Frances Tiafoe and Holger Rune meet again in Cincinnati with live coverage available on TennisChannel.com. The match is scheduled to start at 11:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, August 13. This pair’s return to the same venue produces immediate storylines because of what happened here a year ago.

Tiafoe arrives as the No. 14-ranked American; Rune is No. 9. Their meeting in Cincinnati is the first match-up in this men’s tournament between Top 15 players. Last year the two played in the semifinals at this event, a match Tiafoe won 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4). The result nearly went the other way: Rune led 5-2 in the third set and “had held double match point a few games later with Tiafoe serving at 4-5, 15-40.” That recovery remains a defining moment for Tiafoe at this event.

Tiafoe’s history at this time of year underlines his form here. He reached the biggest final of his career at this tournament a year ago and has also reached both of his career Grand Slam semifinals at the US Open, in 2022 and 2024. Rune comes in with the higher ranking and the memory of coming close to knocking Tiafoe out last year.

The match carries implications for both players in Cincinnati. For Tiafoe, a win would move him another step toward repeating last year’s deep run. For Rune, it is a chance to avenge a narrow loss in identical surroundings.

Carlos Alcaraz returns to court Wednesday night in Cincinnati aiming to extend a remarkable run. Yesterday afternoon, Alcaraz moved past fellow 22-year-old Hamad Medjedovic, 6-4, 6-4, to reach 50 wins for the season and to become the only man to record 50 or more wins in each of the last four years. Tonight he will seek his 51st win of 2025 in a fourth-round meeting with 22-year-old Luca Nardi.

Nardi reached this stage after entering the main draw as a lucky loser and fighting his way into the fourth round. He is best known for stunning then-No. 1 Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells last year and arrives in Cincinnati with momentum and confidence. The Italian pushed Alcaraz to three sets in their only previous meeting, a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 victory for the Spaniard in Doha earlier this year, showing he can extend rallies and trouble the top players.

The pairing presents a clear contrast: Alcaraz arrives having just reached the 50-win milestone and playing with the consistency that produced that mark across multiple seasons. Nardi has the underdog profile of a lucky loser who has turned opportunity into results, including his signature win at Indian Wells.

The match will be watched closely as Alcaraz attempts to convert recent form into another late-night victory, while Nardi looks to repeat the level that has produced upsets and that pushed their Doha meeting to three sets. The result will shape the bottom half of the draw as the tournament moves deeper into the second week.

The Cincinnati Open’s early schedule presents a high-stakes encounter: Madison Keys and Elena Rybakina, two Grand Slam champions, will meet in what is the tournament’s first match-up between Top 10 players. The meeting carries immediate implications for momentum heading into the late-summer hard-court swing.

Both players arrive in form. Keys, ranked No. 6, is fresh off a quarterfinal appearance in Montreal. Rybakina, No. 10, has recorded back-to-back semifinal runs in Washington D.C. and Montreal. Those recent results set up a balanced contest between a player riding confidence from a deep run and one showing consistent late-stage results on hard courts.

Their head-to-head history gives Keys a narrow edge. She leads their overall series, 3-2, and defeated Rybakina earlier this year in the fourth round of the Australian Open, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. That Australian Open victory was part of Keys’s championship run. The American also holds the pair’s previous Cincinnati meeting, a 6-2, 6-4 quarterfinal win in 2022.

On paper the matchup combines power and aggressive baseline play with the ability to produce quick points on serve. Those elements were present in their Australian Open meeting and in their Cincinnati contest three years ago.

Expect the match to attract attention beyond the immediate result. As the first Top 10 showdown at the event, it will provide an early barometer for how both players might navigate the draw. For viewers, the match offers a clear narrative: two major champions, recent form, and a compact head-to-head that tilts slightly toward Keys.