“A very American thing”: Coco Gauff, Ben Shelton and more take the wheel in Cincinnati

CINCINNATI—After last year’s uncertain summer, the fan-favorite Cincinnati Open is once again back in its rightful home at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, which is set to receive a laundry list of renovations in time for the 2025 edition.

Players are already enjoying quality-of-life improvements like a new warm-up and training area adjacent to the practice courts, while some have already tested out the nearby 18-hole golf course, which has been reserved for players all week.

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Another player perk that’s getting rave reviews: each Cincy player gets their own Cadillac Escalade to get around in, one of a fleet of 200 vehicles courtesy of the tournament’s official partner.

“I love the Midwest feel,” said No. 6 seed Jessica Pegula of the second 1000-level event of the North American hard-court swing. “I love being able to drive places and have my own car.

"I don't know if that's a very American thing to say, but I like, genuinely love it.”

The Cincinnati event is far from the first to offer top players vehicles to drive themselves around. It’s a common, and sometimes almost necessary, feature of tournaments held in sprawling North American cities, which can feel like a totally different world after a summer spent in compact, walkable European capitals.

World No. 2 Coco Gauff, a Florida native, is used to driving herself around at home—but in Toronto and Cincinnati, coach Felipe Ramirez has taken the mantle of “designated Uber driver of the team.”

“It’s nice that I can go to Target, maybe find a Chick-fil-A or something,” Gauff said. “Typically if I'm in the U.S., with the exception of New York, if they didn't give us a car here, I probably would just end up renting one…

“It’s just nice to not have to Uber, so I really appreciate the tournament doing that.”

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For players who spend a lot of their time on tour being shuttled back and forth from one car to another—going from the airport, to the hotel, to the tournament site, and back again—it’s a welcome change of pace.

But should players really be trusted to drive themselves? That’s the question posed by Ben Shelton, who took to Instagram Stories earlier in the week to share a hilarious call out after seeing a “disgrace” of a parking job at the players’ hotel lot.

“Bruh, I just want to say. I just pulled into the parking garage at the hotel in Cincinnati and whoever has the car No. 164, bro,” Shelton said amid laughter. “You just should not have a license. I’m sorry. You shouldn’t be able to drive.”

Most viewers agreed with Shelton as he circled the vehicle in question, revealing that it was at a complete diagonal to the intended parking spot. Speaking to Tennis Channel on Tuesday, Shelton doubled down but declined on naming the player in question.

WATCH: Ben Shelton discusses coaching and a parking "disgrace" in Cincy

“It’s a disgrace. They give everyone here a Cadillac Escalade. I think it’s a responsibility, right?” Shelton told Prakash Amritraj.

“I know it’s a big truck, but you can at least check the parking! You’ve got the 360 view now, these are advanced cars.

“I’m not going to expose who it is, because it’s a nice person. But it’s a German player. They’re in the main draw and I don’t believe they’ve played yet.”

As Shelton sent social media sleuths to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, and Reddit to decipher that one, Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac also found themselves learning about the unexpected risks of driving in Cincy.

The pair have been the subject of speculation since going viral during the Olympic Games in Paris, where the one-time couple—who were rumored to have split before the Games began—celebrated their gold medal victory in mixed doubles with a tearful kiss on the podium.

Machac and Siniakova didn’t comment on their relationship status in Paris, joking with “confused” press that they were keeping the information “top secret”. A few weeks later in Cincinnati, the pair were spotted by journalist Ben Rothenberg getting into the same Cadillac Escalade, triggering another wave of speculation.

Despite the on-and-off-road hazards, it’s clear that players, especially the Americans in the draw, are feeling right at home behind the wheel in Cincy.

“Cincinnati is great, but you need to drive to do things here!” said No. 2 seed Gauff. “So it is nice, I really appreciate it and I think the players appreciate it too.”