How Agassi, Rafter, Roddick and Nadal closed out the ‘Summer Sweep’ in Cincy | The ATP Tour

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How Agassi, Rafter, Roddick and Nadal Sealed ‘Summer Sweep’ in Cincy

ATP Tour Champions are the only four players to win Canada and Cincinnati in the same year

August 11, 2024

Winning in sports is hard, but when you ride it can become a habit. Over the years, winning has been just that for Andre Agassi, Patrick Rafter, Andy Roddick and Rafael Nadal across the North American hard court swing.

During their careers, those four major players completed one ATP Tour victory at the Cincinnati Open. Since the start of the ATP Masters 1000 series in 1990, they are the only players to support the title held at the Omnium Banque National presented by Rogers by claiming the trophy at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Ohio that season.

Skipping back-to-back wins in Canada and Cincinnati has proven difficult for some ATP Tour stars. However former world No. 1 Agassi (1995), Rafter (1998), Roddick (2003) and Nadal (2013) have all won both hard court events in the same season. All but Agassi went on to win the US Open in the same year.

Ahead of the 2024 Cincinnati Open, which begins Monday in Mason, Ohio, ATPtour.com looks back at four champions who have tasted back-to-back Masters 1000 success in North America.

Andre Agassi – 1995
In 1995, Agassi arrived in Montreal looking to consolidate his position as World No. 1 at Omnium Banque National presented by Rogers. Two weeks and 10 wins later, the American stood on center court at the Lindner Family Tennis Center to become the first man to win the Canada-Cincinnati Masters 1000 twice.

The American had already captured hard court titles earlier that year at the Australian Open and in San Jose, Miami and Washington. The fact that he won on the fields of Montreal and Cincinnati was not a big surprise, however the way Agassi won his back-to-back Masters 1000 crowns was almost as impressive as the novel achievement itself.

The 25-year-old dropped just two sets in 10 matches in Montreal and Cincinnati, and defeated Top 10 seed in both finals. After seeing off his third win of the year against World No. 2 Pete Sampras to successfully defend his title in Canada, Agassi brought his best tennis to his home country with a dominant run in Cincinnati.

A week between events, Agassi arrived in Ohio rested and refreshed. His one moment of danger came when he was forced to recover from a bageled serve in the second set of his second match against World No. 12 Alberto Berasategui. Agassi did just that, eventually defeating the two-time defending champion and World No. 5 Michael Chang 7-5, 6-2 in the final.

Agassi claimed another ATP Tour crown in New Haven before his 26-match winning streak came to an end against Sampras in the US Open final. Despite that disappointment in New York, he could look back on an incredible summer in which he claimed his sixth and seventh Masters 1000 crowns, respectively, en route to a piece of ATP Tour history.

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^{_{Andre Agassi became the first man to complete the Canada-Cincinnati ‘Summer Sweep’. Photo Credit: Getty Images}}

Patrick Rafter – 1998
Rafter rose to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time in July 1999, famously holding the position for just one week. Roll back a year and it was his outstanding results in the 1998 North American summer that laid the foundations for his rise to the top.

The way Rafter flipped the script between his two strongest rivals in the Lexus ATP Head2Head was the key to his double victory in North America. After earning his second win in eight tour-level meetings against Richard Krajicek to become the first man in 10 years to win a Canadian Masters 1000 event without dropping a set, he advanced to the final in Cincinnati in just one set. Awaiting the Australian was Pete Sampras, who had won his last eight matches.

Even though he was full of confidence in his quest for his first Masters 1000 crown in Toronto, Rafter may have quickly felt out of place against Sampras after the American was charged in the first set with a single game loss. However, the calm and collected Australian kept his composure to fight back to win 1-6, 7-6(2) 6-4 and ensure he emulates Agassi’s historic ‘Summer Sweep’.

“Well, winning becomes a habit,” said Rafter, who beat Sampras again the following month en route to the US Open title, after his Cincinnati win. “You just go out and play and things work for you. Every decision you make is relaxing. But then, you know, you can lose it again very quickly. At this stage, the decisions I made are working. You can ask Andre that. You could ask Pete that, he’d probably say the same thing.”

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_{^{Patrick Rafter’s form in 1998 paved the way for him to rise to World No. 1. Photo Credit: Getty Images}}

Andy Roddick – 2003
An All-American final between two good friends drew home fans to the 2003 Cincinnati Open.

Enjoying the summer of his career to that point, the rapidly rising 21-year-old Andy Roddick entered the championship match in Ohio without dropping a set. World No. 7 unleashed his big serve and powerful all-around game with all the confidence of a man who had just arrived in Ohio to take down Roger Federer and David Nalbandian to win his first Masters 1000 title in Montreal.

On the other side of the net was Roddick’s longtime friend Mardy Fish, who had spent his younger days living with the Roddick family in Boca Raton, Florida, where the two trained together. Although Roddick admitted later that he found it difficult to compete against a good friend in such a big match, he finally broke the deadlock after saving two tournament points to take it 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(4). ) to win.

“It’s tough,” reflected Roddick after outlasting Fish for two hours and 29 minutes. “I wouldn’t have wanted this to end any other way, but of course as he left, I felt for him. I wouldn’t mind if I didn’t really know this guy or just said ‘Hi’ in passing sometimes, but knowing someone well and knowing what he’s thinking and what he’s going through, made me feel bad. , I guess.”

Just as Rafter did in 1998, Roddick went on to win the US Open in September, defeating Nalbandian again before beating Juan Carlos Ferrero in straight sets to win the first and only major of his career.

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Andy Roddick defeated his best friend Mardy Fish in the 2003 Cincinnati championship match. Photo Credit: Brian Bahr/Getty Images

Rafael Nadal – 2013
Nadal’s 2013 season was one of the greatest in his history. The Spaniard won eleven trophies collected in 2005 – while amassing an impressive 75-7 win record.

However, when the Spaniard arrived in Montreal in 2013 he was aiming to bounce back from a disappointing first round exit at Wimbledon to Belgian Steve Darcis. Nadal advanced through his first three matches in Quebec before meeting Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. Two months after their five-set epic at Roland Garros, Nadal beat the Serbian again, this time 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2). With the victory, Nadal recorded his first win against Djokovic on hard courts in three years and he topped favorite Milos Raonic 6-2, 6-2 in the final to claim his second Canadian Masters 1000 title.

The following week in Cincinnati, Nadal set about making sure his Wimbledon disappointment was a distant memory. He survived a three-set threat from 22-year-old Grigor Dimitrov before defeating Federer 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in the quarter-finals. It was the Spaniard’s third win in a row against his biggest rival. Nadal then beat Tomas Berdych in the semifinals and John Isner 7-6(8), 7-6(3) in the final to lift the trophy in Cincinnati for the first time.

“It means a lot, to be able to win two straight titles, two Masters 1000 titles hard, back to back, is amazing for me,” said Nadal, who is the latest player to complete the ‘Summer Sweep’. “I’ve never done anything like this in my entire career. So it was an emotional moment on a lot of different fronts.”

Like Rafter and Roddick, Nadal went on to win the US Open in September, his 13th major crown and second US Open.

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^{_{Rafael Nadal won a total of 10 tour-level titles in 2013. Photo Credit: Getty Images}}