Rain suspended play Saturday at the Cincinnati Open, stalling a stacked semifinal session built around Iga Świątek, Coco Gauff and three other Grand Slam contenders.
With four singles semifinals and a marquee women’s doubles pairing still on the docket, tournament officials initially offered no timetable for when or whether Saturday’s full slate gets finished at the Lindner Family Tennis Center.
Byt at 2:18 p.m., the tournament’s official account announced, “Weather is cleared. It’s go time.”
The Open’s social media account previously had confirmed the stoppage around 1:44 p.m. EDT in Mason, Ohio. “Play is currently suspended due to rain,” the post read, adding that fans should “stay tuned for further updates.”
“No play for another 45-60 mins so (estimate),” the edgeAI tennis account posted right around the start of the delay. “Nys / Roger Vasselin vs Luz / Matos 4-6, 2-1 (15-0). Flavio Cobolli vs Arthur Fils also delayed.”
But at about 2:12 p.m., the account reported that players were back on the court. “Players back on Centre Court at the Cincinnati ATP & WTA 1000. Play should start there in a few minutes. Flavio Cobolli vs Arthur Fils. Nys / Roger Vasselin vs Luz / Matos 4-6, 2-1 (15-0).”
Świątek, Gauff Highlight Cincinnati Open Semifinal Wait
Saturday’s originally released order of play had No. 7 seed Flavio Cobolli facing No. 21 Arthur Fils not before 1:30 p.m., followed by a blockbuster women’s semifinal pitting No. 3 Jessica Pegula against No. 7 Iga Świątek no earlier than 3 p.m.
No. 27 Brandon Nakashima and No. 17 Frances Tiafoe were then due on court around 6 p.m., setting up a night session finale between Sara Bejlek and No. 4 Coco Gauff no earlier than 7:30 p.m. Women’s doubles matches opened the day around 11 a.m. and appeared to be underway, based on live scoring, before the rain arrived. No official scores from the suspended session had circulated by the time the tarps came out, and the gap between the early doubles start and the delay left open how much of the day’s card survives intact.
A Tournament Already Soaked by Weather This Month
Saturday’s delay extends a pattern that has followed the Cincinnati Open since qualifying began. Heavy rain and flood warnings already delayed the qualifying rounds earlier this month, according to WVXU‘s Lilley Halloran, pushing matches into makeshift windows between storms and prompting tournament staff to usher fans toward shelter over the public address system and through app alerts. Play was also suspended for several hours that Tuesday, forcing five remaining qualifying matches to be pushed back to Thursday.
That stretch of disruption came during the first year of operations at the expanded Lindner Family Tennis Center, which doubled in size after a $260 million renovation completed in 2025. The facility upgrade was built partly around improving the fan experience during exactly this kind of washout, including an indoor fan zone that stayed open through the worst of the earlier rain.
Fans showed up anyway during that first round of storms, camping under ponchos and umbrellas rather than surrender their spot in line. Tournament officials told WVXU they lean on the speaker system, digital video boards, app alerts and social media to steer fans toward shelter whenever severe weather rolls through, and that same playbook appeared to guide Saturday’s response.
Fans holding single-session tickets for Saturday need not panic yet. Under the tournament’s official rain policy page, a session is only eligible for a ticket exchange the following year if it gets canceled outright without a completed Center Court match or 90 minutes of play. No cancellation has been declared, and tournament officials retain full discretion over when a suspended session is delayed, resumed or scrapped entirely.
Why is the Cincinnati Open Tennis Delayed Today? When Will it Start Again?