Ben Shelton Feels Right At Home Playing In DC Open

Ben Shelton
Ben Shelton (photo: Wick Photography/Mubadala Citi DC Open)

WASHINGTON, July 23, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

As the Mubadala Citi DC Open unfolds in the nation’s capital city, less than five weeks before the start of the US Open, World No. 8 Ben Shelton of the United States feels right at home. Not only is the American No. 2 getting to play on the familiar hard-court surfaces that he has honed his game on, but Shelton also enjoys the summer atmosphere of the lead-up tournaments that comprise the North American Swing – Washington, D.C., Canada and Cincinnati. They are among his favorite crowds to play in front of on the ATP Tour.

“I find peace in the chaos,” the 22-year-old Shelton explained during his pre-tournament news conference on Sunday afternoon, “because I feel more uncomfortable at the quiet tournaments where there is not much going on, not as many fans, or the ground isn’t packed with people, or there is not a stigma of excitement around the tournament.”

Coming to Washington, D.C., after reaching the quarterfinals at the Wimbledon Championships, Shelton began the prep work of readying for this year’s US Open – “always the biggest goal” according to him – as he faced 95th-ranked American wild card Mackenzie McDonald, a DC Open finalist four years ago, in a featured second-round match Tuesday evening.

Shelton, one of five Top-10 players in this year’s DC Open field, owns a 20-1 win-loss record in matches this season in which he’s won the first set. Against McDonald, Shelton struck 23 winners – including nine aces – and advanced with a 75-minute 6-3, 6-4 win that left everyone who filled up 7,500-seat Stadium Court to near capacity in a happy mood. With Shelton’s 24th victory of the 2025 season secured, he will face No. 15 seed Gabriel Diallo of Canada in the third round on Thursday. Earlier in the day, Diallo eased past No. 54 Fabian Marozsan of Hungary in 73 minutes on Court 5, aided by 10 aces and 23 winners overall.

“I love all the early tournaments, lead-up tournaments in the U.S. Swing,” Shelton admitted earlier this week. “I think this is one of the tournaments with the best 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.”

Last year, Shelton strung together a trio of wins against Radu Albot, Brandon Nakashima and Denis Shapovalov en route to reaching the DC Open semifinals, before he lost to tournament runner-up Flavio Cobolli. Then, he reached the second round in Canada and followed it with a quarterfinal finish in Cincinnati. At the US Open, Shelton defeated Dominic Thiem on Opening Day in Arthur Ashe Stadium and Roberto Bautista Agut in the second round but lost in the next round to fellow American Frances Tiafoe in five tight and grueling sets. 

“Foe got me a little earlier in that tournament, but I thought I was playing great tennis,” said Shelton, who teamed with the popular Tiafoe in doubles this week in Washington. “Yeah, I think this is a great tournament for me to kind of start my U.S. swing. … I’m happy to be here, looking forward to putting up good performances. I always say I want to go one step deeper than I went the year before, and that’s not always the case. But yeah, I hope to have some good results in the U.S. swing.”

Shelton, for one, is looking forward to this year’s US Open. “It’s like for me, that’s what I live for, playing these tournaments,” he said. “It’s like every tournament of the year there is other tournaments that are sick, that they’re cool. But for me, just can’t compare, because that energy is not there when you’re driving from the city to the site or, you know, getting ready to walk out on Arthur Ashe [Stadium].

“For me, there is no feeling like it. That’s my personal opinion. But that’s where I have always felt at home playing and the reason I feel like I play my best tennis there.”

Win or lose, DC Open is Baptiste’s favorite week of the year

Washington, D.C.-native Hailey Baptiste has become one of the faces of this year’s DC Open. A larger-than-life photo of the young, 23-year-old up-and-comer on the WTA Tour is displayed on the exterior of the Stadium Court for everyone to see, and last weekend, she and fellow American Ethan Quinn were on hand in the Market Square for the draw ceremony.

“I’m super excited to be back home,” the 50th-ranked Baptiste said during her pre-tournament news conference over the weekend. “I have been here for, like, a week now, just seeing all my family and friends. Super refreshing after being in Europe for such a long time. Really excited to kick off the tournament.”

Following a run to the round of 16 at Roland-Garros, Baptiste won two rounds on grass at Wimbledon before losing to semifinalist Mirra Andreeva. While the DC Open is her 20th tournament of the season, it’s just her fourth in the U.S., following Indian Wells and Miami in March and Charleston in April.

