Washington Open (tennis) explained

Washington Open
Current:2024 Washington Open
Tour:ATP Tour
WTA Tour
Location:Washington, D.C.
Venue:William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center
Category:ATP Tour 500
WTA 500
Surface:Hardcourt
Draw:48S/24Q/16D (men) 32S/16Q/16D (women)
Prize Money: (2023) (men)
(2024) (women)
Men's Singles: Sebastian Korda
Women's Singles: Paula Badosa
Men's Doubles: Nathaniel Lammons
Jackson Withrow
Women's Doubles: Asia Muhammad
Taylor Townsend

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

YearChampionsRunners-upScore
1969 Thomaz Koch Arthur Ashe7–5, 9–7, 4–6, 2–6, 6–4
Grand Prix circuit
1970 Cliff Richey Arthur Ashe7–5, 6–1, 6–2
WCT circuit
1971 Ken Rosewall Marty Riessen6–2, 7–5, 6–1
1972 Tony Roche Marty Riessen3–6, 7–6, 6–4
Grand Prix circuit
1973 Arthur Ashe Tom Okker6–4, 6–2
1974 Harold Solomon Guillermo Vilas1–6, 6–3, 6–4
1975 Guillermo Vilas Harold Solomon6–1, 6–3
1976 Jimmy Connors Raúl Ramírez6–2, 6–4
1977 Guillermo Vilas (2) Brian Gottfried6–4, 7–5
1978 Jimmy Connors (2) Eddie Dibbs7–5, 7–5
1979 Guillermo Vilas (3) Víctor Pecci Sr.7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–3)
1980 Brian Gottfried José Luis Clerc7–5, 4–6, 6–4
1981 José Luis Clerc Guillermo Vilas7–5, 6–2
1982 Ivan Lendl Jimmy Arias6–3, 6–3
1983 José Luis Clerc (2) Jimmy Arias6–3, 3–6, 6–0
1984 Andrés Gómez Aaron Krickstein6–2, 6–2
1985 Yannick Noah Martín Jaite6–4, 6–3
1986 Karel Nováček Thierry Tulasne6–1, 7–6(7–4)
1987 Ivan Lendl (2) Brad Gilbert6–1, 6–0
1988 Jimmy Connors (3) Andrés Gómez6–1, 6–4
1989 Tim Mayotte Brad Gilbert3–6, 6–4, 7–5
ATP Tour 500
1990 Andre Agassi Jim Grabb6–1, 6–4
1991 Andre Agassi (2) Petr Korda6–3, 6–4
1992 Petr Korda Henrik Holm6–4, 6–4
1993 Amos Mansdorf Todd Martin7–6(7–3), 7–5
1994 Stefan Edberg Jason Stoltenberg6–4, 6–2
1995 Andre Agassi (3) Stefan Edberg6–4, 2–6, 7–5
1996 Michael Chang Wayne Ferreira6–2, 6–4
1997 Michael Chang (2) Petr Korda5–7, 6–2, 6–1
1998 Andre Agassi (4) Scott Draper6–2, 6–0
1999 Andre Agassi (5) Yevgeny Kafelnikov7–6(7–3), 6–1
2000 Àlex Corretja Andre Agassi6–2, 6–3
2001 Andy Roddick Sjeng Schalken6–2, 6–3
2002 James Blake Paradorn Srichaphan1–6, 7–6(7–5), 6–4
ATP Tour 250
2003 Tim Henman Fernando González6–3, 6–4
2004 Lleyton Hewitt Gilles Müller6–3, 6–4
2005 Andy Roddick (2) James Blake7–5, 6–3
2006 Arnaud Clément Andy Murray7–6(7–3), 6–2
2007 Andy Roddick (3) John Isner6–4, 7–6(7–4)
2008 Juan Martín del Potro Viktor Troicki6–3, 6–3
ATP Tour 500
2009 Juan Martín del Potro (2) 3–6, 7–5, 7–6(8–6)
2010 David Nalbandian Marcos Baghdatis6–2, 7–6(7–4)
2011 Radek Štěpánek Gaël Monfils6–4, 6–4
2012 Alexandr Dolgopolov Tommy Haas6–7(7–9), 6–4, 6–1
2013 Juan Martín del Potro (3) 3–6, 6–1, 6–2
2014 Milos Raonic6–1, 6–4
2015 Kei Nishikori4–6, 6–4, 6–4
2016 Gaël Monfils Ivo Karlović5–7, 7–6(8–6), 6–4
2017 Alexander Zverev Kevin Anderson6–4, 6–4
2018 Alexander Zverev (2) Alex de Minaur6–2, 6–4
2019 Nick Kyrgios Daniil Medvedev7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–4)
2020colspan="3" align="center"
2021 Jannik Sinner Mackenzie McDonald7–5, 4–6, 7–5
2022 Nick Kyrgios (2) Yoshihito Nishioka6–4, 6–3
2023 Dan Evans Tallon Griekspoor7–5, 6–3
2024 Sebastian Korda Flavio Cobolli4–6, 6–2, 6–0

Women's singles

YearChampionsRunners-upScore
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
2020colspan="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

YearChampionsRunners-upScore
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

YearChampionsRunners-upScore
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
2020–21colspan="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

  1. 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.
  2. Web site: Tennis, ESPN2 Serve Up 230-Plus U.S. Open Series Hours. Reynolds. Mike. Multichannel-us. July 24, 2014 . 2019-08-02.
  3. Why DC's Citi Open separated from U.S. Open Series. Rothenberg. Ben. Sports Illustrated. August 13, 2015 . 2016-06-01.
  4. 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.
  5. Web site: Citi Open returns to US Open Series for 2019. US Open Series. 2019-08-02.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. News: Byrum . Tyler . August 6, 2021 . Citi Open tournament information . August 7, 2021 . NBC Sports Washington.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. 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.