Novak Djokovic will participate in the Cincinnati tournament: "See you soon"
The 39-year-old Serbian will participate in the final warm-up tournament before the US Open, in an attempt to shake off the rust as he continues his journey toward a 25th Grand Slam title: "I can't wait to return."
Novak Djokovic has confirmed that he will participate in this year's Cincinnati tournament, which will be held from August 13 to 23, as part of his preparations for the US Open. The 39-year-old Serbian will try to use the Masters tournament to gain match rhythm before once again embarking on the pursuit of his 25th career Grand Slam title.
"I am happy to announce that I will be coming to Cincinnati this year, for the first time since 2023, when I played one of the best best-of-three finals of my career at a Masters 1000 tournament," Djokovic wrote on social media. "I can't wait to return and perform in front of you. I am very excited to meet the fans. Tennis lovers from all over the world will be there. See you soon."
Djokovic has excellent memories of Cincinnati. In 2023, he defeated Carlos Alcaraz at the end of a final that lasted three hours and 49 minutes, won the title for the third time, and went on from there to win the US Open. Since that victory in New York, Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have taken over men's tennis and have shared ten of the last 11 Grand Slam titles between them.
The Serbian is still capable of competing for the biggest titles, but his difficulty in maintaining the same level over two weeks has become more significant. Due to the physical load, he has reduced his schedule, and this year he arrived at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon without a warm-up tournament. Despite this, he reached the final in Melbourne and the semi-final in London.
"For 99 percent of players, that would be a very good result," he said after his loss to Sinner at Wimbledon. "For me, it is good, but not good enough, because I am blessed and cursed to be accustomed to the highest level in terms of results and achievements. I still enjoy the thrill of competition, but perhaps I enjoy less the tough weeks before a big tournament, when I put myself through a lot of pain, mostly physical, over and over again."
In Cincinnati, Djokovic will get one last chance to test his condition before the start of the US Open on August 30, where he will try once again to stop Sinner and Alcaraz.
