The 2026 Cincinnati Open draws were released Tuesday, and Latin America’s two most prominent men landed in the same crowded section of the bracket. Brazil’s João Fonseca, seeded 23rd, and Argentina’s Francisco Cerúndolo, seeded 20th, were both placed in the third quarter headed by American Taylor Fritz, a section that also contains 2019 champion Daniil Medvedev, 2021 runner-up Andrey Rublev, Norway’s Casper Ruud, American Brandon Nakashima, Belgian Zizou Bergs and wildcard Marin Čilić, who won the tournament in 2016.
The two cannot meet before the quarterfinals. Both will have to survive a section stacked with former Masters 1000 winners to get there. The draw arrives under unusual circumstances. World Nos. 1 and 2 Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who won the last two men’s titles at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, are both absent, Sinner with a knee injury and Alcaraz with a wrist injury.
Their withdrawals leave the men’s field without the two players who have decided nearly every major hard-court event of the past two seasons. Alexander Zverev, the 2021 champion, acknowledged the shift in an assessment of the field, noting Sinner’s record streak of 34 consecutive Masters 1000 match victories and six titles this year.
“I think it does change things a little bit, especially with Jannik not being here,” Zverev said. “But for me, it doesn’t change much. I still want to compete against the best.” Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo, seeded 22nd, drew a different assignment. He was placed in Zverev’s quarter alongside Flavio Cobolli, the rising Spaniard Rafael Jodar, American Tommy Paul, Valentin Vacherot of Monaco, Belgian Alexander Blockx, Hubert Hurkacz and Denis Shapovalov.
Peru’s Ignacio Buse, seeded 29th at 21 years old, sits in the bottom quarter. That section is headed by second seed Félix Auger-Aliassime and includes Ben Shelton, Lorenzo Musetti, Americans Learner Tien and Frances Tiafoe, France’s Ugo Humbert and Arthur Rinderknech, Stefanos Tsitsipas and 2017 champion Grigor Dimitrov.
Argentina’s Tomás Martín Etcheverry is seeded 26th. All 32 seeds receive a bye into the second round. Argentina again brought the region’s largest delegation, with eight men across the seeded and unseeded ranks. One of them has already made an impression on this swing.
Thiago Agustín Tirante beat Fritz in the Round of 64 in Montreal, an upset that cost the American the tournament he entered as a favorite and that now shadows the quarter Fritz heads in Ohio. On the women’s side, Colombia’s Camila Osorio is the region’s only player in the main draw. She opens against American Taylor Townsend, with the winner advancing to face world No. 2 Elena Rybakina.
It is an unforgiving path for a player who has spent the season rebuilding her ranking, though Townsend is beatable and the reward for an upset would be the highest-profile match of Osorio’s summer. Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, listed on early entry publications, will not appear.
The former world No. 10 announced last week that she will not play again on tour this year and intends to return in 2027 using a protected ranking, after a season that produced a 4-19 record and eight consecutive losses. Four Latin American women entered qualifying instead. Argentina’s Solana Sierra went out Tuesday evening to Japan’s Aoi Ito, 6-1, 6-1, leaving Colombia’s Emiliana Arango, Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska and Mexico’s Renata Zarazúa to chase the twelve main-draw places on offer.
In the men’s qualifying, 36-year-old Argentine Marco Trungelliti came through his opener against Sebastian Ofner in three sets, while Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien and Colombia’s Nicolás Mejía were still in action late Tuesday. Main-draw play begins Thursday and runs through Aug. 23, the last significant test before the US Open. For a region sending fourteen players to Ohio, the answers about form and readiness will come quickly.
