Cincinnati Masters
Pegula casts doubts on marathon WTA scheduling
Two-time titlewinner in Canada Jessica Pegula on Sunday threw shade on the extension of the summer hardcourt swing into a pair of masters events lasting for three weeks in total
The American who won Canadian trophies in 2024 and last summer, is withholding judgement on the WTA move to stretch the formerly one-week Masters events to roughly 11 days each for this event and the last major before the US Open, Cincinnati.
“It can seem really long, especially leading up to a slam, but I’m interested,” the American said.
“It’s not quite two weeks for each tournament, right? It’s 21 days. I think it’s a little bit of a hybrid between what we’ve seen with, like, Madrid and Rome or Indian Wells/Miami.”
She called the challenge “obviously longer than just having one week to finish everything.”
Pegula said she is reserving judgement of the controversial move which has riled some major players.
“I’m, honestly, interested to see how it turns out and how it feels for the players and for the fans; it’s kind of like meeting in the middle a little bit.”
But doubts remain for last autumn’s US Open runner-up.
“I’m not a fan of when they’re two weeks long. It can get really tough. I feel like Slams are two weeks, and so now turning everything almost into a Slam is really mentally draining.
“I’m hoping that these two events feel like a good kind of middle ground, I guess I could say. It’s the first time we’ve done it, and I think we’re all going to have to get used to it, but I guess we’ll see how it goes.”
Carlos Alcaraz could miss the entire grass season if a worst-case scenario on his wrist injury comes into play.
The Spaniard has already withdrawn from title defences on clay at Rome and Roland Garros after injuring the wrist this month in Barcelona.
But latest reports from Spain indicate that the world No. 2 could possibly not be back until the start of the US Open run-up next August, possibly at the Cincinnati Masters.
Rome’s La Gazzetta dello Sport broke the bad news on the fitness state of Alcaraz, winner of the last two French Open editions. The paper reported there was no chance for the player to compete either at Queen’s club, London, or Wimbledon, which begins in late June.
Main photo:- Carlos Alcaraz reached Wimbledon final 2025 – by Roger Parker ISF Ltd
World No. 2 Jannik Sinner became the youngest man to complete the full set of hard-court victories by beating Daniil Medvedev 7-6 (8) 7-6 (7) in the searing heat of Indian Wells.
The 24 year old Italian, didn’t face a break point during the final nor did he drop a set on his way to claiming his first title of the year and his 25th overall.
Sinner has won both hard court Grand Slams, with victories at the Australian Open in 2024 and 2025 and at the US Open in 2024.
In addition he has lifted all six Masters 1000 series hard court titles – adding the Indian Wells title to victories in Miami, Toronto, Cincinnati, Shanghai and Paris plus the season-ending ATP Finals.
Only Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer have achieved the same feat.
Main photo:- Jannik Sinner lifts Indian Wells Trophy – by ATPTour.com
Felix Auger-Aliassime bounced back after a slow start, with the Canadian raiding his game along with his expectations on Wednesday at the ATP Dubai event.
The top seed survived the loss of his opening serve to prevail 6-4, 6-4 over France’s Giovanni Mpetschi Perricard.
Victory marked the 10th quarter-final or higher at 11 tournament for FAA dating to Cincinnati last August.
The seed’s game is on the mend after a hiccup in the form of an Australian Open first-round loss, with FAA winning the Montpellier title and reaching this month’s Rotterdam final against Alex de Minaur.
Auger-Aliassime said that he tries to set an example to his team by way of keeping his tennis standards high.
“I’m responsible, I’m the one stepping onto the court – I’m the (support) team leader.
“I need to uphold the standards I want for my career.”
The winner who broke three times, said the ball reacted differently as he played for the first time in the afternoon.
“I couldn’t find my serve in the first few games, I needed to get some rhythm. he also made it difficult for me. I’m glad I was able to find a way back into the set.
The Canadian No. 1 improved his record against French opponents to 15-1 since the start of 2025.
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