Mubadala DC Open Begins North American Hard-Court Swing With Star Power

Mubadala DC Open
Mubadala DC Open (photo: Wick Photography/Mubadala DC Open)

WASHINGTON, July 27, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

The Mubadala DC Open has been a summer fixture in Washington, D.C., the nation’s capital city, for more than half a century. The ATP/WTA 500-series tournament begins its 57th edition Monday and continues through Sunday, August 2.

The tournament kicks off the North American hard-court circuit, which also includes upcoming back-to-back ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 stops in Canada (Montreal for men and Toronto for women) and Cincinnati leading up to the US Open, which begins on August 25.

With Washington dominating the week – there’s also an ATP 250 in Los Cabos and a WTA 250 in Memphis – there’s plenty of star power on hand at William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park, just four miles up 16th St. NW from the White House, to whet the appetite of all tennis fans.

This year, the Mubadala DC Open will feature five Top-10 players, 12 top-20 players, four Grand Slam champions and two former World No. 1’s.

“The strength of this year’s player field speaks to what the Mubadala DC Open has become on the global tennis calendar,” said Mark Ein, Chairman of the Mubadala DC Open, prior to the start of this year’s event. As the world’s only combined ATP and WTA 500 tournament, we’re excited to once again showcase the very best of professional tennis in our nation’s capital.”

Tickets are sold out for the entire week for the seventh straight year with a limited number of outer courts passes available for some of the days. 

The Washington, D.C. tournament, which began back in 1969, was founded to support Arthur Ashe‘s vision of playing a professional tennis tournament in a fully accessible public park. The Mubadala DC Open, which was established by Ashe, Donald Dell and John A. Harris, has continued to build and expand the event, with the goal of positively impacting the Washington community and creating one of the best tennis tournaments in the world. The Washington Tennis Education Foundation (WTEF), a longtime tournament beneficiary, capitalizes on the tournament annually for fundraising and has raised millions of dollars for youth programs in the Washington area. 

Now, the Mubadala DC Open is the only ATP/WTA combined 500-series event in the world – and it’s the fifth-largest pro tournament in the United States (behind the US Open, Indian Wells, Miami and Cincinnati). Broadcast rights in North America belong to Tennis Channel, which will be televising the event, both on its linear TV channels and via the Tennis Channel app, from first ball to last ball.

De Minaur returns to defend DC Open men’s title

This year’s ATP field, which has downsized from a 48-player to a 32-player draw to align with other ATP 500-level events globally, is led by World No. 5 and defending champion Alex de Minaur of Australia, World No. 6 Ben Shelton of the United States, and World No. 10 Taylor Fritz of the United States. Also, among Top-25 players, there are: No. 15 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, No. 16 Learner Tien of the United States, No. 17 Frances Tiafoe of the United States, and No. 24 Tommy Paul of the United States.

The top four seeds in this year’s draw are: No.1 de Minaur, No. 2 Shelton, No. 3. Fritz, and No. 4. Musetti.

De Minaur saved three championship points to outlast Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-1, in last year’s final. This year’s winner in the 32-player draw field will receive first-prize money of $461,835 plus 500 ATP points.

Alex de Minaur

Alex de Minaur (photo: Wick Photography/ Mubadala DC Open)

“I’m very excited to be back here in D.C. after a little bit of a break. I think it’s been great, because we obviously have a lot of [the] year left to go,” de Minaur said Sunday afternoon during his pre-tournament news conference. “So, the plan is to finish strong, and hopefully I can get started here and kind of start my, you know, American hard court swing off well here in D.C.”

Following Wimbledon, de Minaur and British No. 2 Katie Boulter got married in Tuscany. She’s in Washington, too, competing in the women’s draw. “The wedding was great. It was everything we could have ever imagined. It was amazing to be able to kind of just be with close ones and family and friends and ultimately forget about tennis for a little while,” he said.

“Of course, we had a lot of fun. But the way the season works, we’re back to work, right? We’re back to being tennis players. That being said, I don’t think much has changed for me being married. I think same old-same old. I’m definitely very excited to kind of get going.”

The top-seeded De Minaur will open against No. 51 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, who earlier this month won the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad in Switzerland in clay.

Former DC Open champion Pegula leads women’s draw

On the WTA side, leading the field is World No. 3 Jessica Pegula of the United States, World No. 10 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and World No. 13 Naomi Osaka of Japan. Among the other top players featured are: Seven-time major champion Venus Williams of the United States, and No. 25 Leylah Fernandez of Canada, who is the defending champion.

