Western & Southern Open
When: Aug. 11-19
Where: Lindner Family Tennis Center, Mason
Defending champs: Andy Murray (men); Maria Sharapova (women)
Tickets: www.cincytennis.com
CINCINNATI — Call it an Olympic boost.
Already one of the more prestigious tennis tournaments in the world, the Western & Southern Open figures to create more buzz than usual on the heels of this month’s Olympic tournament in London.
The field for the W&S Open, one of five combined men’s and women’s events outside the four grand slams, was announced Tuesday.
Newly crowned Wimbledon champions Roger Federer and Serena Williams will headline the field Aug. 11-19 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason.
All 20 of the top men on the ATP World Tour are entered in the W&S Open and 19 of top 20 on the WTA Tour have committed. Only Victoria Azarenka, this year’s Australian Open champ, has not yet entered the women’s event. Venus Williams has accepted a wild card into the main draw.
Included in the field are 64 players who will represent 28 countries in the Olympic tournament, which will be played July 28 through Aug. 5 on the grass courts at Wimbledon.
“The Olympics brings such a spotlight to all the sports,” W&S Tournament Director Vince Cicero said. “For us to have all the top players who are going to be coming here competing on that Olympic stage, it’s another great storyline for tennis and more exposure in that summer window. We think that’s wonderful for the Western & Southern Open.”
With the Olympics compacting the summer schedule, the W&S Open might be more pivotal than usual in the run up to the U.S. Open, according to Peter Holtermann, a media consultant who previously worked for the ATP Tour and participated in Tuesday’s field announcement. The W&S Open is played on hard courts, the same surface as the U.S. Open.
“A lot of the players will stay in Europe, go straight to the Olympics and not leave the grass courts,” he said.
“That makes Cincinnati more important. There are only three weeks in between the Olympics and the U.S. Open so it’s going to be real important to come over and get some hard-court experience and get used to the conditions. It’s an adjustment — different playing surface and different balls.”
Holtermann said he wouldn’t be surprised to see players on the practice courts more or even playing doubles at the W&S Open to get as many hard-court reps as possible.
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