The 2025 Cincinnati Open poster, featuring Ben Shelton, Coco Gauff, and Carlos Alcaraz, left fans questioning the absence of defending champions Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka. The tournament will be underway from August 7-18, 2025.
Jannik Sinner was in action at the French Open after clinching the men’s singles title at the 2025 Australian Open. He lost to Spaniard Alcaraz in a thrilling five-setter, ending his bid for his fourth Grand Slam title. Aryna Sabalenka had a similar campaign at Roland Garros. The World No.1 came fresh off a finals appearance at the Australian Open and faced Coco Gauff in front of the Paris crowd.
Despite her best efforts, she lost to the American No. 2 in two sets. As per recent news, the countdown for the Cincinnati Open in August has started, and a poster featuring ace players, Coco Gauff, Ben Shelton, and Carlos Alcaraz, is doing the rounds on the internet. Both Sinner and Sabalenka are defending champions, but surprisingly, they are nowhere to be seen in the illustration.
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Infuriated Sinner and Sabalenka fans joined forces to call out the controversial snubbing of the players.
One fan queried the reason behind the Belarusian's absence, writing:
"where is Aryna Sabalenka your defending champion ?"
Another fan posted the statistics showing Sinner's win last year and slammed the tournament's 'propaganda'.
"Last time I checked Jannik Sinner won this tournament????? Sick of this propaganda against Jan!! Change it Sinneristis, you know what to do."
Another X user echoed the sentiments and revealed that the players in the poster were of no interest to them, commenting:
"Sinner will not be there to defend the title ? The three on the pic are no interest at all , so the only thing that comes to my mind is…Next !!"
Here are some other reactions:
"Weird! Cincinnati you are woke and out of touch," tweeted a fan.
"not including your defending champion in this post or even in your banner was definitely a choice," commented a fan.
"Wow offensive much ? Seriously?" a fan tweeted.
Jannik Sinner talked about bouncing back at the Halle Open after his Roland Garros loss
Jannik Sinner's defeat at the French Open was a hard one, but he will enter the Halle Open court with a positive mindset. Talking about that with the ATP, the Italian wished to be mentally ready to perform his best on the grass court despite past disappointment.
"I don’t know how it will look in the future. I think that it is not the most important thing, but I nevertheless try to forget the negative things and see what I can do here. I think that for me to play another tournament is positive, because every match is a new beginning, and I must be mentally ready to give my all on the court. Therefore, it is great I can be here in Halle."
He then admitted spending sleepless nights, but he was able to bounce back with his friends and family's support.
"I had already a few sleepless nights, but I think every day it gets better. My family stand behind me, and my friends. That is the most important thing for me. Tennis is important in my life but nevertheless are family and friends more important."
Sabalenka will be in action at the German Open, going against Rebeka Masarova in the Round of 16.
