Washington Open (tennis) explained
The Washington Open (branded as the Mubadala Citi DC Open for sponsorship reasons and sometimes called the DC Open) is an annual professional outdoor hardcourt tennis tournament played at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. The event is categorized as an ATP 500 event on the ATP Tour and a WTA 500 event on the WTA Tour. The tournament is owned and managed by Mark Ein in partnership with IMG.
Organized annually in the summer schedule of events on North American hardcourts leading up to the US Open, known as the US Open Series, the Washington Open was first held in 1969 as the Washington Star International. It was held on clay courts until 1986, when the surface was changed to hardcourts. In 2011, the event expanded to include its first women's tournament, a WTA International (now WTA 250) competition held in a separate venue in College Park, Maryland. The following year, the men's and women's events were consolidated at the Washington venue.
In 2023, the WTA 500-level Silicon Valley Classic was discontinued and merged into the Washington Open, forming the first and only joint-500-level event on the ATP and WTA tours.
History
The tournament was first held on the men's tour in 1969, known as the Washington Star International from 1969 to 1981, the Sovran Bank Classic from 1982 to 1992, the Newsweek Tennis Classic in 1993, the Legg Mason Tennis Classic from 1994 to 2011, and the Citi Open from 2012 to 2022. Competition was held on outdoor clay courts until 1986 when it switched to the current hard courts. Co-founders John A Harris and Donald Dell, founder of ProServ International, have since remained closely involved. The location of the event in Washington, D.C., was chosen at the urging of Arthur Ashe, an early supporter.The women's event was first held in 2011 in College Park, Maryland, as the Citi Open, and for the 2012 season, the ATP and WTA decided to merge their Maryland and Washington spots into a joint tournament, with the women's event moving to the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center, and Citi replacing Legg Mason as title sponsor of the joint event.[1]
In 2015, the Washington Open dropped out of the US Open Series because of disagreements with ESPN, which that year took over broadcast rights to the US Open and US Open Series events. ESPN would not commit to air more than four hours of the tournament on its ESPN2 network; the remainer would be relegated to ESPN3 online streaming. (In 2014, coverage was split between ESPN and Tennis Channel.)[2] Donald Dell criticized ESPN for using ESPN3 to acquire sports rights without any intent to broadcast them on television: "If you're running a tournament, and it's $2 million, and sponsorship money in the $6 million-to-$8 million range, you've got sponsors that don't want to be having only four or six hours on television." Citi Open organizers withdrew from the US Open Series so it could establish a new broadcast rights agreement with Tennis Channel. The four-year, $2.1 million deal included funding for additional amenities and 171 hours of television coverage.[3] [4]
In 2019, the Washington Open was acquired by venture capitalist and USTA board member Mark Ein. It returned to the US Open Series, and also signed a five-year extension of its media rights with Tennis Channel.[5] The 2020 tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The men's event returned for 2021, but the women's event remained cancelled; the WTA did not reinstate its sanctioning of the tournament due to conflicts with the 2020 Summer Olympics.[6] [7] The tournament instead organized a women's invitational, featuring Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, and Jennifer Brady.[8] [9] [10]
In June 2023, Ein and IMG announced that the Washington Open would merge with the Silicon Valley Classic to form a single tournament in Washington, D.C.; this therefore promoted the Washington Open from a WTA 250 event to a WTA 500 event. Players had usually been divided between the two tournaments, as the Silicon Valley Classic was more prestigious, but the Washington Open was located closer to the rest of the US Open Series events. As a result of the merger, the Silicon Valley Classic's title sponsor Mubadala Investment Company became a co-title sponsor of the event, and the tournament was renamed the Mubadala Citi DC Open. The tournament is the first-ever joint 500-level event on the ATP and WTA tours.[11] [12] [13]
Past finals
In the men's singles, Andre Agassi (1990–91, 1995, 1998–99) holds the records for most titles (five) and most finals overall (six, runner-up in 2000). He also shares with Michael Chang (1996–97), Juan Martín del Potro (2008–09) and Alexander Zverev (2017–18) the record for most consecutive titles, with two. In the women's singles, Magdaléna Rybáriková (2012–13) holds the record for most titles (two) and co-holds the record for most finals (two) with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (runner-up in 2012, 2015). In the men's doubles, Marty Riessen (1971–72, 1974, 1979) and the Bryan brothers (2005–07, 2015) hold the record for most titles (four), with the Bryans also holding the record for most consecutive titles (three). The Bryans co-hold the record for most finals (six, runners-up in 2001–02) with Raúl Ramírez (winner in 1976, 1981–82, runner-up in 1975, 1978–79). In the women's doubles, Shuko Aoyama (2012–14) holds alone the record for most titles, most consecutive titles and most finals (three).