Baptiste said the reception she’s received from family and friends since returning home to the nation’s capital city has been “amazing.”

“Obviously, all my friends and family have been watching from back home, and so when I saw them, I mean, everybody, they have been so, you know, welcoming and just congratulating me. Obviously that feels really good,” she added.

When Baptiste learned that tournament owner Mark Ein had included her picture on the stadium façade, it made her reflect on how far she had come since she was a young kid, who wanted nothing more than to become a pro tennis player. 

“Just being a young kid, coming and watching the tournament, seeing that as you grow up, and to be one of the faces on the stadium is incredible,” Baptiste recalled.

When she was asked what the DC Open tournament means to her, Baptiste smiled as she replied: “It’s probably my favorite week out of the year. Growing up, I think I have been at this tournament every single year it’s been played. It means a lot, for sure.

“I wouldn’t say so much that there is pressure, but of course I want to win and do really well at my home tournament. That’s obviously an amazing thing for the fans, as well. I think it’s just something that everybody wants.”

A day after she and Venus Williams won their first-round doubles match to much fanfare before several thousand fans, Baptiste was featured on Stadium Court in a mid-afternoon tussle against 2020 Australian Open champion and fellow American Sofia Kenin, the sixth seed, whose best finish at the DC Open was reaching the round of 16 in 2019. It’s the same year Baptiste earned her first career WTA Tour main-draw win, when she upset then-World No. 17 and second seed Madison Keys, 7-6 (4), 6-2, also on Stadium Court.

Despite facing the favorite among the local fans, Kenin leveraged her experience against Baptiste and won 6-3, 7-6 (4) in one hour and 35 minutes to advance to the second round against another American, 97th-ranked qualifier Taylor Townsend. Although she was outpointed by Kenin 75-64, Baptiste hit 27 winners – including nine aces – and won 74 percent of her first-serve points. 

Afterward, during her post-match news conference, Baptiste expressed her frustration at losing to the 26th-ranked Kenin.

“I mean, it’s extremely frustrating when things just aren’t clicking on court,” she said. “I was just kind of telling myself to battle through it and that I was going to find it, I was going to start feeling it.

“I had moments where I started to feel much better, but it just wasn’t enough in the end, and, I mean, it happens. Like, there is bad days, a lot of emotions here. But yeah, I have doubles still, and I have a few more tournaments before getting ready for US Open.

“Nothing’s going to change. I’ve got to keep working, get fitter, get better, and I’m still super motivated to do well and get ready for US Open and do good things there.”

Venus Williams turns back the clock 

When 45-year-old future Hall of Famer Venus Williams secured her 6-3, 6-4 first-round victory over No. 35 Peyton Stearns on her sixth match-point opportunity, it ended a drought that had lasted 709 days, three hours and 22 minutes since her last victory, which came in August 2023 in a first-round win over then-World No. 16 Veronika Kudermetova at Cincinnati.

Williams, an unranked wild card entry this week at the DC Open, notched her 819th career victory – she’s 120-50 versus Americans lifetime – to move into the second round against World No. 24 and fifth seed Magdalena Frech of Poland on Thursday. It was her first match on the WTA Tour in 16 months, since the 2024 Miami Open.

“You know, it’s the first step, and the first match is always extremely difficult,” Williams said during her post-match news conference. “It’s hard to describe how difficult it is to play a first match after so much time off.

“So going into the match, I know I have the ability to win, but it’s all about actually winning. So this is the best result, to play a good match and win. I’m here with my friends, family, people I love, and the fans, too, who I love and they love me, so this has been just a beautiful night.”

Against the 23-year-old Stearns, Williams fired nine aces, won 71 percent of her first-serve points, converted six of 14 break points and outpointed Stearns 70-57 during the one-hour, 37-minute all-American clash on Stadium Court.

During her post-match news conference, Stearns praised Williams. “I have so much respect for her to come back here and play, win or lose. That takes a lot of guts to step back onto court, especially with what she’s done for the sport,” she said.

Williams became the oldest WTA match winner since Martina Navratilova won at Wimbledon against Catalina Castano in 2004 at age 47. She’s the oldest player to contest a tour-level singles match since Kimiko Date lost in the first round at Tokyo in 2017 at age 46.

