Washington Open
The Washington Open is the only professional tennis tournament in the nation’s capital. It takes place every summer at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park. The location of the event was chosen at the urging of Arthur Ashe, an early supporter. The Washington Open is one of the tournaments leading up to the US Open in New York City. The event is an ATP 500 event on the ATP Tour and a WTA 500 event on the WTA Tour.
The tournament dates to 1969 when it was called the Washington Star International. It was held on clay courts until 1986, when the surface was changed to hardcourts. In 2011, the event expanded to include its first women's tournament, held in a separate venue in College Park, Maryland. The following year, the men's and women's events were consolidated at the Washington venue. In 2023, the WTA 500-level Silicon Valley Classic was discontinued and merged into the Washington Open, forming the first and only joint-500-level event on the ATP and WTA tours.
Men’s singles winners have included Ken Rosewall, Jimmy Connors and Andre Agassi. Agassi (1990–91, 1995, 1998–99) holds the records for most titles (five) and most finals overall (six, runner-up in 2000). Well known players including Sloane Stephens, Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff have won the women’s singles titles.
In men's singles, Andre Agassi (1990–91, 1995, 1998–99) holds the records for most titles (five) and most finals overall (six, runner-up in 2000). He also shares with Michael Chang (1996–97), Juan Martín del Potro (2008–09) and Alexander Zverev (2017–18) the record for most consecutive titles, with two. In women's singles, Magdaléna Rybáriková (2012–13) holds the record for most titles (two) and co-holds the record for most finals (two) with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (runner-up in 2012, 2015).
I started attending in 2016 as my interest in tennis grew. I have seen and made photographs of many fine players over the years. They are all great athletes and a pleasure to watch in person.
