they will show if they can sustain the level they displayed on clay and grass courts in recent months, this time on hardcourts, facing a crucial test before going for the year's last Grand Slam at the US Open. There will also be an impact on the fight for the top spot in the ranking, which is narrowing as the weeks pass, especially considering Alcaraz only defends 10 points from a first-round exit in 2024 (loss to Gael Monfils).

It will also be the return of Novak Djokovic, who has opted to skip the tournament in three of its last four editions. Looking to arrive in good form for the US Open, the Serbian will play a tournament that has brought him great results, with three titles and five other finals there. His three titles came in his last four participations (2018, 2020, 2023), carrying a 12-match winning streak in Cincinnati.

In a similar situation is Aryna Sabalenka, the defending champion of the tournament, who also decided to skip the Canadian Open to take physical precautions at this point in the season. The World No. 1 has had an extraordinary year, with 3 titles and a 47-9 record, though she is surely not entirely satisfied, considering losses in two Grand Slam finals (Australian Open, Roland Garros) and a Wimbledon semifinal. She hopes to arrive at the US Open in the best possible form, and what better way than with another trophy, as she appears to be the strong favorite on hardcourts.

The surface and home advantage will be a boost for several players who could threaten Sabalenka's dominance. Notably, Sabalenka's three major losses this year were all against Americans: Madison Keys, Coco Gauff, and Amanda Anisimova. All of them – players who can show their best level on this surface and will arrive as top seeds in the tournament, looking to bring the trophy back to a home favorite. In fact, since 2016, only two of the last nine champions were Americans: Keys (2019) and Gauff (2023).