By: Ben Raby
Both the ATP and WTA draws have been revealed and the itinerary for the 2023 Mubadala Citi DC Open is starting to take shape.
While qualifying rounds will be completed over the weekend, main draw play begins Monday with several headliners and Grand Slam champions set to usher in a busy week of competition.
PEGULA, GARCIA, GAUFF, SAKKARI HEADLINE WOMEN’S MAIN DRAW:
In the women’s draw, 2019 DC champion and No.1 American Jessica Pegula is the top seed, while 2022 U.S. Open semifinalist and World No.5 Caroline Garcia anchors the bottom half of the draw as the second seed. The top four seeds in the women’s draw all received first-round byes with American World No.7 Coco Gauff and Greek World No.9 Maria Sakkari rounding out the quartet.
Pegula headlines a loaded quarter with a potential second-round match looming against American wild card and 2020 Australian Open champ Sofia Kenin. Kenin faces a qualifier in her opening match.
Wimbledon semifinalist Elina Svitolina, former World No.1 and two-time Grand Slam champ Victoria Azarenka and No.5-seed Daria Kasatkina are among the other headliners in the top quarter.
Svitolina and Azarenka are set to meet in a blockbuster first-round showdown with a combined 38 WTA singles titles between them.
If the seeds hold, Sakkari and No.7 Madison Keys are positioned to meet in the quarterfinals, while Gauff may have to navigate through former World No.1 Karolina Pliskova and No.6-seed Belinda Bencic to escape her quarter.
Sloane Stephens, who captured her maiden WTA title in Washington in 2015, also lurks in Gauff’s quarter. Stephens is making her record 11th career appearance in the women’s draw.
Garcia headlines the bottom quarter and could face Canadian wild card Biana Andreescu in her opening match. Andreescu earned her first career WTA match win in Washington in 2017 and returns to DC for the first time since with a US Open title (2019) now on her resume.
Reigning DC women’s champion Liudmila Samsonova begins her title defense against University of Virginia alum and 2022 Australian Open finalist Danielle Collins in another marquee first-round match.
FRITZ, TIAFOE AND EUBANKS AMONG AMERICAN HEADLINERS IN MEN’S DRAW:
On the ATP side, the top-16 seeds in the 48-player field all received first-round byes. Taylor Fritz and College Park native Frances Tiafoe anchor each half of the draw, marking the first time since 2006 that the top two seeds in the men’s draw are American.
Fritz is the top seed and could face former World No.1 and three-time Grand Slam champ Andy Murray in the third round. Fritz’s quarter also includes No.7 Adrian Mannarino – fresh off a title run last week in Newport – and American No.11 seed Christopher Eubanks.
Eubanks, 27, is enjoying a breakout season on tour complete with quarterfinal appearances in Miami and Wimbledon and a first-career title in Mallorca. The Atlanta native will arrive in DC ranked inside the Top-30 for the first time in his career.
Eubanks will face the winner of one of the more intriguing first-round matches in the men’s draw as 2015 DC champ Kei Nishikori takes on South African Lloyd Harris. Harris pulled off a memorable win in DC two years when he held off Rafael Nadal in a three-setter on Stadium Court.
Should the seeds hold, No.4 Hubert Hurkacz and No.6 Alexander Bublik could meet in the quarterfinals, while No.3 Felix Auger-Aliassime and No.5 Grigor Dimitrov are also positioned to meet in the Final-8. Dimitrov will face the winner of 2021 DC finalist Mackenzie McDonald and former World No.8 Diego Schwartzman’s first-round match.
Fritz, Tiafoe and Eubanks are among six American seeds to receive a first-round bye. The others include No.8 Sebastian Korda, No.14 Ben Shelton and No.16 J.J. Wolf. All will be vying to become the first American men’s singles champion in DC since Andy Roddick won the Washington crown in 2007.
Tiafoe, Shelton and Korda are all in the bottom quarter of the draw, along with No.9 Daniel Evans.
Tiafoe reached the quarterfinals last year – his deepest run at his hometown tournament – but could not convert on six match points before ultimately falling to eventual champion Nick Kyrgios in a three-set thriller. Tiafoe has come a long way since with a maiden semifinal appearance at the U.S. Open and two titles so far in 2023 (Houston, Stuttgart).
QUALIFYING BEGINS SATURDAY
While main draw play doesn’t begin until Monday, the weekend is loaded with compelling storylines from the qualifying brackets.
Among the women vying for the final four berths in the main draw are 2021 U.S. Open finalist Leylah Fernandez and a trio of 2023 WTA champions in Alycia Parks, Lauren Davis and Katie Boulter.
Rising DC junior star Clervie Ngounoue, 16, looks to reach her first WTA main draw just weeks after winning the girls’ singles title at the Wimbledon. Ngounoue, who now trains in Florida, will face the top seed in the qualifying draw, Anna Blinkova, in the first match of the day on Stadium Court.
DC native, Hailey Baptiste, who grew up within walking distance of the Rock Creek Tennis Center, will take on Parks in a late-afternoon encounter (not before 4 p.m.) on the Grandstand. Baptiste won her WTA debut at her hometown tournament in 2019 with a first-round upset of Madison Keys.
Local stars and JTCC alums Denis Kudla (Arlington, Va.) and Andrew Fenty (Washington, DC) will also look to navigate through the men’s qualifiers this weekend.
A two-time quarterfinalist in DC (2018, 2021), Kudla will face Kiranpal Pannu in the third and final match of the day on Stadium Court. Fenty (University of Michigan) takes on Brandon Holt (University of Southern California) on John Harris Court in a battle between two Americans who both had decorated careers collegiately.
Virginia alum Thai-Son Kwiatkowski and two-time DC semifinalist (2011, 2014) Donald Young are among the other headliners in the men’s qualifying draw.
