MASON, Ohio — Second-round action at 2026 Cincinnati Open wraps up on Sunday, Aug. 15, but not without a flurry of stars.
There will be myriad top WTA players competing on Sunday, including the last three Cincinnati Open winners in No. 7 Iga Świątek (2025), No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka (2024) and No. 4 Coco Gauff (2023). The Gauff matchup is particularly intriguing, as she plays against two-time WTA 1000 finalist Liudmila Samsonova to open up night session play on Grandstand.
The ATP side of things will be headlined by the top two American men in No. 6 Taylor Fritz and No. 8 Ben Shelton. Fritz will play fellow American Alex
Michelsen in the third day match on center court, while Shelton will open up night play on center court against Portuguese qualifier Jaime Faria. Shelton is notably fresh off winning back-to-back National Bank Open titles in Montreal.
The full Order of Play for Sunday can be found here.
Cincinnati Open in another weather delay
The Cincinnati Open is in another weather delay and play has been stopped.
Ben Shelton on Center Court of Cincinnati Open
Fresh off back-to-back Canadian Open titles, ATP No. 8 seed Ben Shelton is now on Center Court in Mason. Shelton trails in the first set, 4-3.
Adam Walton moves on in 2nd round of Cincinnati Open
Making his Cincinnati debut, Adam Walton has moved over .500 in ATP1000 events this season (5-4) after a 6-4, 6-3 win over ATP No. 29 seed Ignacio Buse.
Xiyu Wang knocks out Leylah Fernandez in Cincinnati Open
Xiyu Wang won 12 of the final 14 games after losing the first set to defeat WTA No. 30 Leylah Fernandez in the Round of 64.
Ekaterina Alexandrova rallies to defeat Blinkova in Cincinnati Open
WTA No. 16 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova lost a first-set tiebreak but won the next two sets to defeat Anna Blinkova 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-5.
Iva Jovic dominates in Cincinnati Open Round of 64
Iva Jovic, the WTA No. 13 seed whose Round of 32 run in Mason last season was part of a breakout year, just defeated Tamara Korpatsch 6-4, 6-3.
Samsonova takes opening set from Coco Gauff
Samsonova broke Coco Gauff twice and won 85.7% of points on the first serve to take the first set, 6-2.
Former Cincinnati Open champion Coco Gauff begins 2nd round
Coco Gauff, the 2023 Cincinnati Open champion, is tied 1-1 in her second-round match against Liudmila Samsonova on Grandstand. Gauff went one-and-doneas reigning champ in Mason in 2024 before reaching the quarterfinals last summer.
Daniel Merida takes out seeded ATP player at Cincinnati Open
At a career high No. 40 ranking after a quarterfinal run in Montreal, Daniel Merida just beat ATP No. 30 seed Zizou Bergs on Court 4 in straight sets (6-3, 6-2).
Learner Tien defeats Sebastian Baez in Cincinnati Open
American Learner Tien, the ATP No. 16 seed, defeated Sebastian Baez 6-3, 7-6 (4) on Champions Court to advance to the Round of 32.
Katerina Siniakova gets long-awaited Cincinnati Open win
WTA No. 33 seed Katerina Siniakova, the No. 1 doubles player in the world, just beat Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-1. It marks Siniakova's first career main draw singles victory in Cincinnati after falling in her first six attempts beginning in 2017.
Marta Kostyuk beats American wild card in Cincinnati Open
WTA No. 10 seed Marta Kostyuk just defeated American wild card Sofia Kenin, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. WTA seeded players are now 20-5 overall in the Cincinnati Open over the last two days.
Francisco Cerundolo falls in Cincinnati Open 2nd round
ATP No. 20 seed Francisco Cerundolo just lost to Nuno Borges in straight sets on Court 4. He is the second top 20 ATP seed to lose on Sunday after No. 11 Casper Rudd retired during the day session.
Andrey Rublev looking for another CIncinnati Open run
ATP No. 13 seed Andrey Rublev defeated Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, 7-6 (5), 6-1 on Court 10. Rublev has reached the Cincinnati Open quarterfinals in back-to-back years.
Aryna Sabalenka wins hard-fought Grandstand match over Talia Gibson
Talia Gibson survived five match points against Aryna Sabalenka in the second set on Grandstand, leading to a break to force a tiebreak. The World No. 1 eventually prevailed, 6-2, 7-6 (2), to improve to 15-3 in the Cincinnati Open over her last five appearances.
