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| World No. 2 Simona Halep makes her Citi Open debut |
From our friends at the Citi Open...
Halep, Dimitrov, Raonic, Stephens Accept Wild Cards; Adds Next-Level Prestige to Citi Open
New additions bring WTA Tour No. 2, two Top 10 Players on the ATP World Tour and Women’s Singles Past Champion to the Capital Tennis Tradition
Simona Halep, currently ranked No. 2 on the WTA Tour, ATP World Tour No. 9 Milos Raonic, ATP World Tour No. 10 Grigor Dimitrov, and 2015 Citi Open Champion Sloane Stephens have all accepted wild cards to the Citi Open Tennis Tournament. The Capital Tennis Tradition will be held July 29 - August 6 at the Rock Creek Park Tennis Center.
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Stephens is making a comeback to tennis, after an injury kept her sidelined following the 2016 Olympics. She won her first WTA Tour title at the Citi Open in 2015.
With the addition of Raonic to the roster, the tournament now boasts four of its most recent men’s singles champions competing for the title. The tournament has previously announced that three-time champion Juan Martin del Potro, defending champion Gael Monfils, and 2015 champion Kei Nishikori will return to Washington this summer. Raonic returns to DC following his impressive run to the Wimbledon quarterfinals. In 2014, he prevailed over Vasek Pospisil at the Citi Open, in the first all-Canadian ATP World Tour final. Meanwhile, Dimitrov is back for the fifth time following a successful run to the Australian Open semifinal earlier this year and winning two Tour titles so far in 2017. Dimitrov and Raonic add to a total of four ATP World Tour Top 10 players in this year’s field, including World No. 7 Dominic Thiem and World No. 8 Nishikori. “As the title sponsor of the Citi Open, we are thrilled to see such an exciting and competitive field take shape in both the women’s and men’s events,” said Dermot Boden, Chief Brand Officer, Citi. “In addition to bringing world-class tennis to Washington, DC, these quality players will draw more attention to the tournament, which means greater awareness and fundraising for the Washington Tennis and Education Foundation, allowing us to help expand the WTEF programs to give children in Washington, DC a safe place to build their future.” The additions further elevate the highly competitive player field, which also includes World No. 11 Alexander Zverev, 2015 finalist John Isner, Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig, Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard, American fan favorite Steve Johnson, and top American Jack Sock. The tournament benefits underserved and low-income kids in the DC community through the Washington Tennis & Education Foundation (http://www.wtef.org/.) Single session tickets, weeklong packages and other ticket plans are on sale now at www.citiopentennis.com or by calling the hotline (202) 721.9500. The Citi Open Tennis Tournament is one of only 13 elite ATP World Tour 500-level events worldwide and the only one held in the United States. The tournament represents a WTA International event and having both ATP and WTA players provides fans the opportunity to watch simultaneous competitions of both world-class men’s and women’s tennis throughout the nine-day event. It is one of only five U.S. tournaments that include both men’s and women’s fields. Main draw matches of the tournament will be broadcast starting Monday, July 31, on Tennis Channel. For more information, visit www.citiopentennis.com, or follow the Citi Open on www.facebook.com/citiopen, @CitiOpen (http://www.twitter.com/citiopen) on Twitter, or CitiOpen (http://www.instagram.com/citiopen) on Instagram. The Citi Open Tennis Tournament is a Lagardère Sports production, and is a registered service mark of its title sponsor Citigroup Inc. |
About WTEF:
The Washington Tennis & Education Foundation (WTEF) is a premier educational and tennis organization for underserved children in Washington, DC. The mission of WTEF is to improve the life prospects of low-income, underserved children and youth in the District of Columbia through athletic and academic enrichment. We seek to keep children off city streets during out-of-school time in a safe environment they can trust. We also engage them in productive activities that teach discipline, build confidence, improve school performance, and encourage a healthy lifestyle. We empower our students to achieve their highest potential by helping them develop meaningful values and critical life skills that will lead them to make constructive life choices. WTEF builds life champions. For more information, visit www.wtef.org.
About Citi:
Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.
Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com; Twitter: @Citi; YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi; Blog: http://blog.citigroup.com; Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi; LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi
About Lagardère Sports:
Lagardère Sports is a leading sport marketing agency, with a global network of local experts dedicated to delivering innovative solutions that meet our clients’ needs. We believe sport inspires emotions and passion that are essential to enrich people’s lives and generate powerful collective experiences. At Lagardère Sports, we dedicate our expertise and passion to provide our clients with privileged access to the infinite opportunities of sports. Lagardère Sports is part of Lagardère Sports and Entertainment, a company with more than 1,600 employees worldwide and 50 years of experience.
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