Posted July 11, 200618 yr Federer, Nadal big for W&S Top two players in Mason tourney BY DUSTIN DOW | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER When it comes to major stops on the ATP Tour these days, it's a reasonable prediction that Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal or both of them will be playing for the championship. The trend continued Sunday at Wimbledon where Federer defeated Nadal in four sets, establishing the 18th time in the past 20 Grand Slams or Masters Series tournaments that Federer or Nadal has won the title.
July 12, 200618 yr Wahoo!!! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
July 15, 200618 yr Cincinnati: Tennis showcase? Top men's, women's tournament in works BY DUSTIN DOW | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER As early as 2009, Cincinnati could join a select international club by hosting a tennis tournament that would feature the best male and female players in the same week. Such a talent-rich format exists in just six locations now. Four are tennis' elite events, known as the Grand Slam: the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060715/SPT/607150393
August 10, 200618 yr From the 8/9/06 Western Star: Tennis serves up $23M to economy More than 160,000 fans bring big bucks to hotels, restaurants and more Wednesday, August 09, 2006 By Tiffany Y. Latta Staff Writer Patrick Lachut gets pumped up each summer when the ATP tennis tournament arrives in Warren County. But it’s not because he’s a fan of the game. The Applebees restaurant manager says he and his employees enjoy the boost in business they get when players and the swarms of tennis fans dine at the restaurant on Mason-Montgomery Road. http://www.western-star.com/news/content/news/stories/2006/08/09/ws081006tennisnews.html
March 27, 200718 yr Author This is fantastic news, but you could see it coming as soon as the WTA announced an event here a couple of years ago. There is still talk that eventually the men's and women's tournaments will be combined and create a major tournament. Currently the men's tourney is one of the most elite in the world (outside of the slams) and combining that with a premier women's tourny would create probably the 5th biggest tourny in the world (top 4 being the slams). Tennis tourney getting upgrade ENQUIRER STAFF REPORTS March 27, 2007 MASON - The field for the Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open is going to get a significant upgrade, starting in 2009. Today in Miami, as part of its “Roadmap 2009,” the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour announced that the Cincinnati tournament will be one of 20 "premier events." http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070327/SPT/303270047
March 28, 200718 yr Is that stadium adaptive to other uses besides tennis? I wonder how often it gets used. Its nice that such a prestigous event is held here though.
March 28, 200718 yr ^Hey David. You need to ditch that avatar. Whatever your opinions of Zimpher, comparing a university administrator to the Nazis is just not good form. It tells me more about you than Zimpher, and it's not flattering.
March 28, 200718 yr Author Is that stadium adaptive to other uses besides tennis? I wonder how often it gets used. Its nice that such a prestigous event is held here though. The stadium is also used for an AVP Sand Volleyball tournament. I don't know of any other uses besides that, but the venue is used for non-events like tennis clinics, HS tennis, etc.
April 3, 200718 yr Author Serena will return April 3, 2007 | CINCINNATI ENQUIRER MASON - Australian Open champion Serena Williams is expected to play in Cincinnati's Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open again this summer. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070403/SPT/304030051
July 13, 200717 yr Author W&SFG Women's Open now premiere event BY JEFF WALLNER | DOWNTOWNER July 10, 2007 MASON - This year's Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open is expected to feature five of the top 20 tennis players in the world. That number is expected to grow when the event makes its next visit to the Queen City.
July 13, 200717 yr Author There are 20 'Premier' events in the world and they are: Beijing Berlin Charleston Cincinnati Doha Dubai Eastbourne Indian Wells Los Angeles Madrid Miami Montreal/Toronto Moscow New Haven Paris Rome Stanford Stuttgart Sydney Tokyo Bolded cities are in North America. I would say that's some nice company...
