CINCINNATI – Fresh off winning their seventh and fifth Wimbledon Championships, Roger Federer and Serena Williams headline a Western & Southern Open field that will feature all top 20 men on the ATP World Tour and 19 of the top 20 ranked women from the WTA. 

 

The main draw fields released today also feature 64 Olympians who will be competing for 28 different countries two weeks earlier in London. 

 

The tournament will be played August 11-19 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, OH, located 20 miles north of Cincinnati. The 2012 event will mark the completion of a $22 million, three-year expansion of the venue. This year will feature a new food court with twice the seating as last year, entertainment venues and 14 local cuisine options. 

 

"Shortly after the top tennis players in the world represent their countries in the London Olympics they will come to Cincinnati and compete in one of the world’s premier tournaments," said Tournament Director and COO Vince Cicero. "With the compressed schedule on the tours this year the fact so many players have committed to come to Cincinnati shows the importance that the players place on this tournament." 

 

The men’s field is highlighted by all three of this year’s Grand Slam winners, Novak Djokovic (Australian Open), Rafael Nadal (French Open), and 17-time Grand Slam Champion Roger Federer who won Wimbledon on Sunday and is a four-time champion in Cincinnati.

  

Wimbledon finalist Andy Murray will look to defend his 2011 Western & Southern Open title and join the likes of Andre Agassi and Federer in winning back-to-back titles in Cincinnati. 

 

The U.S. Olympic men’s team will be well represented in Cincinnati. John Isner will be seeking his first Western & Southern Open title and Andy Roddick is looking for his third after winning titles in 2003 and 2006. Brothers Bob and Mike Bryan and rising star Ryan Harrison are also expected to appear in Cincinnati. 

 

On the women’s side Maria Sharapova will look to once again raise the tournament’s Rookwood Cup. Sharapova has had a successful 2012 returning to No. 1 and winning the French Open to complete the career Grand Slam. Standing in her way will be the Wimbledon champion Serena Williams and her sister Venus Williams, who has accepted a wild card into the main draw. 

 

The only notable exception to the women’s draw is Victoria Azarenka, who at the time of this press release had not yet entered. All others with the WTA Top 20 have entered. 

 

The full player entry lists are included below. Entry lists are subject to change but are generally a reliable resource on the players expected to compete. For more info visit www.cincytennis.com.

 

 

 

The Western & Southern Open will be held August 11-19, 2012 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, 20 miles north of Cincinnati in Mason, OH. It is the nation’s oldest professional tennis tournament still held in its original city. The tournament is one of the prestigious ATP Masters 1000 events on the men’s tour and a Premier 5 event for the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) – making it one of only five events in the world outside of the grand slams with events of that caliber occurring during the same week at the same venue. A recent study conducted by the University of Cincinnati concluded that the event generated $62.5 million in economic impact in 2011. The event is seen by more than 59 million people in 160 countries worldwide and is broadcast domestically on Tennis Channel, ESPN2 and CBS. The tournament is also one of the last stops on the Emirates Airline US Open Series prior to the US Open in New York.

 

 

Since 1974, the tournament has contributed more than $8.7 million to its beneficiaries: Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, the Barrett Cancer Center and Tennis for City Youth.

 

 

 

Now in its ninth season, the Emirates Airline US Open Series continues to serve as a true regular season of hard court tennis, linking 10 summer tournaments to the US Open. Fans follow the action throughout the summer during national broadcast coverage while players battle for $40 million, including a chance for bonus prize money at the US Open. The Series collectively reached a U.S. television audience of 39 million and drew more than 800,000 on-site fans in 2011. In 2012, Emirates Airline became the title sponsor of the Series, as well as the official airline of the US Open. The Emirates Airline US Open Series is also supported by sponsors American Express, Chase, Citizen Watch Company, Esurance, evian and Gatorade.

 

 

Americans Mardy Fish and Serena Williams swept the 2011 Emirates Airline US Open Series men’s and women’s titles. In 2007, Roger Federer collected the biggest paycheck in tennis history – $2.4 million – for winning the US Open and the Emirates Airline US Open Series. In 2005, Kim Clijsters also captured both the US Open and the Series, winning $2.2 million – the largest purse in women’s sports history – and equaled that amount in 2010, winning the US Open and finishing the Emirates Airline US Open Series in second place.