Men's singles
| Year | Champions | Runners-up | Score |
|---|
| 1969 |  Thomaz Koch |  Arthur Ashe | 7–5, 9–7, 4–6, 2–6, 6–4 |
| ↓ Grand Prix circuit ↓ |
| 1970 | Cliff Richey | Arthur Ashe | 7–5, 6–1, 6–2 |
| ↓ WCT circuit ↓ |
| 1971 |  Ken Rosewall | Marty Riessen | 6–2, 7–5, 6–1 |
| 1972 | Tony Roche | Marty Riessen | 3–6, 7–6, 6–4 |
| ↓ Grand Prix circuit ↓ |
| 1973 | Arthur Ashe | Tom Okker | 6–4, 6–2 |
| 1974 | Harold Solomon |  Guillermo Vilas | 1–6, 6–3, 6–4 |
| 1975 | Guillermo Vilas | Harold Solomon | 6–1, 6–3 |
| 1976 | Jimmy Connors |  Raúl Ramírez | 6–2, 6–4 |
| 1977 | Guillermo Vilas (2) | Brian Gottfried | 6–4, 7–5 |
| 1978 | Jimmy Connors (2) | Eddie Dibbs | 7–5, 7–5 |
| 1979 | Guillermo Vilas (3) | Víctor Pecci Sr. | 7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–3) |
| 1980 | Brian Gottfried | José Luis Clerc | 7–5, 4–6, 6–4 |
| 1981 | José Luis Clerc | Guillermo Vilas | 7–5, 6–2 |
| 1982 | Ivan Lendl | Jimmy Arias | 6–3, 6–3 |
| 1983 | José Luis Clerc (2) | Jimmy Arias | 6–3, 3–6, 6–0 |
| 1984 |  Andrés Gómez | Aaron Krickstein | 6–2, 6–2 |
| 1985 |  Yannick Noah | Martín Jaite | 6–4, 6–3 |
| 1986 | Karel Nováček | Thierry Tulasne | 6–1, 7–6(7–4) |
| 1987 | Ivan Lendl (2) | Brad Gilbert | 6–1, 6–0 |
| 1988 | Jimmy Connors (3) | Andrés Gómez | 6–1, 6–4 |
| 1989 | Tim Mayotte | Brad Gilbert | 3–6, 6–4, 7–5 |
| ↓ ATP Tour 500 ↓ |
| 1990 | Andre Agassi | Jim Grabb | 6–1, 6–4 |
| 1991 | Andre Agassi (2) | Petr Korda | 6–3, 6–4 |
| 1992 | Petr Korda |  Henrik Holm | 6–4, 6–4 |
| 1993 |  Amos Mansdorf | Todd Martin | 7–6(7–3), 7–5 |
| 1994 | Stefan Edberg | Jason Stoltenberg | 6–4, 6–2 |
| 1995 | Andre Agassi (3) | Stefan Edberg | 6–4, 2–6, 7–5 |
| 1996 | Michael Chang | Wayne Ferreira | 6–2, 6–4 |
| 1997 | Michael Chang (2) |  Petr Korda | 5–7, 6–2, 6–1 |
| 1998 | Andre Agassi (4) | Scott Draper | 6–2, 6–0 |
| 1999 | Andre Agassi (5) |  Yevgeny Kafelnikov | 7–6(7–3), 6–1 |
| 2000 |  Àlex Corretja | Andre Agassi | 6–2, 6–3 |
| 2001 | Andy Roddick | Sjeng Schalken | 6–2, 6–3 |
| 2002 | James Blake |  Paradorn Srichaphan | 1–6, 7–6(7–5), 6–4 |
| ↓ ATP Tour 250 ↓ |
| 2003 |  Tim Henman | Fernando González | 6–3, 6–4 |
| 2004 | Lleyton Hewitt |  Gilles Müller | 6–3, 6–4 |
| 2005 | Andy Roddick (2) | James Blake | 7–5, 6–3 |
| 2006 | Arnaud Clément | Andy Murray | 7–6(7–3), 6–2 |
| 2007 | Andy Roddick (3) | John Isner | 6–4, 7–6(7–4) |
| 2008 | Juan Martín del Potro |  Viktor Troicki | 6–3, 6–3 |
| ↓ ATP Tour 500 ↓ |
