WTA Cincinnati Open 2026 Draw: Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff in Same Half as Alex Eala Faces Tough Path

The Cincinnati Open 2026 is about to get underway, and the top ranked players, including Coco Gauf, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rabykina, Iga Swiatek and the teenage sensation Alex Eala have learned who they could be facing through the tournament.

The main draw of the 98th edition of the women’s tournament is out as the tournament is all set to begin on Thursday, August 13 and the finals will be played on Sunday, August 23. The tournament is part of the WTA 1000 event and it will be played at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio. It is one of the key hard-court events of the year preceding the last Grand Slam of the year, the US Open.

The defending champion of the tournament is Iga Swiatek; she won the championship in 2025 defeating Jasmine Paolini of Italy in the finals last year. The 30-year-old Italian is among the six women who have withdrawn from the tournament along with the British sensation Emma Raducanu, Hailey Baptiste, Victoria Mboko, Karolina Muchova and Jacqueline Cristian.

The 2026 Cincinnati Open draw will feature 96 players, including 32 seeded players who will receive a bye in their opening round matches. The top eight seeds going into the tournament are: Aryna Sabalenka (1), Elena Rybakina (2), Jessica Pegula (3), Coco Gauff (4), Mirra Andreeva (5), Linda Noskova (6), Iga Swiatek (7) and Elina Svitolina (8).

WTA Cincinnati Open 2026 Draw

The World No 1 and Sabalenka will play her opening round match against either Talia Gibson or a qualifier, before eventually having a potential face off against Donna Vekic in the third round. The four-time Grand Slam winner may face Ekaterina Alexandrova in the fourth round and her quarterfinals will be against either Naomi Osaka or Elina Svitolina.

The fourth and fifth seeded players - Coco Gauff and Mirra Andreeva may have a face-off in the last-eight match and the winner of that match will potentially go up against Sabalenka in the semi-finals.

The 17th seed young star Alex Eala may meet ninth seed Amanda Anisimova in her third round match, and the winner will go on to potentially play the 2026 Wimbledon Champion and the No 6 seed Linda Noskova. And the second seed Rybakina and the seventh seed Swiatek are projected to meet each in a blockbuster quarterfinal match from the bottom half of the draw.

Here is a full list of projected quarterfinals at the WTA Cincinnati Open 2026

• Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs Elina Svitolina (8)
• Coco Gauff (4) vs Mirra Andreeva (5)
• Linda Noskova (6) vs Jessica Pegula (3)
• Iga Swaitek (7) vs Elena Rabykina (2)