Every singles winner of the last 19 Grand Slam events and the last 37 ATP Masters events, the two most dominant players in men’s tennis, and an American defending champion are the highlights of the field for the 109th year of Cincinnati’s world-class tennis tradition: The Western & Southern Financial Group Masters.
Two of the men expected to compete are the winningest players in the men’s game as of late – 2005 champion and world No. 1 Roger Federer, and nine-time AMS title winner and world No. 2 Rafael Nadal. They will be the top competitors for Andy Roddick in his quest to become the first player since Andre Agassi to win three singles titles in Cincinnati. The field will include such rising stars as Andy Murray, 2007 AMS Miami winner and French Open and Wimbledon semifinalist Novak Djokovic, and 2007 Wimbledon semifinalist Richard Gasquet. Also on hand will be American James Blake, 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis, and every other star in the men’s game.
The following players have gained direct acceptance into the main draw based upon their ATP Ranking as of Tuesday, July 3.
| Player | Country | Rank | Best Cincy Result |
| Federer, Roger * | SUI | 1 | W in '05 |
| Nadal, Rafael | ESP | 2 | QF in '06 |
| Roddick, Andy * | USA | 3 | W in '06 & '03 |
| Davydenko, Nikolay | RUS | 4 | QF in '05 |
| Djokovic, Novak | SRB | 5 | R32 in '06 |
| Gonzalez, Fernando | CHI | 6 | SF in '06 & '02 |
| Robredo, Tommy | ESP | 7 | SF in '06 & '04 |
| Murray, Andy | GBR | 8 | QF in '06 |
| Blake, James | USA | 9 | R16 in '03 & '01 |
| Haas, Tommy | GER | 10 | QF in '04 |
| Berdych, Tomas | CZE | 11 | R32 in '05 |
| Ljubicic, Ivan | CRO | 12 | QF in '06 & '01 |
| Youzhny, Mikhail | RUS | 13 | QF in '05 |
| Gasquet, Richard | FRA | 14 | R32 in '05 |
| Ferrer, David | ESP | 15 | QF in '06 |
| Baghdatis, Marcos | CYP | 16 | R16 in '06 |
| Canas, Guillermo | ARG | 17 | R16 in '01 |
| Ferrero, Juan Carlos * | ESP | 18 | F in '06 |
| Hewitt, Lleyton * | AUS | 19 | F in '04 & '02 |
| Chela, Juan Ignacio | ARG | 20 | R16 4 times |
| Nieminen, Jarkko | FIN | 21 | R16 in '02 |
| Moya, Carlos * | ESP | 22 | W in '02 |
| Tursunov, Dmitry | RUS | 23 | R32 in '06 |
| Safin, Marat * | RUS | 24 | QF in '05 & '04 |
| Nalbandian, David | ARG | 25 | QF in '03 |
| Ancic, Mario | CRO | 26 | R16 in '05 |
| Volandri, Filippo | ITA | 27 | R64 in '05 |
| Soderling, Robin | SWE | 28 | R16 in '06 & '04 |
| Calleri, Agustin | ARG | 29 | R64 in '03 |
| Kohlschreiber, Philipp | GER | 30 | 1st app. |
| Melzer, Jurgen | AUT | 31 | R64 in '05 & '04 |
| Monaco, Juan | ARG | 32 | 1st app. |
| Hrbaty, Dominik | SVK | 33 | R16, 2006 & '05 |
| Clement, Arnaud | FRA | 34 | SF in '00 |
| Bjorkman, Jonas | SWE | 35 | R16 in '04 & '00 |
| Malisse, Xavier | BEL | 36 | R16 in '02 |
| Mayer, Florian | GER | 37 | 1st app. |
| Fish, Mardy | USA | 38 | F in '03 |
| Mathieu, Paul-Henri | FRA | 39 | R32 in '05 & '03 |
| Almagro, Nicolas | ESP | 40 | R32 in '06 |
| Verdasco, Fernando | ESP | 41 | R64 3 times |
* = Current / Former World No. 1
These and other players will be competing for a piece of the $2.45 million total purse in a 56-man draw with the top eight seeds receiving a first-round bye. Cincinnati’s tournament is the oldest in the nation played in its original city, and it is now one of the most prestigious in the world. Here’s how the 56-man main draw field is determined:
Direct Acceptance: 44 (Announced today)
Wild Cards: 4 (These are four spots in the main draw filled at the tournament’s discretion. The four players will be determined between now and the draw ceremony on Friday, August 10.)
Qualifiers: 7 (Seven players who win two matches in the 28-man qualifier on August 11 & 12 are placed into the main draw.)
Special Exempt: 1 (A spot left open for a player who would have had to go through qualifying, but who’s in the semis in AMS Canada, which are played at the same time as qualifying here. If this doesn’t happen, the spot is used by the next player in line for direct acceptance.)
Forty-four players get directly into the tournament, and the final player on the list of direct acceptances is ranked 42nd. Nicolas Kiefer and Radek Stepanek used injury-protection to enter, which prevented the 43rd and 44th-ranked players, Stanislas Wawrinka and Benjamin Becker respectively, from obtaining direct acceptance. (Wawrinka and Becker are first on the list to replace any late withdrawals.)
Some of the prominent players who won’t get into the Main Draw without Main Draw withdrawals due to injury, a wild card or through qualifying include 2005 semifinalist Robby Ginepri, 2000 finalist Tim Henman, Max Mirnyi, Sebastian Grosjean, Fabrice Santoro, Gael Monfils, Thomas Johansson, Ivo Karlovic and Sam Querrey. A preliminary qualifying field will be announced at the end of July.
The 2007 Western & Southern Financial MASTERS will be held August 11-19 in Mason, Ohio. The Western & Southern Financial Group WOMEN’S OPEN will be held July 14-22. For tickets or information visit www.cincytennis.com or call the tournament 513-651-0303. Tickets also are available via TicketMaster at 513-562-4949, or www.ticketmaster.com.