| 2009 | Juan Martín del Potro (2) | | 3–6, 7–5, 7–6(8–6) |
| 2010 | David Nalbandian |  Marcos Baghdatis | 6–2, 7–6(7–4) |
| 2011 | Radek Štěpánek | Gaël Monfils | 6–4, 6–4 |
| 2012 |  Alexandr Dolgopolov | Tommy Haas | 6–7(7–9), 6–4, 6–1 |
| 2013 | Juan Martín del Potro (3) | | 3–6, 6–1, 6–2 |
| 2014 |  Milos Raonic | | 6–1, 6–4 |
| 2015 |  Kei Nishikori | | 4–6, 6–4, 6–4 |
| 2016 | Gaël Monfils | Ivo Karlović | 5–7, 7–6(8–6), 6–4 |
| 2017 | Alexander Zverev | Kevin Anderson | 6–4, 6–4 |
| 2018 | Alexander Zverev (2) | Alex de Minaur | 6–2, 6–4 |
| 2019 | Nick Kyrgios | Daniil Medvedev | 7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–4) |
| 2020 | colspan="3" align="center" |
| 2021 |  Jannik Sinner | Mackenzie McDonald | 7–5, 4–6, 7–5 |
| 2022 | Nick Kyrgios (2) | Yoshihito Nishioka | 6–4, 6–3 |
| 2023 | Dan Evans | Tallon Griekspoor | 7–5, 6–3 |
| 2024 | Sebastian Korda | Flavio Cobolli | 4–6, 6–2, 6–0 | |
Women's singles
| Year | Champions | Runners-up | Score |
|---|
| | | 7–5, 6–2 |
| | | 6–1, 6–1 |
|  Magdaléna Rybáriková (2) | | 6–4, 7–6(7–2) |
| | | 6–3, 4–6, 6–4 |
| | | 6–1, 6–2 |
| | | 6–4, 6–2 |
| | | 3–6, 7–6(7–2), 6–0 |
| Svetlana Kuznetsova (2) | | 4–6, 7–6(9–7), 6–2 |
| | | 6–2, 6–2 |
| 2020 | colspan="3" align="center" |
| ↓ Exhibition (WTA revoked sanction) ↓ |
| | | 4–6, 7–5, [10-8] |
| ↓ WTA 250 ↓ |
| | | 4–6, 6–3, 6–3 |
| ↓ WTA 500 ↓ |
| | | 6–2, 6–3 |
| | | 6–1, 4–6, 6–4 | |
Men's doubles
| Year | Champions | Runners-up | Score |
|---|
| 1969 | Patricio Cornejo
Jaime Fillol | Robert Lutz
Stan Smith | 4–6, 6–1, 6–4 |
| ↓ Grand Prix circuit ↓ |
| 1970 | Bob Hewitt
Frew McMillan |  Ilie Năstase
Ion Țiriac | 7–5, 6–0 |
| ↓ WCT circuit ↓ |
| 1971 | Tom Okker
Marty Riessen | Bob Carmichael
Ray Ruffels | 7–6, 6–2 |
| 1972 | Tom Okker (2)
Marty Riessen (2) | John Newcombe
Tony Roche | 3–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
| ↓ Grand Prix circuit ↓ |
| 1973 | Ross Case
Geoff Masters | Dick Crealy
Andrew Pattison | 2–6, 6–1, 6–4 |
| 1974 | Tom Gorman
Marty Riessen (3) | Patricio Cornejo
Jaime Fillol | 7–5, 6–1 |
| 1975 | Robert Lutz
Stan Smith | Brian Gottfried
Raúl Ramírez | 7–5, 2–6, 6–1 |
| 1976 | Brian Gottfried
Raúl Ramírez | Arthur Ashe
Jimmy Connors | 6–3, 6–3 |
| 1977 | John Alexander
Phil Dent | Fred McNair
Sherwood Stewart | 7–5, 7–5 |
| 1978 | Arthur Ashe
Bob Hewitt (2) | Fred McNair
Raúl Ramírez | 6–3, 6–4 |
| 1979 | Marty Riessen (4)
Sherwood Stewart | Brian Gottfried
Raúl Ramírez | 2–6, 6–3, 6–4 |
| 1980 | Hans Gildemeister
