Washington Open (tennis)

(Redirected from Citi Open)

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.

Washington Open
Tournament information
TourATP Tour
WTA Tour
Founded1969; 55 years ago (1969)
LocationWashington, D.C.
VenueWilliam H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center
CategoryATP Tour 500
WTA 500
SurfaceHardcourt
Draw48S/24Q/16D (men) 32S/16Q/16D (women)
Prize moneyUS$2,013,940 (2023) (men)
US$780,637 (2023) (women)
Websitehttps://www.mubadalacitidcopen.com/en/
Current champions (2023)
Men's singlesUnited Kingdom Daniel Evans
Women's singlesUnited States Coco Gauff
Men's doublesArgentina Máximo González
Argentina Andrés Molteni
Women's doublesGermany Laura Siegemund
Vera Zvonareva

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 edit

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. A co-founder was Donald Dell, founder of ProServ International, who has 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 tournament's center court

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 taking over 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 tournament was acquired by venture capitalist and USTA board member Mark Ein. It returned to the US Open Series, signing a five-year extension of its media rights with the Tennis Channel.[5] 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.[6][7][8]

Past finals edit

 
A night match in 2018.
 
Grandstand in 2017.
 
A side court in 2017.

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 edit

 
American legend Arthur Ashe won the 1973 title.
 
Andre Agassi has won the most titles of any man, with five titles.
 
Gael Monfils, shown here serving in 2016, won the 2016 Washington Open title.
 
Alexander Zverev holding the trophy after winning the 2018 title.
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[a]
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[b]
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)   Andy Roddick 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)   John Isner 3–6, 6–1, 6–2
2014   Milos Raonic   Vasek Pospisil 6–1, 6–4
2015   Kei Nishikori   John Isner 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 Canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak
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

Women's singles edit

Year Champions Runners-up Score
2011   Nadia Petrova   Shahar Pe'er 7–5, 6–2
2012   Magdaléna Rybáriková   Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6–1, 6–1
2013   Magdaléna Rybáriková (2)   Andrea Petkovic 6–4, 7–6(7–2)
2014   Svetlana Kuznetsova   Kurumi Nara 6–3, 4–6, 6–4
2015   Sloane Stephens   Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6–1, 6–2
2016   Yanina Wickmayer   Lauren Davis 6–4, 6–2
2017   Ekaterina Makarova   Julia Görges 3–6, 7–6(7–2), 6–0
2018   Svetlana Kuznetsova (2)   Donna Vekić 4–6, 7–6(9–7), 6–2
2019   Jessica Pegula   Camila Giorgi 6–2, 6–2
2020–21 Canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak
WTA 250
2022  [c] Liudmila Samsonova   Kaia Kanepi 4–6, 6–3, 6–3
WTA 500
2023   Coco Gauff   Maria Sakkari 6–2, 6–3

Men's doubles edit

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[a]
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[b]
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
2016   Daniel Nestor
  Édouard Roger-Vasselin
  Łukasz Kubot
  Alexander Peya
7–6(7–3), 7–6(7–4)
2017   Henri Kontinen
  John Peers
  Łukasz Kubot
  Marcelo Melo
7–6(7–5), 6–4
2018   Jamie Murray
  Bruno Soares
  Mike Bryan
  Édouard Roger-Vasselin
3–6, 6–3, [10–4]
2019   Raven Klaasen
  Michael Venus
  Jean-Julien Rojer
  Horia Tecău
3–6, 6–3, [10–2]
2020 Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021   Raven Klaasen (2)
  Ben McLachlan
  Neal Skupski
  Michael Venus
7–6(7–4), 6–4
2022   Nick Kyrgios
  Jack Sock
  Ivan Dodig
  Austin Krajicek
7–5, 6–4
2023   Máximo González
  Andrés Molteni
  Mackenzie McDonald
  Ben Shelton
6–7, 6–2, [10-8]

Women's doubles edit

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
  Maria Sanchez
  Fanny Stollar
6–2, 6–2
2020–21 Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
WTA 250
2022   Jessica Pegula
  Erin Routliffe
  Anna Kalinskaya
  Caty McNally
6–3, 5–7, [12–10]
WTA 500
2023   Laura Siegemund
  Vera Zvonareva
  Alexa Guarachi
  Monica Niculescu
6–4, 6–4

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b Known as Championship Series from 1990 till 1999. International Series Gold from 2000 till 2008.
  2. ^ a b Known as International Series from 2000 till 2008.
  3. ^ As of March 1, 2022, the WTA announced that players from Russia and Belarus will not compete under the name or flag of Russia or Belarus due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

References edit

  1. ^ "Legg Mason Classic in Washington, D.C. changes name to Citi Open – ESPN". ESPN Internet Ventures. Associated Press. April 24, 2012. Retrieved July 27, 2012.
  2. ^ Reynolds, Mike (July 24, 2014). "Tennis, ESPN2 Serve Up 230-Plus U.S. Open Series Hours". Multichannel-us. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  3. ^ Rothenberg, Ben (August 13, 2015). "Why DC's Citi Open separated from U.S. Open Series". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  4. ^ "DC's Citi Open Bumped Out Of U.S. Open Series Due To TV Deal With Tennis Channel". Sports Business Daily. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  5. ^ "Citi Open returns to US Open Series for 2019". US Open Series. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  6. ^ Wallace, Ava (June 1, 2023). "D.C.'s Citi Open merges with Silicon Valley Classic to boost women's event". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  7. ^ "San Jose moves to Washington D.C. to operate as Mubadala Citi DC Open". Women's Tennis Association. June 1, 2023. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  8. ^ Simon, Alex; Mastrodonato, Jason (June 2, 2023). "Bay Area loses longtime women's tennis event as WTA moves to Washington, D.C." The Mercury News. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved July 17, 2023.

External links edit


38°57′14″N 77°02′13″W / 38.954°N 77.037°W / 38.954; -77.037