A piece of #CincyTennis history dating back to 1899 is ready for a new chapter ππ
The Cincinnati Masters kicks off next week, and the tournament's official social media pages unveiled an ostentatious makeover of the trophy for this year's edition.
The Rockwood Cup, designed by Rockwood Pottery Company since 2010, has undergone transformation changes in its design. In fact, the company has a long history with the Western & Southern Open, dating back to 1899 when it handed gift sets to the tournament champions.
It was 13 years ago when it introduced a sophisticated and distinguishable look for its champion and runner-up trophies which are crafted from ceramics. The trophy is designed by Roy Robinson and was previously decorated with tennis balls painted on top of acanthus leaves.
The previous look featured the Rookwood Pottery and Western & Southern Open logos on the front of the trophy. Painting works usually took two and a half days of meticulous precision and was done in-house by an experienced Rockwood artist.
This year, however, the design looks strikingly different. Rockwood retained its name on the front of the trophy but has done away with its logo. Only the tournament's logo is engraved on the front, which spots a dark-colored base.
The vase-inspired trophy design has three colors in horizontal stripes. The middle part has an oceanic blue and a light olive-brown, and complete white at the top of the base. The Cincinnati Masters is the only tournament that boasts trophies made of ceramics.
Judging by the fans' responses from social media, the new-look trophy has received plenty of positive reactions with superlatives ranging from 'good', and 'gorgeous' to 'stunning'. Some fans though were not overly pleased with the new design, calling it a 'four-year-old painting'.
The Cincinnati Masters is the final ATP/WTA 1000 tournament before the US Open and the main draw action kicked off on Sunday, August 13, 2023.
A piece of #CincyTennis history dating back to 1899 is ready for a new chapter ππ