Andrés Gómez | Gene Mayer
Sandy Mayer | 6–4, 7–5 |
| 1981 | Raúl Ramírez (2)
Van Winitsky | Pavel Složil
Ferdi Taygan | 5–7, 7–6(9–7), 7–6(8–6) |
| 1982 | Raúl Ramírez (3)
Van Winitsky (2) | Hans Gildemeister
Andrés Gómez | 7–5, 7–6 |
| 1983 | Mark Dickson
Cássio Motta | Paul McNamee
Ferdi Taygan | 6–2, 1–6, 6–4 |
| 1984 | Pavel Složil
Ferdi Taygan | Drew Gitlin
Blaine Willenborg | 7–6, 6–1 |
| 1985 | Hans Gildemeister (2)
Víctor Pecci | David Graham
 Balázs Taróczy | 6–3, 1–6, 6–4 |
| 1986 | Hans Gildemeister (3)
Andrés Gómez (2) | Ricardo Acioly
César Kist | 6–3, 7–5 |
| 1987 | Gary Donnelly
Peter Fleming | Laurie Warder
Blaine Willenborg | 6–2, 7–6 |
| 1988 | Rick Leach
Jim Pugh | Jorge Lozano
Todd Witsken | 6–3, 6–7, 6–2 |
| 1989 | Neil Broad
Gary Muller | Jim Grabb
Patrick McEnroe | 6–7, 7–6, 6–4 |
| ↓ ATP Tour 500 ↓ |
| 1990 | Grant Connell
Glenn Michibata | Jorge Lozano
Todd Witsken | 6–3, 6–7, 6–2 |
| 1991 | Scott Davis
David Pate | Ken Flach
Robert Seguso | 6–4, 6–2 |
| 1992 | Bret Garnett
Jared Palmer | Ken Flach
Todd Witsken | 6–2, 6–3 |
| 1993 | Byron Black
Rick Leach (2) | Grant Connell
Patrick Galbraith | 6–4, 7–5 |
| 1994 | Grant Connell (2)
Patrick Galbraith | Jonas Björkman
Jakob Hlasek | 6–4, 4–6, 6–3 |
| 1995 | Olivier Delaître
Jeff Tarango | Petr Korda
Cyril Suk | 1–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
| 1996 | Grant Connell (3)
Scott Davis (2) | Doug Flach
Chris Woodruff | 7–6, 3–6, 6–3 |
| 1997 | Luke Jensen
Murphy Jensen | Neville Godwin
Fernon Wibier | 6–4, 6–4 |
| 1998 | Grant Stafford
Kevin Ullyett | Wayne Ferreira
Patrick Galbraith | 6–2, 6–4 |
| 1999 | Justin Gimelstob
Sébastien Lareau | David Adams
John-Laffnie de Jager | 7–5, 6–7(2–7), 6–3 |
| 2000 | Alex O'Brien
Jared Palmer (2) | Andre Agassi
 Sargis Sargsian | 7–5, 6–1 |
| 2001 | Martin Damm
David Prinosil | Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan | 7–6(7–5), 6–3 |
| 2002 | Wayne Black
Kevin Ullyett (2) | Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan | 3–6, 6–3, 7–5 |
| ↓ ATP Tour 250 ↓ |
| 2003 | Yevgeny Kafelnikov
Sargis Sargsian | Chris Haggard
Paul Hanley | 7–5, 4–6, 6–2 |
| 2004 | Chris Haggard
Robbie Koenig | Travis Parrott
Dmitry Tursunov | 7–6(7–3), 6–1 |
| 2005 | Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan | Wayne Black
Kevin Ullyett | 6–4, 6–2 |
| 2006 | Bob Bryan (2)
Mike Bryan (2) | Paul Hanley
Kevin Ullyett | 6–3, 5–7, [10–3] |
| 2007 | Bob Bryan (3)
Mike Bryan (3) | Jonathan Erlich
Andy Ram | 7–6(7–5), 3–6, [10–7] |
