Cincinnati 2025: Draws, dates, prize money and what you need to know

The North American summer hard-court swing continues this coming week with its second straight WTA 1000 event, the Cincinnati Open in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The new 12-day version of the tournament will feature a 94-player main draw, starting on Thursday, Aug. 7 and running through a Monday singles final on Aug. 18.

The best of the Hologic WTA Tour will compete for over 5 million dollars, with the singles champion pocketing $752,275 (along with 1,000 precious PIF WTA Singles Ranking points).

Along with World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and this year's three Grand Slam champions (Madison Keys, Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek), the tournament also features the continuing return of legend Venus Williams.

Here are the key facts you need to know:

• Main-draw ceremony: Tuesday, Aug. 5
• Main-draw start date: Thursday, Aug. 7
• Singles final: Monday, Aug. 18, currently scheduled for not before 6 p.m. local time
• Doubles final: Sunday, Aug. 17, currently scheduled for not before 7:30 p.m. local time
• Qualifying: Tuesday, Aug. 5 and Wednesday, Aug. 6
• Singles main-draw size: 94 players (including 12 qualifiers and 8 wild cards)
• Doubles main-draw size: 32 teams (including 3 wild-card teams)
• Time Zone: Eastern Daylight Time (BST -5)
• Tournament Ball: Wilson US Open Regular Duty

Ranking points and prize money (in USD)
First round: 10 points | $11,270
Second round: 35 points | $18,200
Third round: 65 points | $32,840
Round of 16: 120 points | $56,678
Quarterfinals: 215 points | $106,900
Semifinals: 390 points | $206,100
Finalist: 650 points | $391,600
Champion: 1,000 points | $752,275

Here are some key storylines to keep an eye on:

• Former World No. 1 and seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams will continue her return to Hologic WTA Tour action in Cincinnati. The 45-year-old legend, who won a round in her Washington return last month, has accepted a wild card. Williams' best Cincinnati showing was making the 2012 semifinals, losing to eventual champion Li Na.
• Aryna Sabalenka won the Cincinnati title for the first time last year, one of the biggest steps en route to her first US Open title and finishing the season as year-end No. 1 for the first time. Sabalenka did not drop a set during her run through Cincinnati last year.
• Jessica Pegula finished as runner-up last year, and that final result would repeat at the 2024 US Open. Pegula, who had won the Toronto title the week before, got her winning streak up to nine straight matches before Sabalenka stopped her in the final.
• Reigning Roland Garros champion Coco Gauff won her very first WTA 1000 title here in 2023, defeating Karolina Muchova in the final. That title was part of her dominant run through the 2023 summer hard-court season -- but aside from that year, Gauff has never advanced beyond the second round in Cincinnati.
• Reigning Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek is the only one of the projected Top 4 seeds who has not made a Cincinnati final. The former World No. 1 is getting closer, though -- in her fifth tournament showing in 2023, she made the semifinals (losing to eventual champion Gauff), then repeated that result last year (losing to eventual champion Sabalenka).
• Reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys is the other former Cincinnati champion in the main-draw entries. So far, Keys has won one WTA 1000 title in her career, and it came at this event, after she beat Svetlana Kuznetsova in the 2019 final.
• Two Top 10 players will not be playing the event. World No. 6 Zheng Qinwen is out after her elbow surgery, and No. 10 Paula Badosa withdrew with an injury.