DC Open Begins With Plenty Of Star Power Assembled In Nation’s Capital City

Frances Tiafoe, DC Open, Washington
Frances Tiafoe (photo: Wick Photography/Mubadala Citi DC Open)

WASHINGTON, July 21, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

For more than a half a century, the Mubadala Citi DC Open has been a summer fixture in Washington, D.C., the nation’s capital city. The ATP/WTA 500-series tournament’s main draw, which begins today and continues through Sunday, July 27, kicks off the North American hard-court circuit. The swing also includes back-to-back ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 stops in Canada (Toronto for men and Montreal for women) and Cincinnati leading up to the US Open, which begins on August 24. With Washington having the week all to itself, unlike a year ago when it had to share the calendar with the Paris Olympic Games, there’s plenty of star power on hand at William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park to whet the appetite of all tennis fans.

The tournament, which began back in 1969, was founded to support Arthur Ashe‘s vision of playing a professional tennis tournament in a fully accessible public park. The tournament has continued to build and expand the event, with the goal of positively impacting the Washington community and creating one of the best tennis tournaments in the world. The WTEF, a longtime tournament beneficiary, capitalizes on the tournament annual for fundraising and has raised millions of dollars for youth programs in the Washington area.

Now, the Mubadala Citi DC Open is the only ATP/WTA combined 500-series event in the world – and fifth-largest pro tournament in the United States. This year’s ATP field is led by World No. 4 Taylor Fritz of the United States and includes four other Top-10 players: No. 7 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, No. 8 Ben Shelton of the United States, No. 9 Holger Rune of Denmark and No. 10 Andrey Rublev. Also, among Top-20 players, there are: No. 11 Frances Tiafoe of the United States, No. 13 Alex de Minaur of Australia, No. 14 Daniil Medvedev of Russia and No. 18 Flavio Cobolli of Italy.

During his pre-tournament news conference Sunday afternoon, Shelton was asked what goals he’s set for the North American swing. He said: “Always the biggest goal is the US Open, but I love all the early tournaments, lead-up tournaments in the U.S. swing. I think this is one of the tournaments with the best tennis crowds.

“There is a lot of energy around this tournament. It’s the reason that after a different slam, if it was, you know, two weeks after the slam ended and I was in the quarterfinals, I’d probably pull out and not play, but this is a tournament that I never want to miss, just because of the energy and excitement around it.”

On the WTA side, leading the field is World No. 4 and 2019 DC Open champion Jessica Pegula of the United States along with a quartet of other Top-40 Americans, including: No. 11 Emma Navarro, No. 26 Sofia Kenin, No. 31 McCartney Kessler and No. 35 Peyton Stearns. Also, there’s No. 12 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, No. 19 Clara Tauson, No. 24 Magdalena Frech of Poland, No. 27 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine and No. 28 Magda Linette of Poland. Fan favorites Emma Raducanu of Great Britain, Naomi Osaka of Japan, Danielle Collins and Venus Williams of the United States are also in women’s draw.

“I’m excited to be back. Definitely my favorite part of the year,” Pegula said during her pre-tournament news conference Sunday. “I love being in North America. I love playing on the hard courts. Always just a fun swing for me. I feel like I always play some of my best tennis here, as well.”

In a recent phone interview with Tennis TourTalk, tournament chairman Mark Ein said he’s exciting by this year’s player field.

“I’m totally thrilled. It might be our best player field ever,” he said.

“It’s unbelievable the combination of the top players with the biggest, best rankings and other players who are just fan favorites and who have had success here. It’s so deep that you just know that from literally the first ball on Monday until the last ball on Sunday, you’re going to see the best players in the world playing great matches.”

For the fifth straight year, all sessions of the Mubadala Citi DC Open are sold out. 

