Cincinnati Masters 1000: Can anyone stop another Jannik Sinner vs. Alcaraz ATP Tour final showdown?
Sinner and Alcaraz set to renew fierce rivalry?
The ATP Cincinnati Open 2025 will run from August 7 to 18 and will be the 124th staging of the men’s edition of the tournament. It will feature 96 players, up from 56 in previous years, all vying to be crowned champion at the Linder Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio.
Last year, world number one Jannik Sinner produced a masterclass performance to clinch the title, beating hometown hero Francis Tiafoe in the final, and he will now be aiming to become the first men’s singles player to win this tournament back-to-back in the Open Era.
However, as has been the case for the majority of this season, standing in his way is Carlos Alcaraz, who will undoubtedly be aiming for revenge after handing over the Gentlemen’s Singles Trophy to him at Wimbledon last month.
The defending champion heads into the tournament as the marginal favourite, according to the latest Cincinnati Open betting odds, but the second-seeded Spaniard has a tour-leading 48 match wins this season under his belt.
Sinner and Alcaraz both opted to forego the Canadian Open to ensure they were at the peak of their powers for this competition, as a solid performance here will be vital toward building momentum heading into the final Grand Slam event of the year, the 2025 US Open.
The world’s top two players have crossed paths in each of the past three event finals they participated in, with the Spaniard claiming the first two titles in Rome and at Roland Garros before the Italian bit back in SW19 in commanding fashion.
Who could challenge the top two seeds for the title?
The first round of the Cincinnati Open has thrown us a few tantalising matchups, two of which look particularly interesting. You can check out our Tomas Martin Etcheverry vs Juncheng Shang prediction and Daniel Altmaier vs Roberto Bautista-Agut prediction for our experts’ insights on those games.
All of the best online betting sites seem to be in agreement that the winner of the 2025 Cincinnati Open will be one of the top two seeds, largely due to the withdrawal of several big names, including Novak Djokovic, Jack Draper, and Grigor Dimitrov, among others.
Djokovic skipped the Toronto Open as well, which has raised questions around his conditioning for the upcoming US Open. He also withdrew from this tournament last year, though that was more understandable as he had just won gold at the Paris Olympics.
Thus, if there is to be an upset at this year’s Cincinnati Open, most would likely expect it to come from one of the players who are enjoying deep runs at the ongoing tournament in Canada!
This includes Alexander Zverev, who is the number one seed in Toronto, as well as the American duo of Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz, all of whom, along with Karen Khachanov, featured in the last four in Canada a few hours ago.
The final two players worth mentioning ahead of the Cincinnati Open are Lorenzo Musetti and Holger Rune, both of whom are starting to rediscover something like their top form after suffering injuries before and after Wimbledon, respectively.
