Top 10 Moments from the 2026 Cincinnati Open

By Richard Osborn

We revisit 10 unforgettable turning points from the 2026 Cincinnati Open.

1 | COCO’S PARKING LOT RESET PROVES TURNING POINT

A quarterfinal defeat at the 2025 Cincinnati Open was the last straw. Following a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 loss to Italy’s Jasmine Paolini last year, Coco Gauff would break down in tears in the Lindner Family Tennis Center parking lot, questioning her drive, her game, everything. A low in a career otherwise filled with highs, the soul-searching moment would trigger a late-season reset, one that saw her bring in biomechanics expert Gavin MacMillan to revamp her troubled serve. A year later, Gauff stood in P&G Center Court holding the Rookwood Cup aloft, her second Cincinnati Open title in hand. “I think last year, I was just frustrated with my game and I felt like I was declining. It’s not something any player wants to feel,” said Gauff after a convincing 6-2, 6-4 defeat of countrywoman Jessica Pegula in the all-American final. “You always want to feel like you’re getting better or, at the worst, just plateauing. Last year, I was in a weird predicament. I made sudden decisions that most people probably wouldn’t do before [the US Open], but I think it was worth it. I feel like it’s night and day where I am from last year to now.”

2 | ARTHUR FILS AND THE POWER OF SELF-BELIEF

Arthur Fils had been through the mill. The wickedly talented Frenchman, just 22, had missed nearly eight months in 2025 due to a painful back injury. But as we learned at the 2026 Cincinnati Open, though he was at times down and out, he was never deterred. A healthy Fils would flash those on-court skills all week en route to his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title. “I’m very happy. It was a tough year last year,” said Fils, who outslugged American Frances Tiafoe in the title match, 6-3, 1-6, 6-0. “When you get injured, you just think about coming back for these moments. It feels very good to have a trophy next to me, especially a Masters 1000. I never won one before. That’s why I play. I knew I could make it.”

3 | MEET SARA BEJLEK

Though not exactly an unknown commodity (she won the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi title in February, the same month she made her Top-50 debut), Sara Bejlak had the week of her life in Cincinnati, where she stunned no less than three former Grand Slam champions en route to the first WTA 1000 semifinal of her young career: Countrywoman Barbora Krejcikova, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka and 20th seed Madison Keys. The crafty all-courter’s upset of Sabalenka was particularly satisfying: It marked the Czech’s first win over a world No. 1. “I lost my words,” she told us after her 7-6(7), 6-4 shocker, a match in which she trailed 1-5 in the opening-set tiebreak and 1-4 in the second set.

4 | FRANCES’ MAN-IN-THE-MIRROR MOMENT

Frances Tiafoe said the cycle-through — replacing David Witt and Jordi Arconada with Mark Kovacs, Brian Kubik and Brett Costello at the tail end of the 2025 season — was part of an overall reset. “I was pretty fly-by-night last year, kind of just doing what I felt like doing,” said Tiafoe, who played his way into his second Cincinnati Open final in three years. “I feel my routine is definitely helping me be locked, to show up every day and continue to try to give my best self. Just trying to be better each day, like more in a holistic-type situation, not just on the court. I want to improve myself off the court. I want to be a better brother, a better boyfriend, a better son. That all kind of helps me to be a better player in the end.” Though he would come up short against eventual titlist Arthur Fils in the Cincy final, the run proved a spark at the 2026 US Open, where Tiafoe would reach his third US Open semifinal.

5 | THE RETURN OF VENUS AND SERENA

It had been four years since Venus and Serena Williams last teamed up on the courts. That was at the US Open in 2022, when Serena — the winner of an Open Era-best 23 Grand Slam singles titles — ‘evolved’ away from the sport. But here they were again, 22 doubles titles at the tour level on their collective resume, including 14 majors and three Olympic gold medals, lighting up the filled-to-capacity Grandstand. “I’m just here having fun. Every blue moon I’ll pop up,” said Serena, 44. “This was always one of my favorite places to play. It’s literally one of my top three places on the whole tour.” Though the Williamses were edged by the admittedly nervous tandem of Marta Kostyuk and local Peyton Stearns, 6-2, 1-6, 10-8, it felt like old times. “Being back on court with my sister is great,” said Serena. “We’re just trying to get in the rhythm and practice a little bit. It’s just so different to play doubles. I’m not used to just playing doubles. It’s a whole new vibe.”