“When I walk on the grounds, people are ultra excited,” said the sixth-seeded Tiafoe, a local favorite from nearby Hyattsville, Maryland, who participated in pre-tournament media Sunday afternoon. He’s also teaming with Shelton to play doubles. “Everywhere I go, it’s like a long homecoming. I know everyone from security and everyone from staff for so long, and everyone’s so excited to see me. A lot of ‘I’m proud of you’ and ‘Keep going,’ and kids and stuff. 

“A lot of love like that. But yeah, I mean, just get bulldozed everywhere I go, which is kind of fun.”

Around the DC Open

• A year ago, Sebastian Korda of the United States became the first American man to win the ATP Washington title since Andy Roddick in 2007. He captured the crown 22 years after his father, Petr Korda, won the 1992 title defeating Henrik Holm. Petr Korda played in three DC Open title matches (1991, 1992, 1997). 

Also, an injury is preventing Paula Badosa of Spain from defending her WTA Washington title. She has been sidelined since losing in the opening round of Wimbledon to Katie Boulter of Great Britain, suffering from a lower back ailment.

• Last year, Americans Nathaniel Lammons (currently ranked 35th) and Jackson Withrow (No. 33) won the DC Open doubles title for men, their first above the 250-series level. They are back to defending their title. The top-seeded team is comprised of No. 12 Simone Bolelli and No. 14 Andrea Vavassori of Italy, followed by No. 17 Christian Harrison and No. 18 Evan King of the United States. The top-seeded women’s doubles team is Asia Muhammad of the United States and Erin Routliffe of Canada.

• DC Open main draw wild cards were awarded to: ATP – Holger Rune of Denmark, Daniel Evans of Great Britain, Mackenzie McDonald of the United States and Americans Ethan Quinn and Emilio Nava. WTA – Venus Williams of the United States, Naomi Osaka of Japan, Maria Sakkari of Greece and rising Canadian teenage star Victoria Mboko.

• Among the qualifiers is 97th-ranked American Taylor Townsend. She won two rounds of singles qualifying over the weekend to earn a berth in the women’s main draw. Her first-round opponent will be No. 37 Tatjana Maria of Germany, who recently won the title at Queen’s Club in London and was a finalist earlier this month at Newport, R.I.

Townsend is also seeded second in the 16-team doubles draw with China’s Zhang Shuai.

• American Zachary Svajda, ranked 153rd, earned a berth in the men’s main draw after winning both of his qualifying draw matches on Sunday. His first-round win over Bernard Tomic of Australia was suspended by rain Saturday evening and continued Sunday morning. Then, he returned in the afternoon to defeat Yosuke Watanuki of Japan. Svajda, who won the Hall of Fame tournament in Newport, R.I. earlier this month, will face No. 49 Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia in the first round of the main draw on Tuesday.

Sunday’s DC Open men’s qualifying results

Sunday’s DC Open women’s qualifying results 

Monday’s DC Open order of play

By the numbers

There are five major champions among the women’s 28-player draw: Venus Williams, a 7-time Grand Slam titlist in singles, who is also a four-time Olympic gold medalist; Naomi Osaka, winner of four Grand Slam singles titles; Elena Rybakina, winner of the 2022 Wimbledon crown; Emma Raducanu, winner of the 2021 US Open, and Sofia Kenin, winner of the 202o Australian Open title.

“Quotable …”

“She can take six months off and she clocks it clean. You can’t teach that kind of talent. She’s just so good. I don’t know what she’s going to do. I don’t ask those questions. I think we always hit the ball, because that’s who we are, we’re always hitting.

“Quite frankly, it’s great cardio. You get great legs and great arms from tennis, quiet as it’s kept. So obviously that’s part of her goal, too, is to stay in shape. I mean, I keep saying to my team, ‘The only thing that would make this better is if she was here,’ like we always did everything together, so of course I miss her. But if she comes back, I’m sure she’ll let y’all know.”

– Venus Williams, 45, during her pre-tournament news conference Sunday, speaking of her younger sister, 23-time major champion Serena Williams. Venus Williams will play her first WTA match since March 2024 when she faces fellow American Peyton Stearns in the first round of the DC Open.

 

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