A dozen Cincinnati Reds players and coaches traded the diamond for the baseline Sunday night, showing up at the Cincinnati Open's night session at Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason fresh off a series loss to the Miami Marlins. The group posed for photos with doubles stars, watched singles upsets unfold, and helped set up a moment that continues Monday when world No. 7 Daniil Medvedev throws out the first pitch before the second game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals at Great American Ball Park.
The Reds contingent included Sam Moll, Oscar Marín, Héctor Rodríguez, Noelvi Marte, Eugenio Suárez, Andrew Abbott, Tejay Antone, TJ Friedl, Spencer Steer, Michael Toglia, Luis Mey and Julian Garcia, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. Moll, Abbott, Antone and Garcia were pictured with former U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens, who had just recorded back-to-back tour-level wins for the first time in two years after upsetting No. 24 seed Anastasia Potapova 6-2, 6-4. Elsewhere on the grounds, the group also posed with Marcelo Arévalo, the world No. 6 in doubles who is paired with Mate Pavić as the No. 3 seed in the men's doubles draw; the duo is set to face Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev in the round of 32 Monday.
Coco Gauff Gets a Reds Jersey of Her Own
The crossover wasn't limited to photo ops. Reds executive Jim Myers gave 2023 Cincinnati Open champion Coco Gauff a personalized Reds jersey, the outlet's report notes, after Gauff defeated Liudmila Samsonova 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 in her own match that night. It's the kind of gesture that has become something of a habit between the two organizations — ATP player Hubert Hurkacz threw out a ceremonial first pitch at Great American Ball Park during the 2024 tournament, a tradition that continues Monday with Medvedev.
Medvedev's turn on the mound comes with its own backstory. According to the Cincinnati Open, the tennis star practiced throwing a baseball during downtime at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome earlier this year to get ready for the pitch, only to wake up the next day with a sore elbow. That eagerness tracks with what the tournament describes as genuine devotion: Medvedev has reportedly watched late-night Reds games from Europe after putting his children to bed, and he wore a Reds jersey during Wimbledon.
A Century-Old Tournament With a Fresh $260 Million Look
The setting for all this cross-sport fandom has changed dramatically in recent years. Founded in 1899, the Cincinnati Open is the oldest professional tennis tournament still held in its original host city, according to WVXU. A $260 million renovation, detailed by BizBash, doubled the Lindner Family Tennis Center campus to 40 acres, adding 10 new courts for a total of 31, a 2,000-seat sunken stadium called Champions Court, and a 56,000-square-foot player clubhouse.
That overhaul helped the tournament earn both ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 Tournament of the Year honors from players in December, the first time it had received the distinction in either category, per the WTA Tour. Last year's event also set an all-time attendance record of 285,571 spectators, drawing fans from all 50 states and 65 countries, WVXU reported. This year's tournament runs 12 days, from Aug. 8 through Aug. 23, with a 96-player singles main draw that puts it in the same tier as Indian Wells, Miami and Madrid.
Keeping the Tournament in Mason Took Real Money
None of it happens in Mason by accident. Tournament owner Beemok Capital finalized a 25-year agreement in October 2023, backed by $50.5 million in state and local public funding, to keep the event in Mason through at least 2048 — beating out a competing $400 million bid from Charlotte, North Carolina, according to Front Office Sports. The city has since built on that investment: on July 13, Mason officially unveiled Legacy Park, a newly branded sports campus that encompasses the Lindner Family Tennis Center, the Cincinnati Open Sporting Club and Grizzly Golf Course, per the City of Mason.
For the Reds, Sunday's visit offered a break from a rough stretch after dropping their series to the Marlins. For the tournament, it was one more reminder that world-class tennis and Cincinnati baseball keep finding ways to share a stage — a pattern that continues Monday when Medvedev, sore elbow and all, takes the mound at Great American Ball Park.
