The draw for the 2026 Cincinnati Open men’s singles event has been released, and it has already produced a notable concentration of talent in one side of the bracket. Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Jodar have all been placed in the same half.

Main draw play at the 125th edition of the men’s event begins on Thursday 13 August and runs through to the singles final on Sunday 23 August. The Masters 1000 tournament is once again one of the key stops in the North American hard-court season and is being staged at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio.

Carlos Alcaraz was the 2025 Cincinnati Open champion, but he is among eight players who withdrew before this year’s tournament. World No 1 Jannik Sinner is also not in the field.

The draw includes 96 players, with 32 seeds receiving byes into the second round. The top eight seeds are Alexander Zverev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev, Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz, Flavio Cobolli and Ben Shelton.

With Sinner and Alcaraz absent, Zverev is the leading seed and opens against either Cameron Norrie or Dino Prizmic. His route could then bring Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the third round, followed by Valentin Vacherot or Tommy Paul in the fourth. A possible quarter-final may feature seventh seed Cobolli, in a rematch of the Roland Garros final, or 12th seed Jodar, who is in sensational form.

Djokovic starts against Thiago Agustin Tirante or Jan Choinski. Matteo Arnaldi, Jack Draper or Martin Landaluce could await in the third round, while Jakub Mensik or Luciano Darderi are potential opponents in the last 16. Alex de Minaur and Jiri Lehecka are the projected quarter-final tests.

In the lower half, the seeded projections point to Fritz against Medvedev and Shelton against Auger-Aliassime in the last eight.

Alex Eala’s momentum has been one of the clear storylines of the North American hard-court stretch, but the volume of tennis she has already played in 2026 has also prompted questions about the load on the Filipina standout.

Eala opened the year at No. 53 in the rankings and surged to a career-best world No. 20 last week after capturing her first WTA Tour title in Washington DC. She then extended her best winning run to seven matches by advancing to the fourth round at the Canadian Open, where Belinda Bencic ended her progress.

The 21-year-old has now competed in 56 matches across 20 tournaments this season. Her record stands at 37-19 overall, including 30-18 on the main WTA Tour and 7-1 at ITF/Challenger level.

Her schedule does not ease up soon. Eala is set to play the WTA 1000 event in Cincinnati, which begins on Thursday, before turning to the US Open, due to start on 30 August. After that, her commitments are expected to continue through the Asian swing, where she has entered the Singapore Open. WTA 1000 tournaments in Wuhan and Beijing also remain on her calendar.

Concerns about the workload have been addressed by her uncle, Noli Eala, who is a sports executive and broadcaster. After the subject of her schedule was raised, he wrote on Twitter/X: “Many are concerned about Alex’s schedule, playing big tour events week after week,” Noli Eala wrote on Twitter/X.

“Fortunately or unfortunately, as a top tier player, Alex is mandated by WTA rules to play all WTA 1000 tournaments plus all Slams in order to total at least 18-20 tournaments per season.

“So Canada and Cincinnati are must-play as well as Beijing and Wuhan Open in addition to some WTA 500s.

“And this does not even account her desire to play for the Philippines National Team.

“The price of success.”

He later reacted to her loss against Bencic with a supportive message: “IT’S OK!

“Alex is like a battery that just got drained. Tried hard ’til the bitter end but her best was not enough today against a superb Bencic.

“Nothing to be ashamed of though. It was her best win streak so far. But as always, in victory or defeat, Alex will always make us proud. Go Alex!”

Jannik Sinner’s decision to pull out of the Cincinnati Open has added another layer of uncertainty ahead of the US Open.

In a statement released by the Masters event, Sinner explained the reasons behind the move. “After consulting with my doctors and my team, I have to announce that I need to withdraw from the Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati,” said Sinner in a statement shared by the Masters event.

He went on to say that the problem has not fully settled. “My right knee has been bothering me, and even though we have been working hard with my medical team, I have to accept that I’m not ready to compete yet.

“I’m very disappointed not to be able to play in Cincinnati and wish Bob [Moran] and his whole team a great and successful event. I can’t wait to be back next year, and I’m now focusing on getting ready for the US Open.”

The withdrawal means Sinner will head to the season’s final major without a tune-up event, a pattern that has already marked his year. He reached the final of the Australian Open earlier this year without playing a tournament Down Under, and at Wimbledon he won the title without a competitive grass-court match beforehand.

Former ATP Tour doctor Dr. Giovanni Di Giacomo offered his view to Marco Beltrani, describing the issue as part of the physical reality of elite sport. “They are incredibly human guys, who have ligaments, have tendons, have cartilage, have functional overload pains, have their own genetic characteristics. Despite being champions, each one can be penalized for a whole series of reasons,” said Giacomo.

He also suggested caution was the sensible choice. “If his colleagues deemed it appropriate to slow down the overload on the knee, it means he has an overload syndrome, just like so many other athletes have had in the past. Rest always represents the best treatment.

“I assume they preferred not to risk Cincinnati in order to show up in the best possible condition for the US Open. You always have to do the math and figure out where it’s worth not taking risks.”

Giacomo, who worked on the ATP Tour in the nineties, said the issue is not new. “When I started with the ATP, 33 years ago now, these overload issues were already there,” he said. “They played every week, there were tons of tournaments. It’s always the same old story repeating itself.

“In fact, compared to thirty years ago, everything has changed for the better: training methods have improved, as has monitoring and prevention. And here genetics comes into play too.”

With both Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz injured before the US Open, the final Grand Slam of the year risks being without two of its biggest attractions.