Celebrating the Impact of our 2024 Community Initiatives

In 2024, the Cincinnati Open undertook a number of initiatives within Greater Cincinnati in an effort to make a lasting impact on the area it has proudly called home for over 125 years.

From hosting its first-ever Community Day along with the ever-popular Kids Day to awarding grants to aspiring tennis players and celebrating local community service, the Cincinnati Open’s community outreach rose to unprecedented levels in 2024.

Finding new ways to support our community was a priority we established last year.

Bob Moran, President of Beemok Sport and Entertainment

“The Cincinnati community has embraced this tournament for over a century and the deep bond between the event and the people who call this area home is truly special,” said Tournament Director Bob Moran. “Finding new ways to support our community was a priority we established last year. We are proud of the opportunities we had to make a difference in 2024 and look forward to deepening that impact through more initiatives in the coming years.”

Community Day

This year, the Cincinnati Open debuted Community Day to benefit local charities and invite the community to experience the site prior to the official start of the tournament. The inaugural event welcomed more than 7,000 people and raised $227,500. Ticket sales were donated to Cincinnati Children’s, which was the tournament’s first charity recipient 50 years ago. Funds were also raised for several other local charities including Cincinnati Tennis Foundation, Inner-City Tennis Project, USTA Midwest Tennis and Education Foundation and RIDE Cincinnati, which received an additional $5,050 raised by tournament staff who joined the charity’s signature race in September. Community Day, headlined by a special exhibition match featuring Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick, also saw fans donate more than 1,300 cans of food to the Mason Food Pantry, helping the organization restock its shelves to help local families.

513 Serves

Another new community initiative was 513 Serves, a program with cornerstone partner Fifth Third to recognize individuals who are making the Greater Cincinnati area a better place. Nine honorees were selected from 118 nominations, each recognizing individuals who have made an impact on the Cincinnati community through their service in the areas of education, children, sports, wellness or financial literacy. The first class of 513 Serves honorees, ranging from a Girl Scout to a doctor, have impacted thousands in the Greater Cincinnati community. Each honoree received a $5,300 donation to the charity of their choosing and was treated to a VIP experience at the tournament.

Scholarships

Four new $5,000 scholarship grants in the name of past champions Agassi and Lindsay Davenport were made by the tournament to deserving students from the Cincinnati Tennis Foundation (CTF). The two 9-year-olds, a Kilgour sixth grader and a Mason High School junior are all promising players. The tournament also made an annual commitment to support CTF’s new indoor facility.

Tickets Donated

The tournament donated nearly $125,000 worth of tickets to eight organizations, providing access to world-class tennis for deserving members from a variety of groups ranging from an armed services association to tennis programs for diverse populations. Another $12,500 was donated to support organizations like the Special Olympics, Bounce Children’s Foundation and USTA Midwest Tennis and Education Foundation Hall of Fame.

Special Events

As a community event, the tournament aims to make tennis more accessible to a variety of groups. The annual Kids Day was again a popular event, with several hundred children taking part in on-court games and off-court fun with USTA coaches and appearances by tournament players. Adaptive clinics with ACEing Autism, Buddy Up For Life and wheelchair tennis demonstrated how the sport can be played and enjoyed by all.

In July, the tournament brought the Cincinnati community together when it turned Washington Park into a Wimbledon Experience for the first time, just weeks before those same players graced the courts in Cincinnati. The tournament also partnered with ArtWorks and its 16 local youth apprentices and teaching artists to create a new, permanent mural in downtown Cincinnati, celebrating the event’s presence in the area year-round.

Volunteers

The heart of the tournament is its more than 1,500 volunteers who gave a friendly welcome to the players and more than 200,000 fans from around the world. Collectively, the volunteers dedicated 69,640 hours to the tournament and represented a combined 9,208 years of service to the Cincinnati Open.

We’re grateful for the community we call home and to continue our commitment to making a positive impact in the Cincy region. To stay connected and up-to-date on all our community endeavors, become a Cincinnati Open Insider today!