The tournament was started in 1899 as the Cincinnati Open and was renamed in 1901 to Tri-State Tennis Tournament, a name it would keep until 1969 (it would later be known by several other names, including ATP Championships), and would eventually grow into the tournament now held in
Mason. The original tournament was held at the Avondale Athletic Club, which sat on property that is now
Xavier University, and would later be moved to various locations due to changes in tournament management and surfaces. The first tournament in 1899 was played on
clay courts (described in a newspaper article of the time as "crushed brick dust"), and the event was mostly played on clay until 1979 when it switched to hardcourts. In 1903, the tournament was moved to the
Cincinnati Tennis Club, where it was primarily held until 1972. In 1974, the tournament was nearly dropped from the tennis calendar but moved at the last moment to the Cincinnati Convention Center, where it was played indoors and, for the first time since 1919, without a women's draw. In 1975, the tournament moved to the
Coney Island amusement park on the
Ohio River, and the tournament began to gain momentum again. In 1979 the tournament moved to Mason where a permanent stadium was built and the surface was changed from Har-Tru clay to hardcourt (DecoTurf II.). Later, two other permanent stadia were constructed, making Cincinnati the only tennis tournament outside the four
Grand Slam events with three stadium courts – Center Court, Grandstand Court and Court 3. A new Court 3 was built in 2010, increasing the number of stadium courts to four, with the existing Court 3 renamed Court 9. The women's competition was reinstated in 1988 for one year, and then again in 2004 when the organizers, with the help of the
Octagon sports agency, bought the
Croatian Bol Ladies Open and moved it to Cincinnati. Between 1981 and 1989 it was a major tournament on the men's
Grand Prix Tennis Tour and part of the
Grand Prix Super Series. In August 2008, the men's tournament was sold to the
United States Tennis Association, the owners of the
US Open. In 2002, the tournament was sponsored for the first time by
Western & Southern Financial Group, with the company continuing its sponsorship until at least 2016. In 2011 the men's and women's tournaments were played in the same week, and the name changed from the "Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open" to the "Western & Southern Open". in 2023, the tournament proposed an additional $22.5 million in state funding to help cover a proposed $150 million expansion to the Lindner Family Tennis Center, which included plans for the Cincinnati Open to expand to a 12-day format with a 96-player draw (joining the
Indian Wells Open,
Madrid Open, and
Miami Open) and add additional programming. In May 2023, rumors emerged that Beemok was considering relocating the tournament to a proposed $400 million tennis complex in
Charlotte, North Carolina. Beemok denied that relocation was being considered, stating, "We've had productive conversations with state and local representatives in Mason and the surrounding area and have made considerable efforts to develop a potential master plan to expand the event in its current location." In October 2023, Beemok announced that the tournament would remain in Mason and expand to a 12-day format for 2025, with both draws expanding from 56 to 96 players. With the changes, Western & Southern exited its title sponsorship agreement, and the tournament returned to the "Cincinnati Open" name. The tournament also changed its sponsorship model to incorporate six "cornerstone" sponsors—including Western & Southern,
Credit One Bank,
Fifth Third Bank,
Great American Insurance Group,
Kroger, and
Procter & Gamble—which would have
activations and branding across the tournament.
Paul M. Flory In 1975, the tournament reins were taken by Paul M. Flory, then an executive with
Procter & Gamble. During his tenure, the tournament enriched its considerable heritage while donating millions of dollars to charity: to
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Tennis for City Youth (a program to teach tennis to inner-city children), and to The Charles M. Barrett Cancer Center at University Hospital. Flory was honored with the ATP's
Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award, enshrinement in the USTA/Midwest Hall of Fame and the Cincinnati Tennis Hall of Fame, and was named one of the Great Living Cincinnatians by the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce. Flory began his involvement as a volunteer with the tournament in the late 1960s and remained a volunteer until the end, never accepting a salary. Flory, who was born on May 31, 1922, died on January 31, 2013, remaining tournament chairman until his final day. ==Venue==