The 2017 version of the Citi Open holds some very intriguing storylines. The WTA event is not as large as the ATP event in what is a shared-tour stop. The men play a 48-man tournament this week, while the women offer a tournament with only five rounds, not six. There are no first-round byes in the WTA event. Yet, despite the smaller size, the stories here could be explosive: A player in the field could become the WTA’s No. 1 player. An American favorite will make her main-tour return after a series of injuries. There’s a lot to like here.
The competition in the 32-player main draw for the WTA Citi Open begins on Monday, July 31.
Event Details
Event: Citi Open
Category: WTA International Level
Date: July 31 – August 6, 2017
Location: William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center – Washington, D.C.
With a prize money allotment of just under $227,000, this tournament doesn’t offer all that much bang for the buck. It’s valuable because it’s one of the first hardcourt stops on tour after Wimbledon and the grass season, plus the brief post-Wimbledon clay season in Europe.
There’s another event in Stanford, California, which generally has a larger purse and higher-ranked players. This tournament gets the slightly lower-ranked players intent on bagging some rankings points. Yet, with that having been said, this year’s field owns enough big names to make it an attraction in its own right and on its own terms.
Points
Champion – 280
Runner-up – 180
Semifinal – 110
Quarterfinal – 60
Round of 16 – 30
Former Champions and Results (5 Years)
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2016 – Yanina Wickmayer def. Lauren Davis – 6-4, 6-2
2015 – Sloane Stephens def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – 6-1, 6-2
2014 – Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Kurumi Nara – 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
2013 – Magdalena Rybarikova def. Andrea Petkovic – 6-4, 7-6
2012 – Magdalena Rybarikova def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – 6-1, 6-1
Player Info:
Simona Halep is having a good season so far. She is 30-9 in 2017 and is playing solid tennis. The Romanian enjoyed a successful European swing that saw her defend her Madrid crown, reach the finals in Rome and Roland Garros, and reach the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, where she came within two points from winning and becoming the No. 1-ranked WTA player.
The World No. 2 has accepted a wild card to play in Washington, where the field is not as strong and deep as the one in Stanford. Halep knows that only 185 points separate her from Karolina Pliskova, who currently holds the No. 1 spot. With all the motivation in the world, it would be surprising if Halep doesn’t triumph at the Citi Open and make history.
Kristina Mladenovic had a poor outing at Wimbledon, but that doesn’t undermine how consistent she has been this year. The Frenchwoman has entered in 15 tournaments this year and has at least made the quarterfinals in eight of those events. Mladenovic has recorded 37 wins for the season and is ninth in the race to Singapore.
Wimbledon ended terribly for Julia Goerges, who lost in the first round in a tight three-setter to Lesia Tsurenko. However, Goerges is enjoying a great season. Last week, she made the finals in Bucharest, losing to an inspired home favorite Irina-Camelia Begu. Goerges also reached the final stage in Mallorca in a tune-up for Wimbledon. The German is ranked 45th in the world and is 27-16 for the season, steadily improving. If she can keep up the good work, it won’t be long before she breaches the top 30 of the rankings.
After spending almost a year on the sidelines after foot surgery, Sloane Stephens made a comeback at Wimbledon, where she lost to fellow American Alison Riske in straight sets in the first round. Her ranking is at 901 but can use a protected ranking on several occasions to get into tour events. She is currently playing Mylan World Team Tennis for the Philadelphia Freedoms. In Washington, she won her maiden WTA title in 2015. She may not win the title but the good news is she’ll be playing pain-free tennis.
William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center
The William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center is a public tennis facility in Washington, D.C. It has a stadium court with 7,500 seats. There are 15 hard courts which facilitate the staging of this event, which requires a large first round. It does not have any covered court, which could be a problem, since temperatures are expected to be near 105 degrees Fahrenheit for much of the tournament. Fitness will be extremely important, as will winning matches in two sets instead of three. Players will want to have night matches instead of day matches.
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