| 2008 | Marc Gicquel
Robert Lindstedt | Bruno Soares
Kevin Ullyett | 7–6(8–6), 6–3 |
| ↓ ATP Tour 500 ↓ |
| 2009 | Martin Damm (2)
Robert Lindstedt (2) |  Mariusz Fyrstenberg
Marcin Matkowski | 7–5, 7–6(7–3) |
| 2010 | Mardy Fish
Mark Knowles | Tomáš Berdych
Radek Štěpánek | 4–6, 7–6(9–7), [10–7] |
| 2011 | Michaël Llodra
Nenad Zimonjić | Robert Lindstedt
Horia Tecău | 6–7(3–7), 7–6(8–6), [10–7] |
| 2012 | Treat Conrad Huey
Dominic Inglot | Kevin Anderson
Sam Querrey | 7–6(9–7), 6–7(9–11), [10–5] |
| 2013 | Julien Benneteau
Nenad Zimonjić (2) | Mardy Fish
Radek Štěpánek | 7–6(7–5), 7–5 |
| 2014 | Jean-Julien Rojer
Horia Tecău | Sam Groth
 Leander Paes | 7–5, 6–4 |
| 2015 | Bob Bryan (4)
Mike Bryan (4) | Ivan Dodig
Marcelo Melo | 6–4, 6–2 |
| | | 7–6(7–3), 7–6(7–4) |
|  Henri Kontinen
John Peers | Łukasz Kubot
Marcelo Melo | 7–6(7–5), 6–4 |
| Jamie Murray
Bruno Soares | Mike Bryan
Édouard Roger-Vasselin | 3–6, 6–3, [10–4] |
| Raven Klaasen
 Michael Venus | | 3–6, 6–3, [10–2] |
| 2020 | colspan="3" align="center" |
| Raven Klaasen (2)
Ben McLachlan | | 7–6(7–4), 6–4 |
| Nick Kyrgios
Jack Sock | | 7–5, 6–4 |
| Máximo González
Andrés Molteni | | 6–7, 6–2, [10-8] |
| Nathaniel Lammons
Jackson Withrow | | 7–5, 6–3 | |
Women's doubles
| Year | Champions | Runners-up | Score |
|---|
| 2011 | Sania Mirza
 Yaroslava Shvedova |  Olga Govortsova
Alla Kudryavtseva | 6–3, 6–3 |
| 2012 | Shuko Aoyama
Chang Kai-chen | Irina Falconi
Chanelle Scheepers | 7–5, 6–2 |
| 2013 | Shuko Aoyama (2)
Vera Dushevina | Eugenie Bouchard
Taylor Townsend | 6–3, 6–3 |
| 2014 | Shuko Aoyama (3)
Gabriela Dabrowski | Hiroko Kuwata
Kurumi Nara | 6–1, 6–2 |
| 2015 | Belinda Bencic
Kristina Mladenovic | Lara Arruabarrena
Andreja Klepač | 7–5, 7–6(9–7) |
| 2016 | Monica Niculescu
 Yanina Wickmayer | Shuko Aoyama
Risa Ozaki | 6–4, 6–3 |
| 2017 | Shuko Aoyama (4)
Renata Voráčová | Eugenie Bouchard
Sloane Stephens | 6–3, 6–2 |
| 2018 |  Han Xinyun
Darija Jurak | Alexa Guarachi
Erin Routliffe | 6–3, 6–2 |
| 2019 | Caty McNally
Coco Gauff | | 6–2, 6–2 |
| 2020–21 | colspan="3" align="center" |
| ↓ WTA 250 ↓ |
| 2022 | Jessica Pegula
Erin Routliffe | | 6–3, 5–7, [12–10] |
| ↓ WTA 500 ↓ |
| 2023 | Laura Siegemund
Vera Zvonareva | | 6–4, 6–4 |
| 2024 | Asia Muhammad
Taylor Townsend | | 7–6(7–0), 6–3 | |
See also
External links
38.954°N -77.037°W
Notes and References
- Web site: Associated Press. Legg Mason Classic in Washington, D.C. changes name to Citi Open – ESPN . ESPN Internet Ventures. 2012-04-24 . 2012-07-27.
