This coming week, the North American summer hard-court swing kicks off at the WTA 500 Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington D.C., United States.
Reigning Australian Open champion and World No.3 Aryna Sabalenka tops the field headed to the American capital, as the Hologic WTA Tour moves back across the Atlantic for seven weeks of events spanning the United States, Canada and Mexico.
This will be the 12th edition of the tournament in Rock Creek Park, and it will be its second consecutive staging as a WTA 500 event. An ATP 500 men's event will run simultaneously at the site.
Here are more key facts from D.C.:
When does the tournament start?
Main-draw play begins on Monday, July 29 and finishes up on Sunday, Aug. 4.
Qualifying rounds take place the weekend before, on Saturday, July 27 and Sunday, July 28.
Washington D.C. is on Eastern Daylight Time (GMT -4).
The Wilson US Open Regular Duty ball will be used at the Mubadala Citi DC Open.
How big are the fields?
The singles main draw contains 28 players, with the top four seeds receiving first-round byes. Twenty players received direct entry into the main draw, and there will be four qualifiers and four wild cards to complete the bracket.
There will be 16 teams in the doubles main draw, including two wild-card pairings.
When are the finals?
The singles final will take place on Sunday, Aug. 4, not before 2:30 p.m. local time.
The doubles final will occur on Saturday, Aug. 3 at 12 p.m. local time.
When are the draws?
The singles draw will take place on-site on Friday, July 26 at 12 p.m. The doubles draw will be done on Saturday, July 27.
Who were last year's champions?
Coco Gauff won last year's title, defeating Maria Sakkari in the final 6-2, 6-3 and claiming her first career WTA 500 title. It kickstarted Gauff's memorable run through the summer, where she also won her first WTA 1000 title in Cincinnati and her first Grand Slam title at the US Open.
Laura Siegemund and Vera Zvonareva won the 2023 doubles title, defeating Alexa Guarachi and Monica Niculescu in the final 6-4, 6-4.
What are the ranking points and prize money on offer in the singles main draw?
First round: 1 point | $9,830
Round of 16: 60 points | $13,710
Quarterfinals: 108 points | $26,955
Semifinals: 195 points | $51,204
Finalist: 325 points | $87,655
Champion: 500 points | $142,000
Who is playing?
Here are the projected seeded players:
1. Aryna Sabalenka
Ranking: No.3 (career-high No.1)
Career singles titles: 14
Washington career main-draw win-loss record: 1-1
Best Washington result: Round of 16 (2017)
2. Daria Kasatkina
Ranking: No.12 (career-high No.8)
Career singles titles: 7
Washington career main-draw win-loss record: 1-1
Best Washington result: Round of 16 (2023)
3. Liudmila Samsonova
Ranking: No.13 (career-high No.12)
Career singles titles: 5
Washington career main-draw win-loss record: 8-1
Best Washington result: Champion (2022)
4. Madison Keys
Ranking: No.14 (career-high No.7)
Career singles titles: 8
Washington career main-draw win-loss record: 3-4
Best Washington result: Quarterfinals (2023)
5. Ons Jabeur
Ranking: No.16 (career-high No.2)
Career singles titles: 5
Washington career main-draw win-loss record: 0-1
Best Washington result: First round (2019)
6. Anna Kalinskaya
Ranking: No.17 (career-high No.17)
Career singles titles: 0
Washington career main-draw win-loss record: 5-2
Best Washington result: Semifinals (2019)
7. Victoria Azarenka
Ranking: No.20 (career-high No.1)
Career singles titles: 21
Washington career main-draw win-loss record: 2-2
Best Washington result: Quarterfinals (2022)
8. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Ranking: No.33 (career-high No.11)
Career singles titles: 12
Washington career main-draw win-loss record: 10-4
Best Washington result: Finalist (2012 and 2015)
Initial main-draw wild cards were given to Emma Raducanu and Paula Badosa.
The other direct entries into the main draw (as of July 23) are: Elise Mertens, Veronika Kudermetova, Marie Bouzkova, Anastasia Potapova, Karolina Pliskova, Sofia Kenin, Sloane Stephens, Caroline Dolehide, Shelby Rogers, Peyton Stearns, Lesia Tsurenko and Katie Volynets.
Main-draw direct entries were determined by the PIF WTA Singles Rankings dated July 1. Shelby Rogers used her protected ranking to enter the main draw.
Former Washington champions in the draw are Sloane Stephens (2015) and Liudmila Samsonova (2022).
Grand Slam singles champions in the draw are Aryna Sabalenka (2023 and 2024 Australian Open), Victoria Azarenka (2012 and 2013 Australian Open), Sofia Kenin (2020 Australian Open), Sloane Stephens (2017 US Open) and Emma Raducanu (2021 US Open).
Aryna Sabalenka, Victoria Azarenka and Karolina Pliskova are the former World No.1 players contesting the singles event.
How did last summer's North American hard-court swing play out?
Here's a look at 2023's champions and finalists from this portion of the season on the North American continent:
Washington (WTA 500): Coco Gauff def. Maria Sakkari
Montreal (WTA 1000): Jessica Pegula def. Liudmila Samsonova
Cincinnati (WTA 1000): Coco Gauff def. Karolina Muchova
Cleveland (WTA 250): Sara Sorribes Tormo def. Ekaterina Alexandrova
US Open (Grand Slam): Coco Gauff def. Aryna Sabalenka
San Diego (WTA 500): Barbora Krejcikova def. Sofia Kenin
Guadalajara (WTA 1000): Maria Sakkari def. Caroline Dolehide
