18th Aug 2025
What happened last week in tennis? The Cincinnati Masters was in full swing in Ohio, while plenty of off-court drama took place too. Read on for a full breakdown of all the latest tennis news as the US Open draws near.
Cincinnati action
Usually we’d have a summary of last week’s winner right now, but more odd scheduling means that the Cincinnati Masters finals are being played on Monday this year. Here’s who will be contesting the championship matches:
- Cincinnati ATP final – Carlos Alcaraz vs Jannik Sinner
- Cincinnati WTA final – Iga Swiatek vs Jasmine Paolini
For the men, Alcaraz etched his name deeper into the history books by making a seventh-straight final this week. The Spaniard has now made the title match in every tournament he’s entered since Monte-Carlo. This time, he takes on the man that bested him for the Wimbledon trophy, Sinner. In what may well be a dress rehearsal of the US Open final, will we see a repeat of Alcaraz’s cracking final on these courts two years ago?
For the women, Swiatek (image on top) continues her resurgence, backing up her Wimbledon title with a run to the Cincinnati final. The Pole is yet to drop a set, racing past the formidable looking Elena Rybakina in her latest match. She takes on Jasmine Paolini, who is having a resurgence of her own after taking out Coco Gauff earlier in the tournament.
US Open mixed doubles drama
The US Open mixed doubles event has been the source of plenty of rumors over the past few months, and this week was no exception. It’s been confirmed that Alex de Minaur and Katie Boulter won’t participate in the event, despite their desire to be awarded a wildcard.
Emma Navarro pulled out from her blind partnership with Sinner, while the participation of the Italian is also in doubt – as well as the unwell Alexander Zverev, and Alcaraz, given his Cincinnati commitments. Paula Badosa and Tommy Paul have also withdrawn.
Jack Draper and Jessica Pegula, meanwhile, will pair for the event.
The emergence of Terence Atmane
The story of the week in Cincinnati, beside Sinner and Alcaraz carving their way through the draw, was the unlikely dominance of Frenchman Terence Atmane. The 23-year-old bullied his way past big names like Joao Fonseca, Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune to make his maiden Masters 1000 semi-final and break into the world’s top 100. His run was ended at the hands of Sinner, though he acquitted himself well with a first set tiebreak. Read more about what racquet Terence Atmane is using.
Venus Williams just won’t quit
News broke this week that Venus Williams has been awarded a wildcard to the US Open.
The former Grand Slam champion is now 45 years old, ranked No 577 in the world, and has played just four matches in the last two years (three of which were one-sided losses).
Given her ability to bring in crowds – surely based purely on her novelty now – the veteran is still being given wildcards.
US Open withdrawals
Two withdrawals from the US Open were announced this week, with both Grigor Dimitrov and Matteo Berrettini confirming they won’t play in New York.
For Dimitrov, the withdrawal snaps a 58 consecutive Grand Slam streak. For Berrettini, it continues an unfortunate trend of the Italian being unfit for the sport’s biggest tournaments.
Both have been struggling to overcome injuries suffered at Wimbledon, with Dimitrov tearing a pectoral while leading Jannik Sinner and Berrettini nursing an ongoing ab issue.
Coming up this week
It’s a surprisingly busy week in tennis coming up, given the shadow of the US Open is almost upon us. The first matter of business is the two Cincinnati finals, which will have a big influence on momentum heading into the US Open.
Then, there’s the Winston-Salem Open (ATP 250) for the men, which sees the likes of Stefanos Tsitsipas, Sebastian Korda and Tallon Griekspoor in action. We’re tipping Korda to go on yet another pre-major run, with the American paying a generous 21.00 (+2000).
The WTA Tour has two events this week, with a 250-level tournament in Cleveland and a 500 in Monterrey, Mexico. Liudmila Samsonova headlines the former while Navarro is top seed in the latter.
The US Open mixed doubles also kicks off on Wednesday and Thursday, alongside qualifying from Tuesday, before the singles draw is announced Thursday. The event itself then gets underway on Sunday, marking its expansion to a 15-day schedule for the first time.
