Djokovic Returns to Cincinnati, Draw Set for Tonight
Novak Djokovic returns to competition for the first time since Wimbledon. He trained in Portonovi, and the Cincinnati draw lands tonight around 9 PM Serbian time.
The clip from Portonovi runs under half a minute, no commentary, no editing. Novak Djokovic, on a damp afternoon on the Montenegrin coast, drives a full forehand, resets on the baseline and immediately calls for another ball. Someone standing by the fence filmed it on a phone and posted it Monday.
For anyone who had only seen him in vacation photos since Wimbledon, that clip was the whole story. Djokovic is back on court, days before his return to Cincinnati.
The Montenegrin coast is not a new base for him. He has used the Portonovi courts before during stays in Montenegro, and he was spotted there several times this summer. What is new is that this session is followed by a flight across the Atlantic.
The draw is tonight, play starts Thursday
The Cincinnati Masters 1000, held in the US state of Ohio, runs from August 13 to 23. The draw is set for Tuesday, August 11, around 3 PM local time, which puts the names of Djokovic’s opponents in around 9 PM Serbian time.
That draw is his first real data point after a full break. Djokovic has not played an official match since Wimbledon and skipped the Montreal Masters. On the London grass he reached the semifinal, where he was stopped by Jannik Sinner, the tournament’s eventual champion.
At 39 years old, this is his last tune-up before the season’s biggest tournament, so the shape of the draw itself becomes part of the story. A tough early quarter means fewer matches in his legs heading into New York. An easier path means a week of match rhythm, which after a month off matters more to him than a trophy.
What does the absence of Sinner and Alcaraz change?
Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner will both miss Cincinnati, each with an injury. That leaves the tournament without the two players who have split the biggest trophies between them over the past two seasons, and it puts Djokovic in the field as its biggest name.
The main contenders should include Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev and Felix Auger-Aliassime. It is still a draw no one gets through without form, but the difference from previous Masters events is obvious just from the entry list.
Three Ohio titles and the 2023 final
Cincinnati is one of the tournaments where Djokovic has real history. He has won it three times, in 2018, 2020 and 2023, and reached the final five times. His last title there came against Alcaraz, a match he still names among his best at Masters level.
This will be his first appearance in Ohio since that title. He announced the trip in late July with a video message, saying:
Hi everyone, happy to announce I’m coming to the Cincinnati Open 2026 this year, for the first time since 2023, when I played one of the best finals of my ATP Masters career.
The message was recorded in English and posted through the tournament’s own channel, three weeks before the competition began.
Next stop, New York
The US Open starts August 30 in New York, where Djokovic is chasing his 25th Grand Slam title. Cincinnati is the only real test before that, played on the same surface, in similar conditions and against almost the same list of rivals.
That is why the Portonovi session is more than a clip for social media. It is the only public sign of whether his body can handle full intensity after a month without matches, and that is a question not settled by statements but by a run of five matches in nine days.
My own read is that he does not need a trophy in Ohio, just a quarterfinal and the feel of the ball in a third set in the heat. If he gets that, he heads into New York with far better prospects than the calendar currently suggests. The first name from the draw lands tonight, the first matches are Thursday.
