The Western & Southern Open will remain in Cincinnati, the tournament announced on Tuesday in a video featuring reigning champions Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff.

According to a press release, the tournament will remain in Mason at the Lindner Family Tennis Centre for another 25 years. The 2024 edition will mark the 125th year of the tournament.

Our 2023 champions have some exciting news…@wta @atptour @usta @itftennis pic.twitter.com/g8i7nTGgik

— Western & Southern Open (@CincyTennis) October 10, 2023

Founded in 1899, the event is the United States’ longest-running professional tennis tournament played in its city of origin. The announcement was made by Beemok Capital, the family office of Charleston-based businessman and philanthropist Benjamin Navarro.

“The passion and commitment of this community to keep the tournament here was an undeniable factor in our decision to stay,” Navarro said. “The city of Mason, Warren County, the state of Ohio and multiple corporate entities demonstrated their unwavering support for the tennis tournament. This tournament and its history are special. We’re excited to add to its legacy and create a world-class tennis experience for players and fans.”

Djokovic revealed that $200 million is being invested into stadium improvements to “raise the tournament’s prestige on a global stage”. 

Hubert Hurkacz kept his cool under pressure against home favourite Zhang Zhizhen at the Rolex Shanghai Masters to close Tuesday’s play with a 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-6(4) win against the rising Chinese star.

In a match that finished shortly after midnight after two hours, 39 minutes, Hurkacz found his very best tennis in the decisive tie-break to deny Zhang a victory that would have lifted him into the Top 50 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. Zhang, whose best ATP Masters 1000 result remains his Madrid quarter-final run earlier this season, was bidding to become the first Chinese man to break the Top 50 in the history of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings (since 1973).

“Zhang was playing some really amazing tennis. It was a battle,” said Hurkacz, who wrote “Fight” on the camera lens after the win. “We were both giving it all out there, leaving everything. Hopefully the fans enjoyed that match because I think that was a really high level. If you just left a little bit of space out there, you’re running and fighting from behind.”

Hurkacz’s win lifted him one place to 15th in the Peperstone Live Race To Turin, moving him ahead of Cameron Norrie and keeping alive his slim hopes of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals. The Pole remains 1,155 points behind the eighth-placed Holger Rune.

There were no breaks of serve in the first of final set, with Hurkacz creating the only two break points of either set in the opener. That was in stark contrast to a second set that saw five breaks, including in each of the final three games.

Into the last 🎱

Solid defence all evening from @HubertHurkacz to take down Zhang 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-6(4)!@SH_RolexMasters | #RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/zg4HWQ4rwg

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 10, 2023

In the decisive tie-break, Hurkacz kept the pressure on Zhang with several well-timed net approaches. He hit a brilliant drop volley to level at 3/3, sparking a run of three straight points that ultimately proved enough to seal the win. A single mini-break was the difference in a well-played tie-break, the quality of which measured up to the match as a whole.

Hurkacz hit 25 forehand winners and 16 aces in the match and won 21 of 26 net points. His overall winners-to-unforced errors count was a pristine 49-17, while Zhang recorded a 40-25 mark.

Next up for Hurkacz is a quarter-final meeting with Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan, who beat eighth seed Casper Ruud 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4 earlier on Tuesday. With a win, the Pole will match his best ATP Masters 1000 result of the season: a semi-final showing in Cincinnati.

Did You Know?
Hurkacz has won (29) and played (53) the most tie-breaks on the ATP Tour this season.

Ben Shelton ticked off another milestone in his breakthrough season on Tuesday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, where he upset World No. 4 Jannik Sinner 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final.

The 21-year-old, who reached the semi-finals at the US Open in September, hung tough in a heavy-hitting clash against Sinner. The American struck the ball with ferocious power, firing 15 aces to earn his biggest win by Pepperstone ATP Ranking.

“This is a pretty crazy atmosphere,” Shelton said. “To think that a year and a half ago I was in college and a year ago playing Challengers, now I am on centre court in Shanghai with the crowd singing happy birthday. It is one of those pinch me moments.