Also, there’s a pair of Top-20 Russians, No. 18 Diana Shnaider and No. 20 Anna Kalinskaya; and a quartet of Top-50 Americans, No. 23 Madison Keys, No. 27 Emma Navarro, No. 32 Ann Li and No. 47 Sofia Kenin. Finally, making her tournament debut is the much-heralded No. 29 Alexandra Eala of the Philippines, who draws fans to her matches no matter where in the world she is playing.

The top four seeds in this year’s draw are: No. 1 Pegula, No. 2 Svitolina, No. 3 Osaka and No. 4 Shnaider.

Last year, Fernandez defeated Kalinskaya, 6-1, 6-2, in the title match. This year’s winner in the 28-player draw field will receive first-prize money of $252,000 plus 500 WTA points.

Leylah Fernandez

Leylah Fernandez (photo: Wick Photography/Mubadala DC Open)

“Happy to be back in D.C.,” Fernandez said during her pre-tournament news conference on Saturday. “There are so many good memories, and hopefully I can continue with some good vibes here and enjoy my time on court. …

“I definitely think back on those memories, on those feelings, the positive feelings, the fight, the energy that the crowd brought,” added Fernandez, who is seeded No. 7 in this year’s event and will open against Magda Linette of Poland. “I try to use that to my advantage and try to go back into that state, and hopefully I can reproduce that here.

“But I do know that one year is a long time, so a lot can change. I’m just going to try to go out there with the mindset of figuring things out and enjoy my time competing in D.C., where I’ve had some good success here.”

Fernandez, for one, looks forward to engaging with the fans this week in Washington, D.C. She will get her chance right away when she and Linette play the opening match of the tournament on Stadium Court Monday.

“They were incredible last year,” Fernandez recalled. “Walking here to the player lounge, I see a lot of kids, families smiling, doing activities. It’s just kind of a nice family tournament, and that’s the one thing that stands out in D.C., that it’s a family tournament.”

Around the Mubadala DC Open

• Jordan Lee of the United States, the 2026 Wimbledon junior boys’ singles champion, and Cruz Hewitt of Australia, son of Hall of Famer Lleyton Hewitt and the 2026 Wimbledon junior boys’ singles runner-up, received qualifying wild cards. Hewitt advanced to the second round of the qualifying draw via retirement over Dusan Lajovic of Serbia after leading 5-2. However, Lee fell to Moez Echargui of Tunisia, 7-5, 6-1, in the first round Saturday.

On Sunday, Hewitt faced No. 1 seed Zachary Svajda of the United States, ranked No. 73, and won via retirement, 1-6, 7-6 (3), 2-0, after one hour and 37 minutes. Hewitt will face qualifier Marcos Giron of the United States in the first round of the main draw.

Other qualifiers and lucky losers advancing to the main draw: Trevor Svajda of the United States, who will face No. 7 seed Jakub Mensik of Czechia; Aleksandar Vukic of Australia, who will play lucky loser Zachary Svajda of the United States; Andres Martin of the United States, who will oppose Ugo Humbert of France; and Martin Damm, who will face No. 2 seed Ben Shelton in an all-American battle.

• American 17-year-old wild card Julieta Pareja, a former junior girls’ No. 1, advanced to the women’s main draw with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory over 34-year-old Heather Watson of Great Britain in two hours and 27 minutes on the Stadium Court. She saved three match points. Next, she will face Wang Xinyu of China in the first round.

Other qualifiers advancing to the main draw: Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia, who will play Janice Tjen of Indonesia; newly-married Daria Kasatkina of Australia, who will oppose No. 5 seed Anna Kalinskaya of Russia; and Polina Kudermetova of Uzbekistan, who will face Cristina Bucsa of Spain.

Sunday’s DC Open men’s qualifying results

Sunday’s DC Open women’s qualifying results

Monday’s DC Open order of play

By the numbers

• Former DC Open champions in the men’s draw are: Kei Nishikori (2015) and Alex de Minaur (2025).

• Jessica Pegula (2019), Liudmila Samsonova (2022) and Leylah Fernandez (2025) comprise the former DC Open champions in the women’s draw.

“Quotable …”

“Yeah, so excited to be home, once again. I love being here. I love playing at home. I love seeing all family and friends, people I haven’t seen in a long time. It’s always great to be back.

“Yeah, the tournament keeps getting better and better every year. Seeing the field get tougher and tougher every year, it’s great. Yeah, it’s nice to be home this long after Wimbledon, as well.”

– Frances Tiafoe of the United States, a native of nearby Hyattsville, Maryland, during his pre-tournament news conference Saturday on returning to play at his home tournament, the DC Open, for the 10th time.

 

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