Vignesh Gogineni will compete in the Cincinnati Open qualifying draw next week at the same Mason courts where he won a state championship four years ago.

The 22-year-old Mason High School graduate received a qualifying wild card for the 2026 Cincinnati Open, which begins qualifying play Tuesday, Aug. 11, at the Lindner Family Tennis Center on Courseview Drive. Tournament organizers announced the wild cards on July 31.

Gogineni, currently ranked 1,097th in the world in men's singles, will be making his debut at an ATP Masters 1000 event. The Cincinnati Open is the third-largest tennis event in the United States and was voted the 2025 ATP Masters 1000 Tournament of the Year by players.

The homecoming angle is hard to miss. Gogineni won the 2022 OHSAA Division I state singles title on these same courts, beating Gahanna's Brandon Carpico 6-3, 6-2 in the final. He also helped lead the Comets to the 2019 team state championship at the Lindner Family Tennis Center.

"It's three years coming, that's what it is," Gogineni said after winning that 2022 individual title, his first after reaching the state final in two prior seasons.

A three-time All-Ohio selection and All-American at Mason, Gogineni entered his senior season with a 33-4 singles record under coach Mike Reid before heading to Yale University. There, he played No. 1 singles, earned first-team All-Ivy League honors as a senior, went 28-8 in his final season and competed in the NCAA Individual Championships, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Since graduating from Yale, Gogineni has played five ITF events, reaching the quarterfinals twice in California in June at Claremont and San Diego. He was ranked as high as No. 20 in the USA and No. 1 in Ohio as a junior.

The tournament grounds open Saturday, Aug. 8, for Community Weekend. Qualifying runs Aug. 11-12, with the main draw beginning around Aug. 13. The tournament concludes Aug. 23.