The American summer hard-court swing heats up this coming week with the Citi Open, an ATP 500 tournament in Washington, D.C.
Washington’s field of 48 is once again strong, even if it doesn’t boast the very top players in the world. Ninth-ranked Taylor Fritz is the No. 1 seed ahead of Frances Tiafoe, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Hubert Hurkacz, and Grigor Dimitrov. Among the unseeded contingent are the likes of Kei Nishikori, Gael Monfils, Thanasi Kokkinakis, and Kevin Anderson.
Despite being the top seed, Fritz doesn’t have an easy draw. The ninth-ranked American could face Murray in the third round, Chris Eubanks in the quarterfinals, and Hurkacz in the semis. Hurkacz’s section also includes Monfils, Alexander Bublik, and Atlanta semifinalist J.J. Wolf.
On the other side of the bracket, Tiafoe is a collision course with Ben Shelton for the last 16 and Sebastian Korda for the quarters. Meanwhile, Auger-Aliassime is in desperate needed of some momentum but will be hard-pressed to find it. The world No. 12 may have to open against Yibing Wu before potentially running into an in-form Ugo Humbert (third round) and Grigor Dimitrov (quarterfinals).
First-round matchups to watch include Nishikori vs. Lloyd Harris and Brandon Nakashima vs. Aleksandar Vukic.
who ya got?