- Web site: Tennis, ESPN2 Serve Up 230-Plus U.S. Open Series Hours. Reynolds. Mike. Multichannel-us. July 24, 2014 . 2019-08-02.
- Why DC's Citi Open separated from U.S. Open Series. Rothenberg. Ben. Sports Illustrated. August 13, 2015 . 2016-06-01.
- Web site: DC's Citi Open Bumped Out Of U.S. Open Series Due To TV Deal With Tennis Channel. Sports Business Daily. 2019-04-03.
- Web site: Citi Open returns to US Open Series for 2019. US Open Series. 2019-08-02.
- Web site: Malet . Jeff . August 2, 2021 . D.C.'s Citi Open Tennis Tournament Underway After Two-Year Hiatus (photos) . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210808050418/https://georgetowner.com/articles/2021/08/02/citi-open-gets-underway-in-dc-after-one-year-hiatus-photos/ . 2021-08-08 . August 7, 2021 . The Georgetowner.
- News: Clarke . Liz . June 10, 2021 . Citi Open to return at 50 percent capacity after tournament was canceled in 2020 . August 7, 2021 . The Washington Post.
- Web site: Malet . Jeff . August 2, 2021 . D.C.'s Citi Open Tennis Tournament Underway After Two-Year Hiatus (photos) . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210808050418/https://georgetowner.com/articles/2021/08/02/citi-open-gets-underway-in-dc-after-one-year-hiatus-photos/ . 2021-08-08 . August 7, 2021 . The Georgetowner.
- News: Byrum . Tyler . August 6, 2021 . Citi Open tournament information . August 7, 2021 . NBC Sports Washington.
- News: Clarke . Liz . August 7, 2021 . At Citi Open exhibition, Coco Gauff talks about her bout with covid and getting vaccinated . August 7, 2021 . Washington Post.
- News: Wallace . Ava . 2023-06-01 . D.C.'s Citi Open merges with Silicon Valley Classic to boost women's event . en-US . Washington Post . 2023-08-01 . 0190-8286.
- Web site: June 1, 2023 . San Jose moves to Washington D.C. to operate as Mubadala Citi DC Open . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230608160607/https://www.wtatennis.com/news/3523122/san-jose-moves-to-washington-d-c-to-operate-as-mubadala-citi-dc-open . June 8, 2023 . July 17, 2023 . Women's Tennis Association.
- News: Simon . Alex . Mastrodonato . Jason . June 2, 2023 . Bay Area loses longtime women's tennis event as WTA moves to Washington, D.C. . . live . July 17, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230608162736/https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/06/01/bay-area-loses-annual-womens-tennis-event-as-wta-moves-to-washington-d-c/ . June 8, 2023.
