If you enjoy professional tennis, plan to catch the action in person while weaving attractions near these tournaments into your travel itinerary.
By George Moore, A460576
March-April 2026
My wife, Sherrian, is a big professional tennis fan. She looks forward to watching her favorite players on television, especially during the four Grand Slam tournaments — the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open. She had always dreamed of attending a tournament in person, but we never had the opportunity.
The author photographed top-ranked players at the 2024 Cincinnati Open, including Coco Gauff.
That changed several years ago during a motorhome trip through Ohio, which included a visit with an old Air Force friend. It turned out my colleague, Chris, was also a tennis fan, and she told us about the Western & Southern Open (now called the Cincinnati Open) held at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio. She explained that this was an ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 tournament — the level right below the Grand Slam tournaments — and attracts the top men’s and women’s players in the world. She also emphasized it was more budget-friendly, had smaller crowds, and didn’t involve the traffic congestion of, say, the U.S. Open in New York City.
Jannik Sinner
Sherrian was sold on the idea, so it was my job to plan a trip to the tournament. My goal was to incorporate interesting sightseeing stops as we traveled. Since then, we have taken two motorhome trips to the Cincinnati tournament, finding plenty to see and explore along the way. Our first trip included Ohio attractions: touring the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton; exploring the Amish countryside in northeastern Ohio; and visiting Chris near Cleveland. On our second trip, we drove north through Kentucky, stopping at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Mammoth Cave National Park, and the Ark Encounter in Williamstown. On our way home, we visited historic Hermann, Missouri (see my Family RVing article in the April 2023 issue), home of the Stone Hill Winery.
Ben Shelton
While I’m not an avid tennis fan myself — though I do enjoy watching hard-fought matches — I am an amateur photographer. I’ve never had the opportunity to photograph a professional sporting event, so I looked forward to “shooting” the Cincinnati Open. I was concerned that I wouldn’t be close enough to get good action shots, but I was pleasantly surprised. Tennis isn’t like baseball or football, where you’re seated far away from the action. At the tennis center, we were right next to the players on the practice and small courts and even had great access when seated in the grandstand and center court.
Carlos Alcaraz
Several RV parks are convenient to the Lindner Family Tennis Center. We stayed at the Olive Branch Campground, just a short drive north on Interstate 71 (olivebranchcampground.com). A couple we met at the tournament camped at the Lebanon/Cincinnati KOA Holiday in Lebanon, Ohio (koa.com/campgrounds/cincinnati). Note: You’ll need to make reservations nine to 12 months in advance. The FRVA Marketplace (frva.com/rvmarketplace) lists additional Ohio campgrounds; some offer an FRVA-member discount.
Ohio Amish country.
During my research, I discovered the Cincinnati Open isn’t the only major tennis tournament that can easily be the focal part of an RV trip. Several Masters 1000 and Masters 500 tournaments take place throughout the U.S. and Canada. (Fewer top-ranked players attend the latter.)
In February, a visit to the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas can include the Nexo Dallas Open, an ATP 500 men’s tournament held at Ford Center at The Star in the town of Frisco.
National Corvette Museum, Bowling Green, Kentucky.
March offers several tennis tournaments to include in your travels or while snowbirding. Thousands of RVers who sojourn in southeastern California and Arizona can watch their favorite players at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California (bnpparibasopen.com), a Masters 1000 men’s and women’s tournament. Snowbirds in Florida can travel to the Miami Open, also a men’s and women’s Masters 1000 tournament. Approximately 600 miles up the coast from Miami is Charleston, South Carolina, which hosts the Credit One Charleston Open, a women’s WTA 500 tournament. Charleston boasts delicious seafood, blooming azaleas, plantations, a beautiful historic district, and Fort Sumter National Monument.
Ark Encounter, Williamstown, Kentucky.
Jumping ahead to July, more tournaments offer excellent options for RVing tennis fans. The Mubadala Citi DC Open is both a men’s and women’s 500 tournament. Washington, D.C., attractions are far too numerous to list, but my favorite is the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, part of the National Air and Space Museum. For RVers heading north to beat the heat, Canada hosts the National Bank Open (nationalbankopen.com), an event composed of Masters 1000 events. The men’s and women’s sites alternate yearly; in 2026, the men’s tournament takes place in Montreal, the women’s in Toronto.
August marks the final month for the U.S. pro tennis season. In early August, fans travel to southwest Ohio
for the Cincinnati Open mentioned earlier, a men’s and women’s Masters 1000 tournament. Late August brings the heralded U.S. Open, a Grand Slam tournament in Queens New York.
National Museum of the United States Air Force, Dayton, Ohio.
In addition to the Masters 1000 and 500 tournaments, 250-level tournaments are scheduled throughout the year. Check out the men’s ATP tour schedule (atptour.com) and women’s WTA schedule (wtatennis.com) for more tournament dates and locations. For information about individual tournaments, including ticket prices, search for the tournament name online. Try something different during your next RV trip: Make plans to attend a professional tennis tournament to watch some of the top tennis players in the world compete.