Juan Manuel Cerundolo wins marathon Cincinnati Open match
History was nearly made Sunday afternoon as Juan Manuel Cerundolo defeated No. 25 seed Arthur Rinderknech in a three-set match that lasted 3 hours, 33 minutes. That's just 16 minutes shy of the longest match in tournament history (Djokovic over Alcaraz in 2023 final) and is the fourth-longest match on the ATP side.
American Brandon Nakashima follows up Montreal run with win
No. 27 Brandon Nakashima, who recently made his first-ever Masters 1000 final in Montreal, is following up that run with a second round win at the Cincinnati Open. He defeated American Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-2, 7-5, breaking Kovacevic in the final game of the match to take the victory.
Taylor Fritz beats Alex Michelsen in All-American showdown
No. 8 Taylor Fritz, recently-crowned champion of the DC Open, defeated fellow American Alex Michelsen 6-3, 6-4 to wrap up daytime play on center court. Fritz bounces back from a second-round exit he suffered at the National Bank Open.
Meanwhile, China's Shuai Zhang took down No. 28 Ann Li 7-5, 6-3 on court 7.
Bouzkova, Musetti pull through second round in straights
Czechia's Marie Bouzkova, the No. 22 seed, defeated qualifier Lucrezia Stefanini 6-4, 6-4 in 103 minutes to move to the third round. Meanwhile, two-time Grand Slam semifinalist and No. 10 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy did the same against Germany's Daniel Altmaier 6-4, 6-2.
No. 2 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime pushes past Stefanos Tsitsipas
Though he was broken while serving for the match, Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime won the final games of the second set to earn a 6-3, 7-5 win over Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas. Tsitsipas is a three-time finalist and 2022 finalist at the Cincinnati Open, while Auger-Aliassime made the quaterfinals last year.
Brazilian teenage phenom João Fonseca wins opening match
No. 23 João Fonseca is in the win column yet again at the Cincinnati open, beating Dutchman Botic Van De Zandschulp 6-4, 7-6(5). It's the first-ever matchup between the up-and-coming teenager, who is just five days shy of his 20th birthday, and the 30-year-old veteran.
No. 20 Madison Keys completes comeback against Daria Snigur
After dropping the first set, 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys fought back to win a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 showing against Ukraine's Daria Snigur. She hit 14 total aces compared to Snigur's 0.
Williams sisters, Stearns headline Monday, Aug. 17 order of play
The order of play for the first day of the Cincinnati Open third round has been revealed. The headliner is Serena and Venus Williams' doubles match against Cincinnati native Peyton Stearns and Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk, which will open the 7 p.m. night session on Grandstand.
No. 32 Janice Tjen wins marathon against Viktorja Goublic at Cincinnati Open, third-longest women's match ever
Indonesian tennis player Janice Tjen, who is in her first full season on the WTA tour, won a grueling match that lasted three hours and 12 minutes against Switzerland's Viktorja Goublic, with a 7-6(2), 5-7, 7-5 scoreline.
The match was the third-longest WTA match ever at the Cincinnati Open. The longest match was Lucia Bronzetti's win over Lin Zhu that lasted 207 minutes (three hours, 27 minutes).
Iga Świątek kicks off title defense on cruise control
Despite some hiccups in the first set, it was all dominance from Iga Świątek in the second set of her Cincinnati Open second round win against Emiliana Arango 6-3, 6-0.
"It was necessary for me to get used to the court and find the rhythm, because it's much different from Toronto," Świątek said post-match.
Watch: Serena and Venus Williams practice ahead of Cincinnati Open doubles debut
The Williams sisters are getting reps at the Lindner Family Tennis Center ahead of their Monday doubled match against Peyton Stearns and Marta Kotsyuk.
Sisters in Queen City 👑👑@serenawilliams | @Venuseswilliams | #CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/KeeCrTyKoc
— Cincinnati Open (@CincyTennis) August 16, 2026
Defending Cincinnati Open champion Iga Świątek takes opening set in 2026 debut
Newly-minted National Bank Open champion Świątek suffered an early break to Columbian qualifier Emiliana Arango, but was able to fight back to win the opening set of her second-round match 6-3.
2025 Australian Open champion in trouble
No. 20 Madison Keys, the 2025 Australian Open champion, is on upset watch at the Cincinnati Open. The American dropped the first set of her Cincinnati Open second round match to Ukraine's Daria Snigur 6-4.
Xinyu Wang beats No. 31 Donna Vekic in three sets
A third women's seeded player is out of the Cincinnati Open, as China's Xinyu Wang orchestrated a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 comeback win over Croatia's Donna Vekic. Wang is advancing to her first career Cincinnati Open third round.
