A Look Back at the Western & Southern Open
Caroline Garcia representing the country of France and Borna Coric of Croatia won the Women’s Singles and Men’s Singles titles, respectively, at the 2022 Western & Southern Open held August 13-21 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio.
The US Open Series event brought together the world’s top players; including some home-court superstars, Caty McNally, Peyton Stearns and JJ Wolf just to name a few, as well as world-renowned pros like Rajeev Ram, another Midwesterner. Ram clinched the Men’s Doubles title at the Western & Southern Open with partner Joe Salisbury just three weeks before the pair’s US Open victory. These two wins helped solidify Ram’s path toward his world No. 1 Doubles ranking.
Men's Doubles Champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury hold up their Western and Southern Open winners' cups.
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!
Kids stand on top of a balance ball while practicing tennis drills with volunteers in the Western & Southern Open Grand Courtyard.
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.
Doubles partners play an on-court match during an adaptive tennis clinic.
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.
Erin Flynn poses with her award next to The Bender Family whom the award is named after.
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.
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