July 19, 200717 yr I've been attending this event for the past 3 years, and the Men's event for the past 4 years. I was there Tuesday night, and will be back there on Friday for the Women's Quarterfinal matches. This will be a supersession, which means it starts at 3pm and runs until the last quarterfinal match is completed. We go to this session every year. The reasons Cincinnati was selected to be a premier event is 1) it has an excellent history of running a Men's premier event 2) the tournement director, Paul Floury (sp?) is one of the longest running and most respected directors in all of tennis, so he carries a lot of weight in dealing with the ATP and WTA, and 3) Cincinnati has the tennis stadium. There are only a few tennis-only stadiums in the world, and the one in Mason was until recently the biggest tennis stadium in the world outside of the 4 grand slam events. The WTA made it a priority to put its events in the best stadiums possible, with the best TV-ready setup possible. Cincinnati fit that bill nicely. The SanDiego event was dropped as a top tier event, and replace with Cincinnati. This means that Cincy becomes part of the US Open Hard-court summer series (replacing SD), and in all likelihood will have its date moved back, perhaps by one week, perhaps more. (currently the date is a bad one because it falls 5 days after the FED Cup matches, and the best players from the best countries paly the Fed Cup matches. since those are immediately after Wimbledom, the players then take this week off and resume tennis on the California leg of the calendar, bypassing Cincinnati)
July 19, 200717 yr Author I predict that this is a move that will eventually lead to the merging of the Men's and Women's tournaments. I had heard that is what the ultimate goal is...but the biggest thing to do that was elevating the Women's tourny to premier status. Mission accomplished, now some renovations/upgrades to the stadiums and shish-boom-bang. A 2 week long combined women's/men's tournament is in the not to distant future. That would make the Cincinnati tournament arguably the 5th or 6th largest/most prestigious tournament in the world.
July 19, 200717 yr A 2 week long combined women's/men's tournament is in the not to distant future I see some major obsticles to that. Yes, Miami and Indan Wells have pulled it off, and there is discussion of more cooperation between the ATP and WTA. But right now the Summer Hardcourt season has only about 6 weeks available to it, leading up to the US Open. To extend the tourney to 2 weeks means a very entrenched tournement on both the Men's and Women's schedule would need to be dropped. I just don't see that happening. Maybe they could remain 2 seperate tourneys, the Women one week and the Men the next. But I do not see either the WTA or the ATP agreeing to drop an existing tourney to expand Cincinnati to 2 weeks. And a 2-week Cincy tourney would steal some of the thunder from the US Open.
July 19, 200717 yr ^ not really disagreeing with you. I would like to see it happen. I'm just not sure how tennis world will overcome the obsticle I mentioned. But combining the 2 events would be a big win for Cincinnati, and for Tennis fans in the area. I would certainly attend a fair number of those sessions. Until then, I'll just plan on attending several days of each.
July 19, 200717 yr Author I could potentially see the ATP reorganizing their schedule just like the WTA did. They have similar problems with players complaining about too many tournaments and what not. I also think that it's in tennis' interest to upgrade Cincinnati to that level. There is nothing sacred about the current tennis schedule, and with the way professional sports are forced to compete for revenue...I wouldn't put a schedule shake-up past the powers at be. Floury is a very powerful individual in the tennis community and Cincinnati has always had great support for the sport. It will take some time/effort, but I do believe it will happen in the somewhat near future. The recent Women's upgrade is evident that the wheels are in motion for this to take place. I remember Floury didn't think that it would be several years before the Women's tourny was upgraded...and BAM! Here it is.
July 23, 200717 yr ^ A 2 week long combined women's/men's tournament is in the not to distant future Hey Uncle, you may be right about this one. In Patty Snyder's blog from this past week's Cincy tourney (I was there all day/evening on Friday), she said she would like to return for the combined Women's/Men's tourney in 2008. I had not heard that the 2 were scheduled to be combined. Maybe she is addressing a rumor, or maybe she has her year wrong. But either way, it sounds like the combining of the events is underway!!!!! Any other insight you have on the tournement. like what week(s) the event(s) will take place next year or in 2009?
July 25, 200717 yr Author Any other insight you have on the tournement. like what week(s) the event(s) will take place next year or in 2009? No, I don't know any details like that...I also don't think there is anything definitive yet either. I just know that the tournament directors have been working towards this, and the professional tennis community has always embraced Cincinnati very much. Not to mention the long history/allure of the men's tournament. The tennis powers at be are continually looking to increase their fan base, and strengthen their core. Cincinnati is one of the biggest (if not biggest) men's only tournament in the world. The top level players always seem to rave about the quality of the tournament and how it is run extremely well. The recent inception of the women's tourny was the beginning to what will turn out to be an accellerated drive to a combined tournament event. Cincy Tennis officials have been working on plans to upgrade facilities and expand where need be to accomodate both men and women at once. I don't know if it will be next year or three years from now, but I certainly would put it within the next 5. The upgrading of the women's tourny to premier came before I had expected, so maybe the powers at be are pushing this envelope a little harder with the hit that tennis has taken in the U.S. recently.