Sarah Bejek beats her Grand Slam champion compatriot in Cincinnati Open
Czechia's Sarah Bejlek, the highest-ranked unseeded player in the Cincinnati Open women's draw, is moving on after defeating her compatriot and two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova 7-6(2), 6-4. Bejlek, the WTA's No. 35 ranked player, has now defeated back-to-back Czech Grand Slam finalists after beating Karolína Plíšková in round one.
Reds superfan Daniil Medvedev ekes past qualifier
The No. 4-seeded Medvedev, who is scheduled to appear at a Reds game later in the week, got past a tricky second set to defeat qualifier Marco Trungelliti 6-4, 7-5. This comes despite Medvedev being down 5-2 in the second set and facing two set points.
Qualifier Michael Zheng continues run by upsetting seeded player
For the first time ever, Michael Zheng has won two main draw matches at a Masters 1000 or Grand Slam, beating No. 24-seeded Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-3 to get into the final 32. Zheng, who had to battle through two late-night qualifying matches to get into the main draw, is in his first-ever full season as a pro and won his first-ever Master 1000 main draw match on Aug. 13.
No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina moves on in Cincinnati Open
After breaking her opponent in the third-to-last game with a powerful backhand winner, 2025 Cincinnati Open semi-finalist Elena Rybakina is onto the third round, defeating American Taylor Townsend 6-3, 6-4 in a rather straightforward match.
No. 11 seed Casper Ruud retires after medical timeout
Noreweigan player Casper Ruud retired midway through his match against Australian qualifier Christopher O'Connell, after taking a medical timeout to get treatment on his lower back/abdomen after the first set. O'Connell officially walked away with a 7-5, 1-2 win.
Mirra Andreeva dominates Oleksandra Oliynykova to claim first win of Day 6
The French Open champion and No. 5 seed came out of the gates swinging, dominating Ukraine's Oleksandra Oliynnykova 6-1, 6-0 in just 64 minutes. Despite the scoreline, Andreeva still had to face seven break points, none of which were converted.
Elena Rybakina takes opening set against Taylor Townsend
After breaking early, No. 2 Elena Rybakina has taken a 6-3 lead on Taylor Townsend. She did so despite having just a 38% first serve percentage.
Cincinnati Open play begins on Aug. 16
A little while after 11 a.m., play began for Day 6 of the Cincinnati Open, headlined by Australian Open champion and No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina taking on American and 2023 Cincinnati Open doubles champion Taylor Townsend on center court.
Serena Williams arrives at Cincinnati Open
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion has arrived in Mason, where she is set to play with her sister, Venus Williams, in doubles against Cincinnati native Peyton Stearns and Marta Kostyuk.
Good morning, @serenawilliams 👋 #CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/3myuEDWrFk
— Cincinnati Open (@CincyTennis) August 16, 2026
Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz make 2026 Cincinnati Open debuts
The top two Americans on the ATP tour are set to play at the Cincinnati Open on Sunday. Fritz looks to bounce back after falling in the first round at the National Bank Open, while Shelton tries to carry the momentum he's riding on from winning the tournament last week.
With Novak Djokovic now out and Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz not competing in this year's tournament, the Americans will carry the star power on the men's side of the singles draw.
Iga Świątek, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff headline Day 6 of Cincinnati Open
The last three Cincinnati Open women's singles champions make their debut in Mason on Sunday. 2025 champion Iga Świątek plays qualifier Emiliana Arango from Columbia, 2024 champion and World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka faces Talia Gibson from Australia, while 2023 champion Coco Gauff will play Liudmila Samsonova.
How to get Cincinnati Open tickets
Cincinnati Open ticket packages can be found here.
How to watch the 2026 Cincinnati Open
TV: Tennis Channel, Tennis Channel 2
The Tennis Channel is the exclusive U.S. home of the Cincinnati Open. They will broadcast on Sunday, Aug. 16 from 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
Streaming: Fubo
Cincinnati Open 2026 schedule
Here is the schedule for each remaining session of the 2026 Cincinnati Open.
Sunday, Aug. 16: Second Round (Day), Second Round (Night)
Monday, Aug. 17: Third Round (Day), Third Round (Night)
Tuesday, Aug. 18: Third Round (Day), Third Round (Night)
Wednesday, Aug. 19: Round of 16 (Day), Round of 16 (Night)
Thursday, Aug. 20: Quarterfinals (Day), Quarterfinals (Night)
Friday, Aug. 21: Quarterfinals (Day), Quarterfinals (Night)
Saturday, Aug. 22: Semifinals (Day), Semifinals (Night)
Sunday, Aug. 23: Finals (Day)
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Follow live | Cincinnati Open in a weather delay during 2nd round
