The draw for the 2024 Cincinnati Open was released, and after a very long time, all Top 4 players on the WTA Tour appear in one draw.
It's been quite some time since the WTA's 'Big Four' appeared in the same draw, as Aryna Sabalenka struggled with health issues, as did Elena Rybakina, and more recently, Iga Swiatek skipped the 2024 Canadian Open after a gruelling week at the Paris Olympics.
Finally, the four, including Coco Gauff, will fight for the trophy in Cincinnati. It was the young American who won the title in Cincinnati last year, and she will be facing a lot of pressure as the defending champion.
The draw wasn't nice to her either. Like all top eight seeded players, she has a first-round BYE, but already in the second round, she can play against Yulia Putintseva, who has been having a great season, and will start against a qualifier in Cincinnati.
Should the defending champion succeed against the Kazakhstani player, she can play against former World No. 2, Paula Badosa, or one of the three - Peyton Stearns, Katerina Siniakova, and Anna Kalinskaya, in the third round of the tournament.
On the opposite side of the draw is the top seed and the reigning World No. 1, Swiatek. Despite not having played on the hard courts after winning a bronze medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, the Pole will be among the top favorites once again.
She, too, will have a challenging draw, possibly starting against Ajla Tomljanovic, who will play against a qualifier, in the second round of the tournament. If she wins that match, then she can play against Linda Noskova, who stunned her at the Australian Open this year, Elise Mertens, or Marta Kostyuk.
The third-seeded Sabalenka will also want to prove her qualities despite her recent disappointing loss at the Canadian Open. The Belarusian will play against the winner of the match between a qualifier and Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the second round of the tournament.
Returning to action after a layoff is also the fourth-seeded Rybakina. The Kazakhstani player will clash with the better between Leylah Fernandez and Yue Yuan in the second round of the tournament.
As always, the draw for the 2024 Cincinnati Open offers multiple exciting matchups, and the full draw for the tournament, held from August 13th to 19th, can be viewed below.
| Player 1 | Player 2 |
|---|---|
| Iga Swiatek [1] | BYE |
| Ajla Tomljanovic | Qualifier |
| Qualifier | Linda Noskova |
| Elise Mertens | Marta Kostyuk [15] |
| Emma Navarro [11] | Mirra Andreeva |
| Karolina Pliskova | Viktoriya Tomova |
| Anastasia Potapova | Clara Burel |
| BYE | Jasmine Paolini [5] |
| Aryna Sabalenka [3] | BYE |
| Qualifier | Elisabetta Cocciaretto |
| Elina Svitolina | Qualifier |
| Special Exempt | Victoria Azarenka [14] |
| Liudmila Samsonova [10] | Xinyu Wang |
| Katie Boulter | Magda Linette |
| Qualifier | Bianca Andreescu |
| BYE | Jelena Ostapenko [8] |
| Jessica Pegula [6] | BYE |
| Karolina Muchova | Dayana Yastremska |
| Caroline Dolehide | Qualifier |
| Ekaterina Alexandrova | Daria Kasatkina [9] |
| Donna Vekic [16] | Beatriz Haddad Maia |
| Diana Shnaider | Shuai Zhang |
| Leylah Fernandez | Yue Yuan |
| BYE | Elena Rybakina [4] |
| Qinwen Zheng [7] | BYE |
| Marie Bouzkova | Qualifier |
| Caroline Wozniacki | Anhelina Kalinina |
| Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova | Ons Jabeur [12] |
| Anna Kalinskaya [13] | Katerina Siniakova |
| Peyton Stearns | Paula Badosa |
| Qualifier | Yulia Putintseva |
| BYE | Coco Gauff [2] |