July 15, 200816 yr Author Sounds like 2009 will mark the first year of the women's tournament as a Tier I event. The article mentions how there are efforts to move a Tier I event, currently held in Zurich, to Cincinnati. The article also mentions the very real possibility of a combined men's and women's tournament in 2011. It's noted that $10M in upgrades will be coming in order to make that happen. I'm excited beyond belief. Mauresmo to play in Mason http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080714/SPT/307140083/1055/NEWS
July 15, 200816 yr That would be awesome if we could get a Tier I event on the women's side. Earlier it was mentioned that the men's tournament is a Premier event. This is actually part of the Masters Series, one of the 9 tournaments just below the four majors: http://masters-series.com/ Indian Wells Miami Monte-Carlo Rome Hamburg Toronto Cincinnati Madrid Paris I am not sure if it is still this way, but the top 20 players have historically been required to play 8 of the 9 each year, which is why we get such good fields. Normally we see 18 of the top 20, and at least a couple of times we have seen them all. This will be my 9th year in a row going to the Saturday night semi, which is always a good time.
July 15, 200816 yr Author I am not sure if it is still this way, but the top 20 players have historically been required to play 8 of the 9 each year, which is why we get such good fields. Normally we see 18 of the top 20, and at least a couple of times we have seen them all. This will be my 9th year in a row going to the Saturday night semi, which is always a good time. Yes, there is a requirement for the top-rated players to show up to the Top Tier tournaments. This is true for the women's tournaments as well, which is part of what makes this so cool. When you combine two separate Tier I events into a 2-week long tournament it (the Cincinnati tournament) will become something like the 5th or 6th biggest/most prestigious tournament in the world given the rich history of the men's tournament here, a combined 2-week long tourny, and what will almost certainly be a massive payout for winners.
July 29, 200816 yr Author Tennis thrives in shaky times Loyal fans continue to support events http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080729/SPT/807290321/1078/COL02
July 31, 200816 yr http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/31/sports/tennis/31tennis.html?_r=1&ref=tennis&oref=slogin http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/007200807311041.htm http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5iNxsPrKbt5sJ46ZS_suIBz19DRTw http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h2J4V90tLfG7GCG0C5RY1DkVqqPw http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=tennis-m/news/news.aspx?id=4168724 http://www.bangkokpost.com/sportsplus/sportsplus.php?id=129173 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/sports/tennis/30tennis.html?ref=sports http://www.inthenews.co.uk/sports/autocodes/countries/ecuador/murray-cruises-in-third-round-in-cincinnati-$1234148.htm
August 4, 200816 yr We went to the Saturday night semi as usual, and of course Nadal promptly lost after all but securing the number one ranking. At least the second set was good. This is also one of the first times we weren't sweating at 9 PM. It was a perfect night. Congratulations to Andy Murray on upsetting Djokovic. I do not see it online, but apparently the tournament was sold from a local non-profit group to assist in getting a tier one women's event. It sounds like they want one, continuous event by 2011.
August 15, 200816 yr Author For new tournament owners, ball’s in their court http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2008/08/18/story4.html The United States Tennis Association’s acquisition of Cincinnati’s ATP Masters Series tennis tournament will mean big changes for Tennis For Charity Inc., the nonprofit that has run the tournament for 33 years and donated some $17 million to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and other local charities.
August 19, 200915 yr Author Cincinnati tennis tournament growing with $10M expansion http://www.soapboxmedia.com/devnews/0818cincytennis.aspx The Western & Southern Financial Group Masters is already one of the biggest tennis tournaments in the world, and the largest summer tennis tournament in the United States outside of the US Open grand slam event. Tournament Director Bruce Flory says that the tournament is expected to draw more than 170,000 this year and grow to 220,000 next year. With the size and growth of the two separate tournaments, officials have planned to combine the two into a two-week long event next year. To compliment the combined draws, officials have announced a $10 million expansion and upgrade project designed by Browning Day Mullins Dierdorf Architects that will start immediately following this year's Masters event, and will be completed and ready in time for next year's combined tournament. The $10 million project will be funded by the United States Tennis Association (USTA), a majority partner in the tournament, and Cincinnati's Tennis for Charity. The upgrade will add an additional 890 stadium seats, 6 new luxury suites, major media facility upgrades, and player amenity improvements that will clear the way for the men's and women's tournaments to be held simultaneously. The most prominent addition will be the new 52,000 square-foot West Building that will house the new luxury suites, seating capacity, player and media facilities. Tournament officials say that the new West Building will be twice as tall as the existing structure and rise some 97 feet above court level. The new upgrades will further establish the