Washington Open (tennis)

History

The tournament was first held on the men's tour in 1969, known as the Washington Star International from 1969 to 1981, the Sovran Bank Classic from 1982 to 1992, the Newsweek Tennis Classic in 1993, the Legg Mason Tennis Classic from 1994 to 2011, and the Citi Open from 2012 to 2022. Competition was held on outdoor clay courts until 1986 when it switched to the current hard courts. Co-founders John A Harris and Donald Dell, founder of ProServ International, have since remained closely involved. The location of the event in Washington, D.C., was chosen at the urging of Arthur Ashe, an early supporter.

The women's event was first held in 2011 in College Park, Maryland, as the Citi Open, and for the 2012 season, the ATP and WTA decided to merge their Maryland and Washington spots into a joint tournament, with the women's event moving to the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center, and Citi replacing Legg Mason as title sponsor of the joint event.

In 2015, the Washington Open dropped out of the US Open Series because of disagreements with ESPN, which that year took over broadcast rights to the US Open and US Open Series events. ESPN would not commit to air more than four hours of the tournament on its ESPN2 network; the remainer would be relegated to ESPN3 online streaming. (In 2014, coverage was split between ESPN and Tennis Channel.) Donald Dell criticized ESPN for using ESPN3 to acquire sports rights without any intent to broadcast them on television: "If you're running a tournament, and it's $2 million, and sponsorship money in the $6 million-to-$8 million range, you've got sponsors that don't want to be having only four or six hours on television." Citi Open organizers withdrew from the US Open Series so it could establish a new broadcast rights agreement with Tennis Channel. The four-year, $2.1 million deal included funding for additional amenities and 171 hours of television coverage.

In 2019, the Washington Open was acquired by venture capitalist and USTA board member Mark Ein. It returned to the US Open Series, and also signed a five-year extension of its media rights with Tennis Channel. The 2020 tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The men's event returned for 2021, but the women's event remained cancelled; the WTA did not reinstate its sanctioning of the tournament due to conflicts with the 2020 Summer Olympics. The tournament instead organized a women's invitational, featuring Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, and Jennifer Brady.

In June 2023, Ein and IMG announced that the Washington Open would merge with the Silicon Valley Classic to form a single tournament in Washington, D.C.; this therefore promoted the Washington Open from a WTA 250 event to a WTA 500 event. Players had usually been divided between the two tournaments, as the Silicon Valley Classic was more prestigious, but the Washington Open was in closer proximity to the other tournaments of the North American hardcourt season. As a result of the merger, the Silicon Valley Classic's title sponsor Mubadala Investment Company became a co-title sponsor of the event, and the tournament was renamed the Mubadala Citi DC Open. The tournament is the first-ever joint 500-level event on the ATP and WTA tours.

Past finals

In the men's singles, Andre Agassi (1990–91, 1995, 1998–99) holds the records for most titles (five) and most finals overall (six, runner-up in 2000). He also shares with Michael Chang (1996–97), Juan Martín del Potro (2008–09) and Alexander Zverev (2017–18) the record for most consecutive titles, with two. In the women's singles, Magdaléna Rybáriková (2012–13) holds the record for most titles (two) and co-holds the record for most finals (two) with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (runner-up in 2012, 2015). In the men's doubles, Marty Riessen (1971–72, 1974, 1979) and the Bryan brothers (2005–07, 2015) hold the record for most titles (four), with the Bryans also holding the record for most consecutive titles (three). The Bryans co-hold the record for most finals (six, runners-up in 2001–02) with Raúl Ramírez (winner in 1976, 1981–82, runner-up in 1975, 1978–79). In the women's doubles, Shuko Aoyama (2012–14) holds alone the record for most titles, most consecutive titles and most finals (three).

Men's singles

Women's singles

Men's doubles

Women's doubles

Notes

References

References

1. (31 July 2023). "Washington tennis tournament offers equal status for women and men but unequal prize money".
2. (16 July 2025). "Mubadala Citi DC Open 2025: Draws, Dates, History & All You Need To Know".
3. [https://www.mubadalacitidcopen.com/en/event-info/event-info Mubadala Citi DC Open EVENT INFO]
4. Gerbo, George. (2023-06-01). "D.C.'s Citi Open merging with Silicon Valley Classic to upgrade WTA event".
5. (2012-04-24). "Legg Mason Classic in Washington, D.C. changes name to Citi Open – ESPN". ESPN Internet Ventures.
6. Reynolds, Mike. (July 24, 2014). "Tennis, ESPN2 Serve Up 230-Plus U.S. Open Series Hours".
7. Rothenberg, Ben. (August 13, 2015). "Why DC's Citi Open separated from U.S. Open Series".
8. "DC's Citi Open Bumped Out Of U.S. Open Series Due To TV Deal With Tennis Channel".
9. "Citi Open returns to US Open Series for 2019".
10. Malet, Jeff. (August 2, 2021). "D.C.'s Citi Open Tennis Tournament Underway After Two-Year Hiatus (photos)".
11. Clarke, Liz. (June 10, 2021). "Citi Open to return at 50 percent capacity after tournament was canceled in 2020". [[The Washington Post]].
12. Malet, Jeff. (August 2, 2021). "D.C.'s Citi Open Tennis Tournament Underway After Two-Year Hiatus (photos)".
13. Byrum, Tyler. (August 6, 2021). "Citi Open tournament information". [[NBC Sports Washington]].
14. Clarke, Liz. (August 7, 2021). "At Citi Open exhibition, Coco Gauff talks about her bout with covid and getting vaccinated". [[Washington Post]].
15. Wallace, Ava. (2023-06-01). "D.C.'s Citi Open merges with Silicon Valley Classic to boost women's event". Washington Post.
16. (June 1, 2023). "San Jose moves to Washington D.C. to operate as Mubadala Citi DC Open". [[Women's Tennis Association]].
17. (June 2, 2023). "Bay Area loses longtime women's tennis event as WTA moves to Washington, D.C.". [[The Mercury News]].