Forehands on the line, cars nowhere near it: Tennis players vs. the Escalade

The Cincinnati Open may be fresh and revamped this year, but one tradition remains—and it’s got players talking. Every player gets their very own Cadillac Escalade for the fortnight, courtesy of the tournament’s official sponsor.

The perk? Total freedom. Normally, tournament transport covers the airport run, and shuttling the player and team between the hotel and venue. With your own ride, you can go wherever you want, whenever you want—dinner across town, errands, or just cruising around Ohio.

“They give to the players their own car, so you are kind of independent,” Andrey Rublev told Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj. “You are coming whenever you want, you are leaving whenever you want. You don’t need to wait for anyone or the driver… You are allowed to go to dinners at any places, not just close to the hotel, so you don’t really see other players around.”

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Of course, driving a massive Escalade isn’t second nature to everyone—and players have no problem roasting each other’s parking disasters online.

Cameron Norrie caught Italy’s Flavio Cobolli grinning with a thumbs up next to his vehicle, labeled “Car 90,” which was parked completely diagonal and way outside the lines. Eva Lys shared her own clip from the hotel garage, calling out “Car 35” for a similarly tragic angle: “What the hell is this guys? Car 35, get your sh*t together!”

Taylor Fritz, the top-ranked American man, leapt to the mystery driver’s defense: “To be fair we all have MASSIVE Escalades and the hotel parking spots are insanely small…. I spend 10 min last night trying to get into a spot,” he wrote on X.

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Players agree the hotel lot is a tight squeeze—especially during the tournament’s busy first week, when it’s at max capacity.

“Let me tell you, parking at the player hotel is tight,” said Ajla Tomjanovic. “I’m always sweating when I’m in there. It’s like 20 minutes of work, but I’ve been good. No scrapes.”

Obviously, with Cadillac trucks, you can fit your whole team in there, which is nice. But fitting between the lines is a different task. A lot of these guys could hit a forehand at 107 MPH on the line, but it’s really something seeing those cars… Ben Shelton

Toronto champ Ben Shelton famously blasted bad parking jobs last year (“Whoever has the car No. 164, bro, you just should not have a license.”), but is more sympathetic this time around: “Europeans don’t have Escalades, the cars they drive are, like, tiny… To hand out an Escalade to every single player—just give them the keys and let them walk out—is dangerous!"

“Obviously, with Cadillac trucks, you can fit your whole team in there, which is nice,” he added. “But fitting between the lines is a different task. A lot of these guys could hit a forehand at 107 MPH on the line, but it’s really something seeing those cars…“

Other players are confident. Iga Swiatek hadn’t taken her ride for a spin yet, but was optimistic about her skills: “Especially nowadays, like, every car has cameras. So this is helpful.”

Tommy Paul says the Escalades are smaller than his own truck, but admits, “If you’re European and you don’t drive big cars, yeah it’s probably tough for them. I’ll cut them a break.”