Washington, D.C

DC Open Has Its Best Year During Olympics

Published

2 years ago

August 2, 2024

DC Open Has Its Best Year During Olympics

Frances Tiafoe reacts after a point against Daniel Elahi Galan during day 4 of the Mubadala Citi DC … [+] Open 2024 at William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center on July 30, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

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Never mind that on the other side of the Atlantic, the 2024 Summer Olympic Games are in full swing. Right in the nation’s capital, some of the top names in tennis are going head to head in this year’s Mubadala Citi DC Open, with every single ticket sold out.

Among the talent is local favorite Frances Tiafoe, ATP’s No. 29-ranked player, known for his strong serve and aggressive style of offensive play. Tiafoe, who grew up nearby in Maryland, made an eighth appearance at his hometown tournament a decade after his professional debut at age 16.

Tiafoe attended a solo press conference on Monday afternoon to discuss his goals for the remainder of this year and the importance of this tennis event in Washington, D.C.’s Rock Creek Park.

“Obviously coming here, I want to perform,” Taifoe said, also saying that seeing his name and image around the stadium “gets me going. I mean, I need to get a few matches under my belt,” he added, “obviously try(ing) to get some good momentum to get me to the (U.S.) Open.”

On Thursday, Tiafoe advanced from the Round of 16 after beating fellow American Aleksandar Kovacevic in three sets. When I spoke directly to Tiafoe after the presser, he said that his intensity would not let up.

“I like to play hard, and I’m always going try to get to the net more aggressively, hit my serves hard, and play hard but keep it smooth.”

Tiafoe, who entered the Mubadala Citi DC Open’s men’s singles tourney as the No. 5 seed, also said he focuses on the mental aspect of his game most.

“My game is my game, and I know I’m dangerous. So, I know it’s about my mental game and how I can bring my best week in and week out.”

When I asked about playing in Washington, D.C., and being the hometown favorite, Tiafoe said there’s something special about being close to where he grew up.

“Generally, when I play anywhere around the States, I feel a lot of love. I feel it in New York and places like Cincinnati, but obviously home is home,” Tiafoe said. I’m going to my favorite restaurants while (at) home. I’ve got my friends in the stadium, (plus) family, parents, and cousins here watching. It’s a really big thing.”

When I asked Tiafoe which challenger he felt has helped him the most recently in the ongoing evolution of his game, he said the current world No. 3 player and two-time consecutive Wimbledon champion, Carlos Alcaraz.

“Playing Alcaraz, We’ve gone to the brink twice in huge matches. I think he brings out the best in me, and I bring out the best in him. ”

Tiafoe saw competition against Alcaraz a month ago at Wimbledon, in which the defending champion survived a major scare versus Tiafoe in Wimbledon’s third round on Friday, July 5. Eventually, Alcaraz rallied to beat Tiafoe in a five-set thriller 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2.

At the US Open in 2022, Tiafoe tested the Spaniard in a five-set match-up en route to his only US Open title.

DC Open: A local favorite and then some

Mark Ein, an American former tennis player, venture capitalist, and sports executive, has chaired the DC Open since 2019.

Ein says that even with the Olympics going on—with a lot of attention from tennis diehards to attendees in Paris like Alcaraz, Coco Gauff, and WTA world No. 1 Iga Świątek—the Mubadala Citi DC Open is having perhaps its best year.

“Our player field is really strong. It’s a small draw in that there are on 28 players on the women’s side, and 48 on the men’s. We have seven of the top women’s players, plus exciting players in Sloane Stephens, Sofia Kenin, Emma Radacanu,” Ein said. “That means every round, you draw players who are really good.”

Nine of the world’s top 20-ranked players were on the docket at the DC Open, including Aryna Sabalenka (3), Ons Jabeur (10), Grigor Dimitrov (10), Daria Kasatkina (12), Ben Shelton (14), Liudmila Samsonova (15), Victoria Azarenka (16) and Anna Kalinskaya (18), as well as Madison Keys (13), who withdrew at the last minute because of an injury.

Sabalenka, Azarenka, and Karolína Plíšková are all one-time world No. 1 players, while Sabalenka, Azarenka, Kenin, Stephens, and Raducanu are all Grand Slam winners. Azarenka is also an Olympic Gold Medalist (London 2012, Mixed Doubles).

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 31: Aryna Sabalenka celebrates after a shot against Kamilla Rakhimova during … [+] day 5 of the Mubadala Citi DC Open 2024 at William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center on July 31, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

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Ein, who also plays a role as a limited partner with the Washington Commanders, points out that for the last two consecutive years, the Citi Open ticket office has completely sold out, and he thinks this has a lot to do with the top-level of talent in the DC Open, and it being so accessible for the fans.

But it’s not just the talent on the court that DC Open can boast about. The William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center, home of the DC Open, is tucked into the picturesque wooded are known as Rock Creek, a U.S. National Park Service location.