6 | THE CHASE FOR NO. 1 PUT ON HOLD

More than the Rookwood Cup was at stake at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. So, too, was the No. 1 ranking on the WTA Tour. But just as Elena Rybakina was closing in on Aryna Sabalenka’s top spot, a reign that had lasted 96 consecutive weeks and dated all the way back to Oct. 21, 2024, she was halted by injury. Facing Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals, the powerballer from Kazakhstan was forced to retire after just five games due to a right ankle injury. “I couldn’t even push from the serve,” Rybakina said. “It’s painful to walk. It was feeling okay before the match but unfortunately one wrong movement, one landing, and something happened.” The 27-year-old was back on the hard courts in Flushing Meadows, where she would indeed unseat Sabalenka en route to her first US Open title, the 30th player to reach No. 1, and the first from her homeland.

7 | NOLE’S LAST CINCY STAND?

Cincinnatians might have gotten their last glimpse of Novak Djokovic at the Cincinnati Open, where he made his ATP Masters 1000 main-draw debut more than two decades ago; a tournament he won in 2018, 2020 and 2023. The all-time leader in both ATP Masters 1000 (40) and Grand Slam (24) titles suffered a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 second-round loss to Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante, suffering mightily along the way. “It’s just the condition that I have health-wise,” said the Serb. “It’s been bothering me for the last couple of years. A lot of issues, especially when it’s humid and hot. All these things, nerves and everything involved makes it worse, so that’s what happened.” Asked if he plans to be back in 2027, he said, “I certainly hope so, but it looks more likely not, unfortunately. But let’s see what the future brings.”

8 | TIRANTE DREAMS BIG

An upset of the all-time Slam king was one thing, but Thiago Agustin Tirante wasn’t done there. The 25-year-old from La Plata, Argentina would add to “the best win of my career” with a 7-6(5), 7-6(4) dismissal of Spaniard Martin Landaluce and 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 upending of 14th seed Jakub Mensik of Czechia. The former world No. 1 junior, who began the season at No. 103 in the PIF ATP Rankings, was soon up to a career-high No. 42. The tattoo across his chest now seems more on point than ever: IF YOU CAN DREAM, YOU CAN DO IT. “I did this tattoo when I was 14 or 15 years old,” he said. “I really like the words. I always remember these words. It’s a lot for me because I have it on my body and also in my mind. I always think of those words. It is very significant to me.”

9 | BRAZIL’S LUZ & MATOS MAKE HISTORY

Brazilians Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos made some history at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, where they became only the fifth tandem in the Open Era to sweep the Canada and Cincinnati men’s doubles titles in the same season. In defeating the German-Dutch duo of Constantin Frantzen and Robin Haase, 6-4, 3-6, 10-7, they joined Bruce Manson/Brian Teacher (1980), twins Bob and Mike Bryan (2010), Ivan Dodig/Marcelo Melo (2016), and Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut (2017). The tightly-contested battle fittingly came down to a match tiebreak. Luz fell to his knees in tears upon closing out the one-hour, 17-minute match. “We’re pretty grateful and proud of the work we put in, and after the match point, I just couldn’t stand up anymore,” he said. “Before last week, I had never been beyond the second round of a Masters tournament, so it’s a huge compliment to be back-to-back champions.”

10 | THE CZECHS STAY HOT

There was some real Wimbledon pedigree on the court when Linda Noskova and Marie Bouzkova faced off against Magali Kempen and Alexandra Panova in the Cincinnati Open women’s doubles final. Noskova was fresh off her maiden major singles title on the lawns of the All England Club. Her compatriot/teammate Bouzkova has reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in singles, and the semifinals in doubles. Playing just their third tournament together, the all-Czech tandem would claim the title in dominant fashion, defeating Kempen and Panova, 6-1, 6-2, in just one hour. It was yet another sparkling achievement for Czech tennis, which boasts two players in the Top 10 in the PIF WTA Rankings (Noskova and Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Muchova.) What’s in the water over there anyway? “Especially for a woman, it’s the biggest Czech sport. It gets a lot of attention,” said Bouzkova. “I feel like every little girl wants to try to play tennis. Maybe that’s what it is, that so many girls are trying. The healthy competition between one another is probably a factor also.”