A Look Back at the Western & Southern Open

For three years the Western & Southern Open has experienced huge changes. “We oversaw our tournaments move from Cincinnati to New York… The staging of the 2020 event with no fans at the national tennis center. We were able to welcome back our fans in August of ’21, basically restarting normalcy.” Katie Haas, the tournament’s CEO stated during an interview with USTA Midwest, “We have an internal mantra — bigger, better, bolder. We really try to use that as we bring back the fan experience to its fullest.” You can read Haas’ full interview here.

August in Ohio was a hot month. It was loud. It was busy and the Western & Southern Open was FUN!

Members of the USTA Midwest office packed up our laptops and drove out to Ohio Valley where we saw fierce competition and enjoyed HunnyBee’s crispy fried chicken in the Grand Courtyard. Out in the stands, we watched tennis greats Stefanos Tsitsipas and Ons Jabeur and caught glimpses of talent warming up, players like 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu.

Those famous athletes were escorted onto the courts by local children a part of the Cincinnati Tennis Foundation, a Midwest NJTL and CTA. They got to meet Daniil Medvedev, Petra Kvitová and many more pro players.

The 2022 Western & Southern Open featured new events, such as the Southwest Ohio Grand Prix Masters event, a new Level 5 adult tournament series. There was also the first-ever College Tennis Showcase where fans and alumni could cheer on six regional universities, Ohio State, Michigan, Kentucky, Notre Dame, Louisville and Xavier.

Additionally, eight new adaptive and wheelchair tennis events took place supported by the Midwest Section and its foundation, the Midwest Tennis & Education Foundation. The first day of play was filled with exhibition matches for standing adaptive and wheelchair players, while the second day offered fantastic clinics ran by ACEing Autism, Buddy Up and the Special Olympics. The Midwest also hosted a wheelchair clinic, and the following day saw tournaments, try-tennis opportunities and a Cincinnati Tennis Foundation clinic for blind and visually impaired players.

The events ended with an award presentation to Erin Flynn of the Ohio Valley District. Flynn was the recipient of The Bender Family Wheelchair Performance Award for her work with The Clover Lindsay Sports Foundation, which successfully launched a wheelchair tennis program in Columbus, Ohio and its surrounding areas.

This year’s Western & Southern Open was a celebration; not just of pro tennis, but of everyone — our high school athletes, our LGBTQ+ players, the Net Generation during Kids Day, everyone who loves this great sport.