Also on hand for fans is a world-class selection of food that consists of both Michelin-starred chefs and DC-area local favorite coffee spots and sandwich shops.

“It’s great tennis up close, with this incredible summer festival,” Ein said. “In the middle of the day, when tennis is being played and all the fans are out, the DC Open has great energy.”

Ein also points out that the DC Open is one of the most innovative events in the sport, as the world’s first combined 500 event. In pro tennis, both ATP, the men’s tennis authority, and WTA, the women’s tennis authority, sponsor events in which tournament singles champions collect 500 ranking points.

“When we took over the DC Open (in 2019), our event was a men’s 500 and a women’s 250,” Ein said. This meant that you couldn’t highlight both sides equally, but we decided to fix that.”

Aryna Sabalenka, currently the WTA’s No. 3-ranked player and a two-time consecutive Australian Open champ (2022, 2023), is known for her intensity on and off the court, like Tiafoe.

She hints that the Mubadala Citi DC Open is a great alternative to the Olympic tussle and provides a great opportunity not only to regroup but to win.

“I definitely feel like being in Paris right now, it’s a lot of responsibility and a lot of pressure, like different pressure,” Sabalenka said during her Monday presser. Here, it actually feels much, much easier to breathe.”

Read Frye’s interviews with Maria Sharapova and Billie Jean King.

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Related Topics:Aryna Sabalenka DC Open Featured frances tiafoe Mubadala Citi DC Open Mubadala tennis

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Washington, D.C

50 years of DC Metro: A look back in photos

Published

11 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

50 years of DC Metro: A look back in photos

One family, four generations with DC Metro

As Metro celebrates 50 years of service, one D.C. family is marking the milestone with a legacy of their own — four generations who have all worked on the system, helping keep the region moving for decades.

WASHINGTON – D.C. residents got on their first Metro train 50 years ago on March 27, 1976. Here’s a look back at the beginning.

Connecticut Avenue; NW; looking south. evening traffic-jams are aggravated by metro subway construction in Washington D.C. ca. 1973 (Photo by: HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

View of the Metro Center subway station (at 13th and G Streets NW) during its construction, Washington DC, November 16, 1973. (Photo by Warren K Leffler/PhotoQuest/Getty Images)

Standing in the cavernous tunnel, planners wearing hard hats discuss the construction progress of the Metro Center subway station at the intersection of 13th and G Streets in Washington, DC, November 16, 1973. (Photo by Leffler/Library of Congress/In

WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 07: FILE, Metro construction miners and blasters on a jumbo drill outside the hole they are working on at Rock Creek Parkway and Cathedral Ave NW in Washington, DC on November 7, 1973. (Photo by James K.W Atherton/The Washin

WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 4: FILE, View of the Post Office at North Capital and Mass Avenue NE, and 1st NE where subway tunnels were being constructed in Washington, DC on March 4, 1974. (Photo by Joe Heiberger/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 29: FILE, Workers rig a pipe at the entrance to the Rosslyn Metro Station in Washington DC on August 29, 1974 (Photo by Larry Morris/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 27: FILE, The crowd at Rhode Island Station on opening day of the Washington Metro on March 27, 1976. (Photo by James A. Parcell/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 28: FILE, Reverend Leslie E. Smith of the Episcopal Church, right, and George Docherty of New York Avenue Presbyterian church hold a joint service at the new Metro Center station in Washington, DC on March 28, 1976. (Photo by D

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 1: FILE, An aerial view of metro construction where it crosses the Washington Channel. The Potomac River, the Pentagon and Northern Virginia can be seen in the distance. (Photo by Ken Feil/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 27: FILE, A packed train of commuters on the Silver Spring metro on the Red Line on January 27, 1987. (Photo by Dudley M. Brooks/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 4: FILE, Thousands of people press their way into the Smithsonian Subway station after the Independence Day fireworks in Washington, DC on July 4, 1979. (Photo by Lucian Perkins/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit AuthorityNewsWashington, D.C.

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Washington, D.C

Pop-up museum in DC features the scandal that changed American history – WTOP News

Published

23 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Pop-up museum in DC features the scandal that changed American history – WTOP News

Among the liquor store, barber shop and dry cleaners at the Watergate Complex’s retail plaza, there is a new pop-up museum dedicated to the scene of the crime that toppled Richard Nixon’s presidency.

The temporary exhibit features the work of artist Laurie Munn — portraits of members of the Nixon administration and those connected to the Watergate break-in. The exhibit features members of Congress, the media and some who were on President Nixon’s enemies list.(WTOP/Jimmy Alexander)

Keith Krom, chair of the Board of Directors of the Watergate Museum, told WTOP the exhibit was first featured in the gallery in 2012 for the 40th anniversary of the break-in at the Democratic National Committee.

