Citi Open

The only combined ATP 500 and WTA 500 event in the world. Both tours, one ticket, played on hard courts inside Rock Creek Park in the middle of Washington DC — and the last serious tune-up before the US Open swing.

The Washington Open, played as the Mubadala Citi DC Open, was founded in 1969 and is the men's event's longest-standing fixture on the American summer calendar. The women's tournament joined in 2011 and was upgraded to WTA 500 in 2023.

That combination is what makes it unusual. It is the only tournament in the world running an ATP 500 and a WTA 500 in the same week at the same venue. Every other combined event on the calendar sits at a different tier for each tour. One ticket gets you both draws, which is a proposition no other 500-level event can make.

The men's draw is 48 in singles, larger than a standard 500, which means more matches per day in the early rounds. The women's draw is 32.

Past champions read like a list of players on the way up: Jannik Sinner in 2021, Nick Kyrgios in 2019 and 2022, Coco Gauff in 2023, Alex de Minaur and Leylah Fernandez in 2025.

It forms part of the US Open Series, the North American hard-court run that ends at Flushing Meadows.

The venue sits inside Rock Creek Park, a large wooded park running through the middle of Washington, about 15 minutes north of downtown. This is genuinely unusual for a tournament of this size — you are watching top-50 tennis under tree cover in a city park, not in a purpose-built complex on the edge of town.

Reagan National (DCA) is the closest airport and the easiest, sitting on the Metro line. Dulles (IAD) handles most long-haul international arrivals and is further out.

Washington in late July is hot and humid. Sessions are outdoors with no roof, so heat and afternoon thunderstorms are both real factors. Plan for shade, water and the possibility of a delay.

The city itself makes this one of the better tournaments to build a trip around. Most of the major museums are free, downtown is walkable, and the Metro reaches the park easily. If you are travelling with people who do not care about tennis, this is an easier sell than a suburban arena.

Tickets are sold through the tournament's official site. One session ticket covers both the ATP and WTA draws, since the two tournaments run simultaneously at the same venue.

The men's draw of 48 means the early rounds carry more matches than a typical 500 — the first few days are the best value of the week.