As the tennis season waits for the fourth and final Major championship in Queens, New York, big-time players from the ATP Tour have been playing in our nation’s capital at the Citi Open, benefiting the Washington Tennis & Education Foundation.
The field for the Citi Open certainly doesn’t lack star power, as Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori, Marin Cilic, John Isner, Richard Gasquet, Bernard Tomic and others were part of the men’s bracket. On the women’s side, Sloane Stephens, Samantha Stosur, Alize Cornet and other up-and-coming talent get a chance to be in the spotlight as well.
Currently in the second round of the tournament, the Citi Open began on August 1 and runs through August 9. For the remaining sessions, Citi Open tennis tickets on the secondary market are most expensive on the day of the semifinals, according to SeatSmart.com. The average ticket price on August 8 for the semifinals is $127.94, with a get-in price of $46. The finals on the following day have an average ticket price of $100.73, with a get-in price of $46. To see the most tennis, the first quarterfinal round on August 6 has an average price of $67.60, while the get-in price sits at $40.
For those attending any of the rounds, Washington DC parking can be reserved through ParkWhiz.com with rates starting from $5 to eliminate the hassle of wasting time aimlessly searching for parking in a busy city.
Nishikori has already won his second-round matchup and awaits the winner between Leonardo Mayer and Biaz Rola. Cilic and Sam Querrey will meet in the next round, already having won their second-round matchups. Some second-round matchups that should grab some attention are Murray against Teymuraz Gabashvili, Isner facing Victor Estrella Burgos, Gasquet versus Miles Muller, and Johnson taking on Tomic. No matchups in the second round have been played on the women’s side just yet, but all of the top seeds still remain, including Ekaterina Makarova, Stosur, Belinda Bencic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Cornet and Stephens.
The 7,500-seat Rock Creek Tennis Center is this year’s host and expects an average attendance of around 72,000 for the entire tournament. The Washington Tennis & Education Foundation “seeks to improve the life prospects for DC area youth, particularly those from lower-income communities, through tennis, educational and community-based activities that teach discipline, build self-esteem and improve academic performance,” according to the event website.