“When she (Munn) learned about our museum effort, she offered to reassemble them as a way for us to expand awareness of the museum,” Krom said.

Krom, who lives in the Watergate, said his favorite portrait is of one of the special prosecutors, whose firing sparked the “Saturday Night Massacre” in 1973.

“I had the pleasure of being a student of Archibald Cox,” Krom said. “He served as my mentor for my third-year writing project.”

Krom said during this time, at the Boston University School of Law, he spent a great deal of time with him.

“I didn’t realize how much he must have gone through. Here he was, this one man, who was challenging the president of the United States over something pretty serious,” Krom said.

The pop-up opened in October and was recently extended to stay open until April 25. Krom said the hope is to find it a permanent location within the Watergate Complex, where they can “present the history of Watergate, but with two perspectives.”

The first would be on the building’s “architectural significance to D.C.,” he said.

“You may not like the design, you actually may hate it,” Krom said. “But you cannot deny that it changed D.C.’s skyline.”

The secondary focus would, of course, be on the mother of all presidential scandals that changed the course of American history.

“That’s where that suffix ‘-gate’ started and continues to be used for almost every scandal that comes out today,” Krom said.

The inspiration for the museum spawned from an interaction from a tourist outside the Watergate.

“He says, ‘This is the Watergate, right?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s one of the buildings,’” Krom recalled.

The tourist then asked Krom, “So where’s the museum?”

“I was like, ‘Oh, we don’t have a museum.’ And he literally just looked at me and said, ‘That’s so sad.’ And he got on his bike and rode away,” Krom said.

While the self-proclaimed political history nerd said he “still gets goose bumps” when he drives by the Capitol at night, Krom hopes that when people leave the museum, “they’ll walk away with a new appreciation for how our government works, the guardrails that are in place.”

“Maybe an understanding that those guardrails themselves are kind of frail, and they probably need our collective help in making sure they last — that’s what we hope to accomplish,” Krom said.

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Washington, D.C

Cherry Blossoms Hit Peak Bloom in Washington DC

Published

1 day ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Cherry Blossoms Hit Peak Bloom in Washington DC

Almost at peak! A view of the cherry trees in Washington DC show they’re about to burst into peak bloom very soon. Image: NPS

According to the National Park Service at the National Mall, famous cherry blossoms around the nation’s capital have hit peak bloom conditions. The National Park Service X account for the National Mall proclaimed this morning, “PEAK BLOOM! PEAK BLOOM! PEAK BLOOM!”

It became apparent yesterday that the bloom would be at peak today. “Despite a sunny afternoon and patches of blue sky, the cherry blossoms remain at Stage 5: Puffy White,” the Park Service wrote on X yesterday. Stage 5, “Puffy White”, is the final stage blossoms go through before being in full bloom. They start at Stage 1 as a “Green Bud”, grow into Stage 2 with “Florets Visible”, and then florets become extended at Stage 3. In Stage 4, there is “Peduncle Elongation” which sets the stage for the puffy blossoms to appear in Stage 5. Puffy White and Peak Bloom are defined as when 70% of the blossoms on the trees reach that stage.

An explosion of blooming flowers is about to hit Washington DC's parks. Image: NPS — An explosion of blooming flowers is about to hit Washington DC’s parks. Image: NPS

Peak bloom varies annually depending on weather conditions; the most likely time to reach peak bloom is between the last week of March and the first week of April. According to the Park Service, extraordinary warm or cool temperatures have resulted in peak bloom as early as March 15 in 1990 and as late as April 18 in 1958.

Cherry blossom in Washington DC. Image: Weatherboy

The planting of cherry trees in Washington DC originated in 1912 as a gift of friendship to the People of the United States from the People of Japan. In Japan, the flowering cherry tree, or “Sakura,” is an important flowering plant. The beauty of the cherry blossom is a symbol with rich meaning in Japanese culture.

Dr. David Fairchild, plant explorer and U.S. Department of Agriculture official, imported seventy-five flowering cherry trees and twenty-five single-flowered weeping types from the Yokohama Nursery Company in Japan. After experimenting with growing them on his own property in Maryland, he deemed that the cherry tree would be perfect to plant around the Washington DC area. This triggered an interest by a variety of individuals to plant the tree around Washington. In 1909 the Mayor of Tokyo, Yukio Ozaki, donated 2,000 trees to the United States on behalf of his city. When the trees arrived, they were riddled with disease and insects and to protect other agriculture, they were burned. The Tokyo Mayor made a second donation of trees in 1910, this time amounting to 3,020 trees. This started the forest of cherry trees that now line the Potomac basin around Washington DC. In a gesture of gratitude back to Japan, President Taft sent a gift in 1915 of flowering dogwood trees to the people of Japan. Thousands of trees have been added since, including another gift of 3,800 trees from Japan in 1965.