stadium court as one of the top ten facilities in the world according to Flory who says, "it's more intimate than most and in my opinion the perfect size since tennis can be hard to watch in bigger stadiums." This initial $10M project will be followed up with additional improvements down the road that will include 6 to 8 new tennis courts following the 2010 event. From there Flory says that a larger food court, restrooms and support facilities will be needed. Flory says that it is rewarding to have seen the tournament grow the way it has over the years, but says that "it will be fun to see the tournament continue to grow and bring more and more fans to Cincinnati.". The Western & Southern Financial Group Masters event is happening now and runs through Sunday, August 23 in Mason at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. Breakdown of the $10 million upgrades: A 21,000 square-foot court-level (below grade) player area with two locker rooms (each accommodating more than 100 players), private training rooms, locker rooms for male and female coaches, and a 2,200 square-foot fitness area among other amenities; an 8,000-square foot space on the ground floor which includes a 5,500 square-foot indoor player lounge and offices for the ATP World Tour and the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour; an 11,000 square-foot second floor for player dining, a warming kitchen and storage; a 4,800 square-foot outdoor player lounge on the roof of the second floor; a 6,300 square foot third floor for interview rooms, featuring a main interview room and three additional interview rooms; a 4,800 square foot Media Center on the fourth floor with more than 100 stations for writers and photographers; six new luxury suites overlooking Center Court; 750 new covered loge-level seats; and the addition of 140 seats in the northwest corner of Center Court.
August 23, 200915 yr Author Roger Federer beat Novak Djokovic today in the championship match. The match up put world #1 vs. world #4 and had what is becoming a mini-rivalry between the two of them. Fans were really hoping to see Rafael Nadal beat Djokovic in the semis though so that #1 would play #2 for the first time in the U.S. in something like four years.
August 24, 200915 yr Now dated, but interesting nonetheless. Tennis star Murray opts for road trip to Cincinnati over flying By Joe Kay, AP Sports Writer, August 18, 2009 MASON, Ohio — Andy Murray needed a road trip. The day after he won the Rogers Cup in Montreal, the world's new No. 2 decided to hit the road instead of the airport for the trip to Cincinnati and the next Masters event.
August 12, 201014 yr Well it's that time of year again, and it sounds like the players really like the upgrades at the stadium (see link). Once again all top 20 men are here and many of the top 20 women. The women's tournament has really upgraded rapidly, and will have most of their top players next year. Another benefit to the women's tournament is getting to see Maria Sharapova, who won today.... http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100810/SPT/8110367/Players-dig-new-digs-at-Lindner-Family-Tennis-Center
July 14, 20177 yr Western & Southern Open announces $25M Center Court expansion, talks 2017 fields That a field of the world's greatest women's and men's tennis stars will grace Greater Cincinnati's 2017 Western & Southern Open comes as no surprise. That's seemingly always the case for the region's cherished ATP World Tour Masters 1000 professional tennis tournament. A $25 million facelift for the Lindner Family Tennis Center, the competition's main venue, after the tournament wraps up in late August, though? That, along with other ongoing upgrades to the tennis center grounds, are new features patrons will surely welcome in years to come. Cont "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
July 14, 20177 yr Sounds like a great place for an airport to tennis court passenger rail to terminate.
July 14, 20177 yr ^lol, for two weeks a year? With Kings Island, the tennis center, and some other draws (Great Wolf Lodge, Beach Water Park) all right around each other in Mason, I could see a train serving the area if there was also a large park and ride lot or garage to serve all the commuters from the Mason/Deerfield/S.Lebanon areas heading into the city. That would be an essential component of the train station, though, because essentially all of the tourist draws in that areas are limited to summer time. If all this stuff was off of 75 and between Cincy and Dayton, rail would be a no-brainer.
April 25, 20232 yr Western and Southern Open has new ownership and leadership with connections to Charleston, from a Bus Courier article last month talking about the CEO replacement at W&S Open. "She will be replaced by Bob Moran, who will become president of Beemok Sports and Entertainment. In that role, he also will oversee the Credit One Charleston Open. That’s North America’s largest women’s-only pro tennis tournament. Beemok acquired that tournament in 2018. Beemok also operates two tennis complexes in the Charleston, S.C., area that serve as hosts for numerous USTA events." Doesn't say anything about moving, just that the operator now is operating both tournaments in both locations.
April 25, 20232 yr 14 hours ago, DEPACincy said: Is this inside info or a joke? I think people speculate that it may move given the new owner once the lease expires. I would not be so certain of that. There are many advantages to keeping it in the Midwest (especially in the summer months compared to Charleston). Certainly, the stability of keeping it local is not as strong as it once was say 3-4 years ago, but there is certainly no certainty that it will move either.
