MASON, Ohio — It takes Pete Holtermann a second to remember how long he’s been here. When he places the year, he laughs.
“You’re making me feel old,” Holtermann said.
He’s been working at the Cincinnati Open since 1995, when it was called something else. And on Monday, one of his jobs is explaining what’s new at the tournament this year. It's a more difficult job than normal, the year after tournament officials doubled the Lindner Family Tennis Center’s size and spent $260 million on upgrades.
“There are people who’ve been around here a lot longer than I have,” Holtermann said. “Their jaws are on the floor.”
Go behind-the-scenes in the video below:
In a few minutes, Holtermann is leading me through part of the facility that used to be nothing but a parking lot. This year, the tournament’s added 10 more courts and 123 more matches.
“To double the acreage is huge,” Holtermann said. “To do it in 11 months is ridiculous.”
Officials started work to expand the facility almost immediately after last year's tournament ended. The Cincinnati Open almost left Warren County in 2023. It stayed, in part, because of money pledged by Mason, county and state officials.
Holtermann tells me they’ve already received positive reactions from players about the changes. There’s no more fighting over practice courts, he said.
“And that was the intent," Holtermann said. "We want to be the world’s best tournament."
For you, it means more food options, a dedicated kids zone and just more space in general.
Here’s a list of other changes:
- A shaded dining area that seats 1,400 next to 13 restaurant storefronts
- Six pickleball courts
- Fan lawns
- Improved player amenities, including a Tennis Channel broadcast studio where fans can watch player interviews
- A gaming room
- More than 40,000 additional plants
“I think they’ll really feel like they’re in a park,” Holtermann said. “The number of trees, the amount of shade. We’ve really created an atmosphere where they don’t want to leave, either.”
For the region, it's an opportunity to put on a show. Marketing Director Elizabeth Desrosiers says officials expect more than 250,000 people to visit the tournament this month. The majority of those people come from outside the region, she said. And Desrosiers says people from all 50 states have bought tickets.
“It just brings so much energy into the community,” Holtermann said. “I think the Cincinnati Open is a huge community asset."
Future plans include opening the facility up to the public in more ways all year, including the player clubhouse and restaurant.
“I think that’s going to be a real game-changer,” Holtermann said.
