The Citi Open has been one of the most anticipated D.C. events this summer. The annual tennis tournament takes place in the district’s very own Rock Creek Park.
This year’s tournament had some noticeable faces playing, including former world No. 1s Venus Williams and Andy Murray, who both competed on Aug. 1.
Murray fell to Mikeal Ymer 7-6, 4-6, 6-1 in the Citi Open first round. Although this was a difficult loss for Murray, his game was so much bigger than the Citi Open. Since March, Murray has promised to donate all of his prize money for the rest of the year to the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund.
According to ATP Staff, the Citi Open’s Chairman, Mark Ein, has “pledged to match the Scot’s prize money donation from next week’s ATP 500 tournament in Washington, D.C.” More than $300,000 has already been accumulated.
Venus Williams’ return to the court was a crowd pleaser, to say the least. This was the seven-time Grand Slam champion’s first singles match in almost a year.
The former world No. 1 lost to Rebecca Marino, a Canadian righthander, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Taylor Fritz was another tennis player Americans were excited to see compete. Fritz is the highest-ranked American men’s player, ranked 13th overall.
Fritz turned out victorious over his first competitor, Australian tennis player Alexei Popyrin. Fritz won 6-4, 6-3.
Unfortunately, Fritz’s exhaustion got the best of him the following day. Fritz fell to British tennis player Dan Evans. Evans had a 3-6, 7-6 (6), 4-1 lead on Fritz before the American retired.
Fritz put out a statement in regards to his performance via social media. “First off, health wise I'm okay. I feel embarrassed not being able to finish a match. I've never pulled out of a match in my life… Today I constantly felt like I was going to pass out, my vision was going fuzzy, and the only thing that can really prepare me for playing in these conditions... is playing in these conditions.”
While fans were worried about Fritz’s condition, Fritz assured everyone that he felt better after retiring the match.
Fritz was not the only player whose performance was impacted by exhaustion and fatigue. Emma Raducanu, the current British No. 1 seed, suffered from blisters on her “racket-wielding right hand,” ESPN reported.
Raducanu fell to Russian tennis champion Liudmila Samsonova in a straight-sets quarter-final loss.
In the finals Samsonova ended up defeating Estonian tennis player, Kaia Kanepi, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
As Williams said in an interview after the tournament, “DC is a great place to play tennis.” The Citi Open hosts many of tennis’ greatest players from around the world, including tennis legend Rafael Nadal who made his Citi Open debut last year.
The Citi Open took place from July 30 through Aug. 7. The tournament is not only for tennis fans, but also open to all and was an entertaining event to attend in D.C. this summer.
