DC Open Has Its Best Year During Olympics

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).

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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