Sinner, Alcaraz Lead Praise of Cincinnati’s Transformation

Story courtesy of ATPTour.com / Andrew Eichenholz

When the stars of the ATP Tour arrive at tournaments throughout the world, they often are fully focused on tennis. But at the Cincinnati Open, there has been a lot of discussion unrelated to forehands and backhands.

It’s amazing what they did in one year.

Jannik Sinner

Everyone is raving about the $260 million transformation of the Lindner Family Tennis Center, the home of the season’s seventh ATP Masters 1000 event.

“It’s amazing. I was talking with all the players and it’s actually very strange for us to come to a venue where everything was new,” said Jannik Sinner, the No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, in his pre-tournament roundtable. “It’s amazing what they did in one year. Everything has improved so, so much, but mostly the space we have for us players.

“There are huge things inside and also outdoors. Indoors the dining area is much, much bigger and when you come from the transportation, it’s like a hotel kind of, so it’s amazing. Incredible. I feel very happy and honoured to have this kind of revolution because it’s something great for us and our sport.”

That has been the sentiment shared by the whole locker room. Tournament organisers completely overhauled the facility, adding a new player building with state-of-the-art dining and lounge spaces, with indoor and outdoor spaces to relax, a coffee bar, giant televisions, padel courts, backyard games and plenty more.

“To be honest it’s impressive,” second seed Carlos Alcaraz told the media. “The space that we have right now for women, for ourselves, I think it’s great. I felt like I’m new, [like] it was my first year. I think it’s what we needed and we’re feeling great right now with the new everything.”

The 2019 Cincinnati Open champion, Daniil Medvedev, added to ATP Media: “Whenever any tournament makes a big improvement for players — for fans also, but I can only talk as a player — it’s always a benefit.

“It’s great that they try to do better and it’s a great tournament. I’ve always loved it and now it’s even better, so it’s great to see.”

Andrey Rublev, a finalist at the tournament in 2021, noted that he was happy with the experience in Cincinnati to begin with. The event is just at a new level following the transformation.

“Cincinnati showed really huge improvement in one year,” Rublev told ATPTour.com. “But to be fair, for me in Cincinnati [there] were always good conditions. Even last year with everything in terms of space, in terms of lockers, in terms of some activities, lounges, I felt it was on a good level.”

World No. 144 Daniel Elahi Galan, competed in his third ATP Masters 1000 event of the season in Cincinnati and was “super happy” with his experience. One thing he pointed to is the abundance of practice courts — in the southern section of the venue alone there is a new block of 10 courts with seating for fans. There are 31 outdoor courts total, up from 17 in 2023.

It feels like Disneyland for me.

Sadio Doumbia

“I hope every tournament goes this far to make changes, to improve everything, to make us feel very comfortable. Super good,” Galan said. “We have enough courts that we don’t have to share… The food, I’m vegetarian and it’s been very good actually, which is not normal at every tournament. That’s something also to be happy about.”

A constant for players has been a smile on their faces. Whether enjoying a coffee, a game with friends or simply relaxing, many have compared the player building in particular to a hotel. French doubles player Sadio Doumbia compared it to an amusement park.

“For me, this is like Disneyland for tennis players,” Doumbia said. “You have everything you want. The food is very good, the gym is perfect and it’s beautiful. We just arrived today and I’m having a blast. My coach is so excited, I’m so excited. It feels like Disneyland for me.”