April 25, 20232 yr 13 minutes ago, Brutus_buckeye said: I think people speculate that it may move given the new owner once the lease expires. I would not be so certain of that. There are many advantages to keeping it in the Midwest (especially in the summer months compared to Charleston). Certainly, the stability of keeping it local is not as strong as it once was say 3-4 years ago, but there is certainly no certainty that it will move either. And the facility is very nice and just got an addition a few years ago. Also it prolly doesn’t hurt having Kings Island right across the street.
April 25, 20232 yr 16 minutes ago, Ucgrad2015 said: And the facility is very nice and just got an addition a few years ago. Also it prolly doesn’t hurt having Kings Island right across the street. It still needs more investment, and will likely be required to keep it in a few years. However, having an existing tournament and strong corporate sponsor that draws from a 6 hour radius is a tough risk to take for a tourney owner. It would be one thing if the W&S were underperforming, but it is not. For example, Indy used to have the RCA championships and they were moved because they struggled with sponsorship and could not get the money to meet the changing tennis calendar. I would not be surprised if the W&S moves to Charleston someday, but I would still place the odds in favor of keeping it in Cincinnati.
April 25, 20232 yr Reads like state funds to contribute for facilities upgrades.That usually involves tournament owner investments too.Not kind of thing that happens for a tournament getting relocated fwiw https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/tennis/2023/04/25/ohio-budget-added-funding-for-mason-western-southern-open/70150754007/
April 25, 20232 yr 23 hours ago, DEPACincy said: Is this inside info or a joke? No the writing is on the wall. The W&S open will be moved to Charleston as soon as the new owner has all the facilities up and going in Charleston. He's been building up new courts and stands down there. Tennis tourney will be here maybe two more seasons.
April 25, 20232 yr 16 minutes ago, savadams13 said: No the writing is on the wall. The W&S open will be moved to Charleston as soon as the new owner has all the facilities up and going in Charleston. He's been building up new courts and stands down there. Tennis tourney will be here maybe two more seasons. Ok so just the same speculation we've already heard. I don't think it's impossible but I doubt it moves. Especially if the new owner is smart. It's currently at one of the best venues in tennis and is beloved by fans and players alike.
April 26, 20232 yr 27 minutes ago, DEPACincy said: Ok so just the same speculation we've already heard. I don't think it's impossible but I doubt it moves. Especially if the new owner is smart. It's currently at one of the best venues in tennis and is beloved by fans and players alike. Yeah it really is speculation. I have no doubt that the new owner has certainly visualized the tourney maybe being in Charleston (or rotating between cities?) one day but sheesh that seems like a BIG obvious Mistake. And apparently everyone in the industry is also saying it needs to stay in Cincy. As mentioned above it would be one thing If it was just doing ok or struggling but the W&S Tournament is wildly popular and successful. Also Cincinnati has a ton of influence on it many of the biggest sponsors are local and would not go with the tournament if it’s moved and that’s a VERY big deal.
April 26, 20232 yr 4 minutes ago, 646empire said: Yeah it really is speculation. I have no doubt that the new owner has certainly visualized the tourney maybe being in Charleston (or rotating between cities?) one day but sheesh that seems like a BIG obvious Mistake. And apparently everyone in the industry is also saying it needs to stay in Cincy. As mentioned above it would be one thing If it was just doing ok or struggling but the W&S Tournament is wildly popular and successful. Also Cincinnati has a ton of influence on it many of the biggest sponsors are local and would not go with the tournament if it’s moved and that’s a VERY big deal. Also if it was moved I get a feeling the absence of a major tennis tournament is some way would be short lived. Too much money and success with the W&S Open in the Cincinnati market for tennis to just go away.
April 26, 20232 yr 4 minutes ago, 646empire said: Also if it was moved I get a feeling the absence of a major tennis tournament is some way would be short lived. Too much money and success with the W&S Open in the Cincinnati market for tennis to just go away. The list of tier 2 tennis tournaments is very short.
April 26, 20232 yr The tournament only exists because the tennis-loving Lindner's started it. They have not been involved in years. Now that a tennis-loving billionaire from Charleston has bought it, I do think its days are numbered in Mason. The only way it stays in Mason is if the billionaire is able to upgrade his existing Charlotte tournament into a Masters-level one. Edited April 26, 20232 yr by nicker66
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