Thiem tops Washington D.C. field, Del Potro and Nishikori also on board

The U.S. summer hard-court swing will be heating up in Washington, D.C. starting on Monday.

Although the 2016 field was somewhat depleted because of the Olympics, which also impacted other ATP tournaments, this one is just about as good as it gets for a 500-point event. Four top-10 players and nine of the top 20 are in the main draw, and that does not even include Nick Kyrgios and Juan Martin Del Potro. Dominic Thiem and Kei Nishikori are the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively, followed by Milos Raonic, Grigor Dimitrov, Alexander Zverev, and defending champion Gael Monfils.

Thiem is in the midst of a stellar stretch that includes runner-up performances in Barcelona and Madrid, semifinal showings in Rome and at Roland Garros, and a fourth-round finish at Wimbledon. The seventh-ranked Austrian has enjoyed a ton of success on clay but the jury is still out on his abilities on other surfaces, so the beginning of his hard-court summer at the Citi Open will provide plenty of intrigue. Thiem’s draw is not a bad one, as Monfils–a potential quarterfinal opponent–is no longer in the form that carried him to the title last summer and ultimately to the World Tour Finals.

The top half of the Washington, D.C. bracket also features Raonic, Jack Sock, and John Isner. Sock and Isner are on a collision course for the third round, with the winner to possibly face Raonic in the quarters. Isner captured the Newport title last week and currently finds himself in the Atlanta final.

A lot of eyes will be on Nishikori and Del Potro in the bottom half, as both stars are coming off relatively underwhelming performances on clay and grass. They each missed out on an opportunity against Andy Murray at the French Open; Del Potro in round three and Nishikori in the quarterfinals. Del Potro then suffered an upset loss to Ernests Gulbis in the Wimbledon second round and Nishikori bowed out in the last 32 at the hands of Roberto Bautista Agut. The top players for Argentina and Japan, respectively, should be able to coast through their Washington, D.C. openers prior to a head-to-head showdown in the third round.

Kyrgios also has some work to do as he looks to get a stalemated 2017 campaign back in gear. The 21st-ranked Australian started the season 18-4 but is a mere 1-5 in his last six matches dating back to the Madrid third round. He has retired twice due to hip problems–including in his Wimbledon opener against Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

A possible third-round collision could pit Kyrgios against Zverev, who are good friends and occasional doubles partners. Zverev reached the semis of this event last year before falling to Monfils.

Quarterfinal predictions: Dominic Thiem over Gael Monfils, John Isner over Milos Raonic, Alexander Zverev over Steve Johnson, and Juan Martin Del Potro over Gilles Muller

Semifinals: Thiem over Isner and Zverev over Del Potro

Final: Zverev over Thiem

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