Western & Southern Open staying in Cincy, announces news with Novak Djokovic, Coco Gauff
The Western & Southern Open tennis tournament is staying in Mason, Ohio.
Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff, the 2023 champions, announced the news in a video on X, formerly known as Twitter, Tuesday.
"Your wonderful tournament is staying in Cincinnati," Djokovic said in the clip.
Williams: An inside look at how Cincinnati kept the Western & Southern tennis tournament
Bob Moran, president of Beemok Sports & Entertainment, told The Enquirer that $260 million will be invested into improving the Lindner Family Tennis Center, where the tournament has been played since 1979.
In 2025, the Western & Southern Open will also expand to two weeks of competition for both men and women.
The tournament's Cincinnati future was in question after the city council in Charlotte, North Carolina, voted to move forward with a proposed $400 million, 40-court tennis complex in hopes of winning over tournament owner Beemok Capital and bringing the event to the state.
According to the video, over 200,000 people attended the 2023 Western & Southern Open.
"The history is such an important piece of this event," Moran said. "As an organization, we needed to see and feel that event this year and what it was like to operate an event in this market, and it was just overwhelmingly successful and the community really stepped up to welcome us and make us feel how important this is."
"That was a key component in this process to realize what this means to the Greater Cincinnati community," he added.
Beemok will invest north of $130 million into the complex, Moran said.
State and local lawmakers are matching that with $130 million: $50 million from the state, $50 million from Warren County and $30 million from the city of Mason, Warren County Commissioner Dave Young said.
Young said negotiations lasted nine months and the county came up with the plan to match what Charlotte offered in terms of economic development deals.
"I felt like I was a man on an island for a long time. I was the only one in town saying 'Hey, we got a chance' because I was talking to them directly. I wanted to, without tipping our hand, say that we're in good shape and ultimately it feels pretty good to say we were right."
The Western & Southern Open will stay in Mason for the next 25 years as part of the deal, Moran said.
"I'm almost speechless," Mason Mayor Barbara Spaeth said. "This is the best news that we could have had."
The tournament, which draws hundreds of thousands of fans and tennis stars such as Venus and Serena Williams and Roger Federer, is the country's longest-running professional tennis tournament played in its original city, and will celebrate its 125th anniversary next year.
The Enquirer will update this story with more information.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Western & Southern Open not moving to Charlotte, staying in Cincinnati
