PROFESSIONAL TENNIS RETURNS IN WASHINGTON, DC
ATP Tour to Restart at the 2020 Citi Open August 13-21
Washington, D.C. – June 17, 2020 – Three months after the pro tours suspended their seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ATP and tournament officials announced today that the professional tennis tour will return to the world stage with the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. from August 13-21. Conversations with the WTA Tour about returning in DC the same week this summer are on-going.
“After what will be a five-month shutdown, we are thrilled that pro tennis will resume in Washington, DC at the 2020 Citi Open.” said tournament chairman and CEO of MDE Tennis Mark Ein. “Our team has completed an exhaustive effort to explore, design, and refine the health and safety protocols necessary to host the event. After this extensive collaboration with a full range of our stakeholders, it is an extraordinary and unexpected honor to host the comeback of our great sport right here in our backyard.”
The Citi Open will be the ATP Tour’s first sanctioned event since February and will mark the end to the longest hiatus in the Open Era. Founded in 1969, the Citi Open is the fourth longest running pro tournament in the United States. This summer marks the 52nd consecutive year the Citi Open will be played in its original home of Rock Creek Park.
The tournament is working closely with local officials on the health and safety plan in order to secure all the necessary permits and approvals for the event. The current plan is for the Citi Open to host this year’s tournament without fans in attendance, but officials remain optimistic that as the region continues its phased reopening, and conditions improve, they may be granted permission to allow limited fans onsite.
“This has been a very tough year for so many people in our community and our nation, and we hope the return of a great Washington summer tradition will give people something to look forward to,” said Ein. “Building on the event’s long charitable history, we are planning to use the tournament to help some of those people most impacted and shine a light on some of our many local heroes.”
Despite the limits on in-person attendance, Tennis Channel will again be the exclusive television home of the Citi Open with wall-to-wall coverage from first ball to last ball. Throughout the years, Washington’s summer tennis tradition has produced such champions as Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, Juan Martin del Potro, and Alexander Zverev.
Australia’s Nick Kyrgios captured the 2019 Citi Open which featured eight current or former Top-10 players in the ATP field. Another strong field is expected this summer as players prepare for a condensed summer hardcourt season.
This year’s Citi Open will be followed by the Cincinnati ATP Masters 1000 from August 23 - 29 and the US Open from August 31 - September 13. Both events will be held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York.
An abbreviated European clay-court swing is scheduled from September 14 – October 11 with postponed Masters 1000 events in Madrid and Rome, followed by the French Open.