“I had a lot of belief in my ability to serve and hang tough and to make it deep in sets. I trusted my fitness levels, being able to go the distance. That gave me a lot of confidence. My serve wasn’t working that well in the first set, I felt that he was really on top of me. I really started to find my groove and had one of my best serving days in the second and third sets.”

With his two-hour, 32-minute victory, Shelton earned his third Top 10 triumph. He defeated then-World No. 5 Casper Ruud en route to the fourth round in Cincinnati last year and then-World No. 10 Frances Tiafoe in the quarter-finals at this year’s US Open.

“I am addicted to playing on the big stages,” Shelton added. “I have not had a normal upbringing or usual first year on Tour. It has been a little bit backwards but I am just trying to keep going and improving each week.”

Shelton, currently third in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Jeddah, is chasing his maiden tour-level trophy and will next play countryman Sebastian Korda. Americans J.J. Wolf and Tommy Paul are also still alive in Shanghai, with both playing their fourth round matches on Wednesday.

In a dramatic match, Shelton turned the tables after Sinner came out firing in the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. The 21-year-old played with greater intensity as the match went on and improved on serve, winning 77 per cent (30/39) of points behind his first delivery in the third set compared to 67 per cent (8/12) in the opener. After leading 4/0 in the third-set tie-break, Shelton responded from falling 4/5 behind by winning the final three points to seal his 21st tour-level win of the year.

Sinner was aiming to reach his fifth ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final of the season, highlighted by his maiden title at this level in Toronto. The Italian, who triumphed in Beijing last week, qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time after defeating Marcos Giron in his opening match in Shanghai.

Cameron Norrie and Rinky Hijikata booked their spot in the quarter-finals at the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Tuesday when they upset third seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury 4-6, 7-6(4), 11-9.

The British-Australian team, who are teaming for the first time this week, saved one match point at 8/9 in the Match tie-break before converting on their first opportunity to advance after one hour and 44 minutes. They will next play Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni.

Robin Haase and Stefanos Tsitsipas are also joining forces for the first time this week and advanced, defeating Alex de Minaur and Max Purcell 7-5, 3-6, 10-5. The Dutch-Greek tandem won 75 per cent (38/51) of their first-serve points and will next meet Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos at the ATP Masters 1000 hard-court event.

Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul saved three match points en route to their 5-7, 7-6(1), 10-4 victory against Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin. The Frenchmen are chasing their second tour-level title of the season together, having triumphed in Chengdu last month.

They will take on second seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski in the quarter-finals.

Fabian Marozsan’s red-hot form carried him past eighth seed Casper Ruud on Tuesday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, where the Hungarian prevailed 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4 in an intriguing fourth-round encounter.

The World No. 82 Marozsan stepped on court having won all six sets he had played at the ATP Masters 1000 event and he held his nerve in a tie-break to extend that streak to seven at the Qizhong Tennis Center. The 24-year-old then edged the World No. 9 Ruud in a tense deciding set to book a clash with 16th seed Hubert Hurkacz or home favourite Zhang Zhizhen in his maiden Masters 1000 quarter-final.

“I’m very happy to beat Casper,” said Marozsan. “He’s a top-seeded player here in Shanghai. I just started very good. I played one of my best matches in Shanghai. I was just happy to win the first set. Of course, the second set was not easy, he started to play much better, and the third was also a tough one. I’m really happy to beat him here.”

Both players kept cool heads under pressure throughout their maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting, with Ruud saving 12 of 14 break points he faced and Marozsan saving eight from 11. It was the latter who found something extra at the tail end of the third set, however, as he clinched a decisive break in the ninth game before saving two break points to serve out a two-hour, 41-minute win.

It was a second Top 10 victory of the season for Marozsan, who stunned World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz with a free-hitting display in the third round in Rome on his Masters 1000 debut in May. He also defeated then-World No. 11 Alex de Minaur in the second round in Shanghai.

“It’s just about playing tennis,” said Marozsan, when asked how he kept his cool against more established players. “Carlos is a great player, he [was] the No. 1 player in the world, so they are big names. I’m just happy to play here in the biggest tournaments on the ATP Tour. I’m feeling really good here.”