He has quickly become one of the DMV’s favorite athletes — in any sport. Hyattsville native Frances Tiafoe, ranked a career-high 10th in the world, is one of the headliners at this week’s Mubadala Citi DC Open which kicked off over the weekend with qualifying matches. The main draw begins Monday at noon.
Tiafoe is expected to play his opening singles match Tuesday night.
Next to the four grand slams, the DC Open (formerly Citi Open) is one of the tournaments Tiafoe says he covets the most.
DMV favorite,10th ranked in the world and the #2 seed Frances Tiafoe @FTiafoe has a history with the @mubadalacitidc long before he played here. Winning here would be a big deal to him. @mymcmedia pic.twitter.com/Q9zJydMN7L
— Joe Yasharoff (@JYash) July 30, 2023
Couldn't have said it better ourselves @FTiafoe ❤️#MubadalaCitiDCOpen pic.twitter.com/IPZyWBPB4V
— Mubadala Citi DC Open (@mubadalacitidc) July 31, 2023
Tiafoe plays doubles Monday afternoon on the Grandstand Court with Hubert Hurcacz vs Christopher Eubanks and Sebastian Korda.
Monday night’s feature match (not before 7 p.m. depending on prior matches) pits Victoria Azarenka from Belarus vs Elina Svitolina from Ukraine. An announcement will be made before the match that there wil be no post-match handshake. When the two played at Wimbledon earlier this month, Azarenka was booed by fans who thought she refused to shake hands with Svitolina after losing. Many did not realize that Svitolina does not shake hands with players from Russia or Belarus due to the ongoing war.
Other top ranked players this week include Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff and Madison Keys on the ladies side. Taylor Fritz, Andy Murray, Grigor Dimitrov and Felix Auger-Aliassime highlight the men’s side.
Not many tickets remain for the week but for the latest info, go to https://www.mubadalacitidcopen.com/en/