Around the DC Open

As the second day of main-draw action began under sunny skies and temperatures of 81º Fahrenheit (27º Celsius), the first two of several all-American battles around the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center took place.

• On Stadium Court, No. 14 seed Brandon Nakashima defeated 86th-ranked wild card Ethan Quinn, 6-3, 6-4, in an hour and 20 minutes. The 32nd-ranked Nakashima equaled his best result in Washington by reaching the third round for the third time (to go with 2021 and 2024), while keeping Quinn from gaining his first Top-50 win on hard courts. In putting on a serving masterclass Tuesday afternoon, Nakashima hit 16 winners – including 11 aces – and won 82 percent of his first-serve points. He saved all three break points he faced, converted two of five break-point chances and outpointed Quinn 63-50.

“Last year at this time, I had some of my best results,” said Nakashima, during a post-match interview with Tennis Channel, pointing to his consecutive round of 16 finishes in Washington, Montreal, Cincinnati and the US Open in 2024. His win over Quinn improved his 2025 win-loss record to to 22-18.

“I think this is the strongest time of the year for me,” the 23-year-old Californian added. “I feel more comfortable playing in the U.S. on hard courts. I’m hopeful to make some deep runs at these tournaments [again] and see what happens.”

Next, Nakashima will face No. 41 Cameron Norrie of Great Britain, who pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament thus far with his come-from-behind 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory over World No. 7 and second seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy in two hours and six minutes on John Harris Court. Norrie hit 24 winners, converted four of seven break points and outpointed Musetti, who was making his DC Open debut, 85-79. Norrie’s victory ended a 14-match losing streak against Top-10 opponents dating back to March 2023.

“I brought my own energy. I saw that. Everyone saw that, and it was really good,” Norrie said afterward. “I held my serve, and I was just tougher than him in the third, and I think that was the difference. … I’ve got a team here watching me, supporting me, and enjoying those moments with them is really nice. I’m a really competitive guy, so it’s good fun with my team.”

• Meanwhile, on the Grandstand, a pair of American big hitters, No. 31 McCartney Kessler and 57th-ranked qualifier Caroline Dolehide, were locked into a first-round battle to start the day. After two hours and 34 minutes, it was 2024 DC Open semifinalist Dolehide who prevailed with a 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-3 victory to move into the second round against No. 4 seed Clara Tauson on Wednesday.

Dolehide won 79 percent of her first-serve points, converted five of 12 break points and outpointed Kessler 111-93. The victory improved her win-loss record for this season to 18-15, while Kessler, a two-time WTA titlist this season (Hobart, Nottingham) dropped to 27-17.

• Among the men’s first-round winners advancing were: No. 50 Jaume Munar of Spain, who defeated No. 57 Marcos Giron of the United States, 7-5, 6-3, in one hour and 50 minutes on the Grandstand; No. 66 Aleksandar Kovacevic of the United States, who beat No. 71 Quentin Halys of France, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, in one hour and 56 minutes on Court 4; No. 75 Bu Yunchaokete of China, who defeated No. 60 David Goffin of Belgium, 6-4, 7-5, in an hour and 44 minutes on Court 4.

Also, 153rd-ranked American qualifier Zachary Svajda rallied to upset No. 49 Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia, 1-6, 6-2, 6-2, in one hour and 28 minutes on Court 4; and 243rd-ranked qualifier Wu Yibing of China beat No. 48 Gaël Monfils of France, 6-3, 6-1, in 78 minutes on John Harris Court, for his first tour-level win since last October.

• Men’s No. 3 seed Holger Rune of Denmark, who spent three days working with former World No. 1 and five-time Washington champion Andre Agassi, withdrew from the tournament with a back injury. Lucky loser Corentin Moutet of France, ranked 59th, replaced Rune in the draw and easily defeated No. 39 Alexandre Muller of France, 6-0, 6-1, in 57 minutes on John Harris Court Tuesday evening.

“Super unlucky,” wrote Rune on X, formerly Twitter. “Yesterday in practice my back locked and I am not fit to play today. I tried it before and nothing dramatic, just super bad timing, as I looked very much forward to play tonight in Washington. See you all soon.”

