The top first-round WTA matches to watch during the Cincinnati Open

The first round of the Cincinnati Open main draw kicks off Thursday, Aug. 13, with 32 singles matches to be played on both the men’s and women’s side. While the top 32 seeds receive byes into the second round, there are still several matches to look out for in the tournament’s opening round.

Here are some WTA matches to keep an eye on in the first round:

Caty McNally, McCartney Kessler headline All-American rematch

American women are a staple on the WTA tour, not just in terms of star power but also due to the depth of talent. Emerging players Caty McNally and McCartney Kessler add to the depth, and they will be facing each other in the only All-American first-round match.

Alongside Peyton Stearns, McNally is one of two Cincinnati area natives in the WTA draw. The Madeira native has been amidst a career resurgence in the last two years after missing all of 2024 with an injury, recently reaching the fourth round of a WTA 1000 for the first time in her career at the Madrid Open and reaching a career-high No. 50 world ranking in June.

Kessler has been ranked as high as 30th in the world, most notably upsetting Coco Gauff at the Dubai Championships in 2025. She’s having a career-best Grand Slam season, making the second round of multiple slams for the first time in her career. The Georgia native previously beat McNally in the 2025 Cincinnati Open second round 6-4, 6-3.

Upset brewers Yulia Putintseva and Liudmila Samsonova will face off

Though both are ranked outside the top 32, Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva and Russian player Liudmila Samsonova have a history of giving top players trouble.

Putintseva notably beat Iga Świątek and Gauff in back-to-back months (defeating Gauff at Cincinnati) in 2024 and is a three-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist. Meanwhile, Samsonova had runs to the Canadian and China Open finals in 2023 and most recently took reigning Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina to three sets in the fourth round of this year’s Canadian Open − her best WTA 1000 result in over a year.

Not only do these two players have a history of standout results, but they also have contrasting play styles. Samsonova is known for her big hitting from the baseline and is amongst the tallest WTA players at 5-foot-11. Meanwhile, Putintseva is just 5-foot-3 and plays more of a creative, variety-driven game. The only time they faced off, an unseeded Putintseva upset No. 13 Samsonova 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, so the Russian will be looking for revenge.

Former champion Karolina Plíšková returns to Cincinnati to play Sarah Bejlek

At the 2024 U.S. Open, Karolina Plíšková suffered a severe ankle injury that required surgery and sidelined her for almost the entire 2025 season. But in her return this year, the 34-year-old has shot back up into the WTA’s top 70 after a third-round Australian Open run and a trip to the Madrid quarterfinals. The former World No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam finalist now returns to Cincinnati, the tournament that she won in 2016, for the first time since 2024.

As a veteran and one of the best Czech players of her generation, Plíšková will go up against 20-year-old compatriot Sarah Bejlek, who is making her Cincinnati Open debut and is the highest-ranked unseeded player in the draw. Bejlek won her first WTA title this February at the Abu Dhabi Open and reached a career-high No. 34 WTA ranking in April. In her most recent match, a second-round loss to No. 7 Świątek at the Canada Open, she challenged Świątek by forcing her into a 21-minute-long service game.

The winner of this all-Czech match will take on another Czech player in the second round: two-time Grand Slam champion and the No. 9-seeded Barbora Krejčíková.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: The top first-round WTA matches to watch during the Cincinnati Open