The Citi Open might be one of the more underrated tournaments on the ATP and WTA tours. The vent is only a 500 for each, but it helps players reset for the hard-court season after the brief grass-court season is completed. Going from clay to grass to hard courts can be troublesome.
In 2023, the Citi Open was especially helpful to Coco Gauff. That year, she was bounced out of Wimbledon in the first round, but came back to win in Washington and also won the US Open in September. This year, Gauff won't play in DC, but perhaps her 2023 success could be mirrored by Jessica Pegula, who lost in the first round at Wimbledon.
There is a lot to watch for American tennis fans. Top-11 WTA players Pegula and Emma Navarro will participate, as well as top-10 ATP players Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton. But there is so much more to watch than the Americans.
All you need to know ahead of the 2025 Citi Open
Among the top-10 ATP players involved at the 2025 Citi Open are Fritz (4), Shelton (4), Lorenzo Musetti (7), Holger Rune (8), and Andrey Rublev (10). Daniil Medvedev and Alex de Minaur are also worth keeping an eye on.
On the WTA side, top-10 player Pegula (4) will be the favorite, but top-20 players Navarro, Elena Rybakina (13), and Clara Tauson (19) will also be threats. Or perhaps, this could be the event that gets Emma Raducanu, ranked 45, back in the form that earned her the 2021 US Open.
Schedule and how to watch the 2025 Citi Open:
- Monday 7/21 – ATP/WTA 1st Round (Play begins at 11 am ET)
- Tuesday 7/22 - ATP/WTA 1st Rounds & ATP 2nd Round (Play begins at 11 am ET)
- Wednesday 7/23 – ATP/WTA 2nd Round (Play begins at 11 am ET)
- Thursday 7/24 - ATP/WTA 2nd Round & ATP 3rd Round (Play begins at 11 am ET)
- Friday 7/25 – ATP/WTA Quarterfinals (Play begins at 12 pm ET)
- Saturday 7/26 – WTA Doubles Final (12 pm ET), WTA Semifinals (Beginning no sooner than 2:30 pm ET), ATP Semifinals (No sooner than 7 pm ET)
- Sunday 7/27 – ATP Doubles Final (12 pm ET), WTA Singles Final (No sooner than 2:30 pm ET), ATP Singles Final (No sooner than 5 pm ET)
The Tennis Channel will carry all the action in the United States. Sky Sports will carry the tournament in the UK and many European countries. For streaming in Europe and Australia, one can go to Tennis TV and WTA TV.
Who will win the 2025 Citi Open?
The guess here is that Ben Shelton gets the win on the men's side. His serve should keep players off-balance as he uses this for a warm-up to the Cincinnati Masters and the US Open.
On the women's side, Pegula has to be the betting favorite. She won the Citi Open in 2019 and 2021, so she knows what it takes to win in Washington, DC.
The event is held at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. Temperatures are expected to reach the upper 80s with extreme humidity.