• In men doubles, No. 1 seeds Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori of Italy advanced to the quarterfinals with a 7-5, 5-7, 10-7 victory over Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul of France, in one hour and 49 minutes on Court 5, while No. 2 seeds Christian Harrison and Evan King of the United States were upset by Argentina’s Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 10-6, in one hour and 48 minutes on Court 4. Also, Flavio Cobolli of Italy and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain advanced to the last eight with a 3-6, 7-6 (5), 10-8 victory over Alex de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin of Australia, in one hour and 46 minutes on the Grandstand.

• Among the women’s first-round winners: No. 46 Emma Raducanu of Great Britain, who upset No. 7 seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, 7-6 (4), 6-4, in an hour and 54 minutes on Stadium Court, by outpointing her 82-73. Raducanu’s next opponent is 51st-ranked wild card Naomi Osaka of Japan, who defeated No. 43 Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan, 6-2, 7-5, in 92 minutes on John Harris Court. Osaka dropped just three points on her first serve, hit eight aces and broke Putintseva serve five times in 10 tries. 

“I’m very pleased to have gone through that. Difficult first round,” Raducanu said during her post-match news conference. “I lost to Marta earlier on in the year in Madrid. So to have come through that, yeah, I’m really happy.

“Also, adjusting to the conditions here in America, it’s very lively. The balls fly a lot, so it’s very different to the grass. I think to have come through that and worked my way through some really difficult moments in that match, I have to give myself credit for.”

Also, No. 48 Anna Kalinskaya defeated 66th-ranked qualifier Kamilla Rakhimova, 6-2, 6-3, in 75 minutes on Court 5 in an all-Russian match-up; and 97th-ranked American qualifier Taylor Townsend upset No. 37 Tatjana Maria of Germany, 6-4, 7-5, in a one hour and 48 minute battle of the moms on John Harris Court.

• In women’s doubles, No. 2 seeds Taylor Townsend of the United States and Zhang Shuai of China advanced to the quarterfinal round with a 6-3, 6-1, win against Cristina Bucsa of Spain and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States, in 60 minutes on Court 4. Also, Giuliana Olmos of Mexico and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia advanced to the last eight with a 7-5, 2-6, 12-10 victory over Miyu Kato of Japan and Wu Fang-Hsien of Taiwan, in one hour and 37 minutes on Court 5; and No. 3 seeds Chan Hao-Ching of Taiwan and Jiang Xinyu of China defeated Katerzyna Piter of Poland and Sabrina Santamaria of the United States, 6-1, 7-6 (4), in 79 minutes on Court 5.

Tuesday’s DC Open men’s results

Tuesday’s DC Open women’s results

Wednesday’s DC Open order of play

By the numbers

Wild card Daniel Evans of Great Britain, who won the Washington title in 2023, has won back-to-back ATP Tour hard-court matches, his first ones since last October. First, he beat Zizou Bergs of Belgium, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, on Monday. Then, on Tuesday, he bested No. 13 seed Alex Michelsen of the United States, 6-4, 6-4, in an hour and 44 minutes on the Grandstand. Evans rallied from down 3-4 in the final set and won on his fourth match point.

Evans, who missed last year’s DC Open to represent Great Britain and play doubles with Andy Murray at the Paris Olympic Games, has split his time in 2025 between playing in ATP Tour and Challenger tour events. He is 7-5 in tour-level play and 18-19 overall.

The 144th-ranked wild card, who was once ranked as high as World No. 21, said after his win against Bergs: “I just really enjoy competing, enjoy being out here. We are really incredibly lucky how good our tour is. When. You get a chance to play on the main tour, you shouldn’t take it for granted. …

“The bottom line is we lose more than we win, so we have to become pretty good at losing and getting on with it,” the 35-year-old Evans added. “That has served me well during my time as a player.”

“Quotable …”

“I definitely get recognized more often. I would say at home, probably everywhere I go, I get recognized by at least somebody in Charleston (S.C.) In other cities, not as much. I still get recognized, but more from, I guess, people in the tennis community. In Charleston, it’s kind of everybody. 

“Yeah, it’s definitely taken some getting used to. You know, when I go places, I just feel like one of everybody else, so it’s weird for me to imagine somebody looking at me as something different than one of everybody else. So I have to, I don’t know, keep my wits about me, I guess.

“I have gotten used to it a little bit, but at the same time, I will never fully get used to it and I will never feel famous or well known or anything like that.”

– World No. 11 and second seed Emma Navarro of the United States, during her pre-tournament news conference Monday, on what it’s like being recognized in public.

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