US Open swing kicks off in Washington, DC for Taylor Fritz, Jessica Pegula

With the grass-court season over—too soon, as always—the tours make dueling surface transitions this week. In the U.S., the men and women at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C., help kick off the North American hard-court swing. At the same time in Europe, events in Kitzbuhel and Umag give the ATP’s dirt-ballers a final hurrah on clay in 2025. From here on out, it will be hard courts only.

Here’s a look at three storylines to watch at the sport begins another trip across the pond:

Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton headline a globally balanced DC Open men’s draw

The summer hard-court season looks a little different from years past. The traditional opening events in Atlanta (ATP) and Stanford/San Jose (WTA) have been jettisoned, while the most prestigious tournaments, in Canada and Cincinnati, have been lengthened from nine days to 12. The stop that hasn’t changed much is D.C. It has been dual gender for years, and this will be the third season where both men’s and women’s events are 500s.

The men’s draw here has traditionally been more globally balanced than other, smaller Stateside events, which tend to have American-heavy fields. Of the 48 men in D.C., 12 are from the U.S. and 20 are from Europe. That balance is reflected among the highest seeds: Taylor Fritz is first, Lorenzo Musetti second, Holger Rune third, and Ben Shelton fourth.

Fritz and Shelton will be in the spotlight this week. Each is coming off a career-best run at Wimbledon, and expectations will be higher than ever for both at the US Open. Neither has made the final in D.C.

Also here: Andrey Rublev, Frances Tiafoe, Alex De Minaur, Daniil Medvedev, Flavio Cobolli

Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro are the top seeds on the women’s side in D.C.

The Citi Open’s WTA field is a little more than half the size of the men’s, offers a little more than half the prize money, and doesn’t include as many name players. But the top two seeds—No. 1 Pegula and No. 2 Navarro—will be of interest to U.S. fans.

Pegula has won this tournament before, in 2019, and is a solid favorite to do it again. She’s coming off a surprise first-round loss at Wimbledon, but otherwise looked sharp on grass. Summer hard courts are where she typically reaches her highest gear. Last year she won the title in Canada, and made the finals in Cincy and New York. That’s a lot of points to defend between now and the US Open; she’ll want to add as many as she can this week.

Something similar is true for Navarro, who made the semis in Canada and Flushing Meadows in 2024. The South Carolinian has had a somewhat disappointing follow-up year so far, but hard courts would seem to be the place for her to start turning that around.

Also here: Elena Rybakina, Clara Tauson, Danielle Collins

First-round matches to watch:

Venus Williams, 45, vs. Peyton Stearns

Sofia Kenin vs. Hailey Baptiste

Emma Raducanu vs. Marta Kostyuk

Naomi Osaka vs. Yulia Putintseva

Alexander Bublik tries to go back to back in Kitzbuhel

Could the towering Russian be turning into a dirt-baller? His shots have always seemed too low-margin, and his personality too mercurial for the patient rigors of clay. But this year he reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, and this past week he won his first title on the surface, in Gstaad. Now he’ll tee it up again as the top seed at the Generali Open.

Bublik will face a host of clay-courters there, so back-to-back titles won’t be easy. But his success on the surface this year may be a sign of his evolution on all surfaces. At 28, Bublik is playing as well as he ever has—with the glaring and unfortunate exception of his first-round exit at Wimbledon. That defeat may have been a product of the higher expectations that come with better play—and, in Bublik’s case, a stronger commitment to winning. Maybe it’s just a matter of time before he adjusts to the pressure that caring about your results tends to bring.