The Cincinnati Open is making a change for the 2026 tournament edition as the Western & Southern Open organizers have confirmed that the men's and women's final matches will once again take place on a Sunday.
Due to the 2024 Paris Olympics, certain adjustments to the calendar had to be made. One of the changes included Cincinnati finalists playing their title match on a Monday. For this year's tournament edition, the American city that hosts both a Masters and a WTA 1000 tournament opted not to make any changes so the men's final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner was held on a Monday, while Iga Swiatek and Jasmine Paolini played their title match on a Tuesday.
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However, the Western & Southern Open final taking place on a Monday or a Tuesday will be a thing of the past from 2026.
We feel strongly that a Sunday final will deliver the best tournament experience. We appreciate the ATP and WTA Tours working with us to make this change, which will benefit our attendees, partners, players and global broadcast audience," tournament director Bob Moran said in a statement.
Sinner criticized the Cincinnati final taking place outside of a Sunday
At the start of the North American hard-court swing, the Toronto Masters final staged its final on a Thursday - which was quite an odd day. And it left some players baffled, including Sinner, who admitted he was a bit stunned to see the Toronto and Cincinnati finals taking place on a day outside Sunday.
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You have the quarter-finals and then you have the semi-final, which is Saturday, and then you have finally Sunday. And now I lost a little bit of the view of when does actually a finalist [play], because it used to be always Sunday. Now, here [in Cincinnati] its Monday. In Toronto, its Wednesday or Thursday. So its difficult even for us players. We lose a little bit of the days of the week, I would say," Sinner said after reaching this year's Cincinnati final.
The men's Western & Southern Open final lasted only five games as Carlos Alcaraz went 5-0 up before Sinner retired due to feeling unwell.
