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“Blackest Stop On Tour” Citi Open Highlights
8 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Bios
The team of Rybakina and Raducanu have reached the Citi Open semifinals. They will meet no. 2 seed Townsend and Zhang. Townsend is one match from no. 1 in the doubles ranking. Raducanu is in the singles QF today vs Sakkari, first match on stadium court. Raducanu beat Naomi Osaka 64 62.
Ben Shelton vs Frances Tiafoe quarterfinal will probably be scheduled on stadium court. Each has reached two Grand Slam semifinals.
deMinaur vs Nakashima, Fritz vs Fokina, and Medvedev vs Moutet are the other quarterfinals today.
Leylah Fernandez vs Townsend and Kalinskaya vs Tauson are the WTA quarterfinals today.
Shelton and girlfriend Trinity Rodman served ice cream yesterday at the Van Leeuwen Ice Cream truck, Shelton wore a vintage Montreal Expos baseball cap.
Magdalena Frech after beating Venus Williams 62 62 on stadiu last night: “She’s like a god.”
29 year old Townsend used fifteen aces to beat Sofia Kenin 63 60 to reach the QF loves DC: “It’s definitely a vibe. We’re Black Mecca, and so many amazing people of color doing such phenomenal things. That’s why I loved living here, because I felt there were so many, like, people of color that were just doing such amazing things, and, like, it was so inspiring. So many people on their stuff.” Townsend won the last nine games of the match from 3-3.
This summer Townsend has introduced her new clothing line TT. She is wearing pink at Citi Open. Previously, Townsend did not have a clothing sponsor (she plays with a Yonex racquet) so she took matter into her “own hands.”
Competitor Hailey Baptiste said the Citi Open is the blackest stop on the pro tennis tour and Tiafoe agrees: “Incredible, man. It definitely is. Obviously Venus packs it to the rafters. So many people of color in the stands. It’s awesome. Chocolate city for a reason. Diversity is insane.I love being here… It’s kind of what we need.”
Ben Shelton · Citi Open · Leylah Fernandez · Taylor Townsend · Venus Williams
catherine · July 26, 2025 at 12:49 am
Emma R is into the sf in DC.I don’t think she needs a full time coach. If that had been recognised earlier in her so far short career it would have saved a lot of time and trouble.
Scoop Malinowski · July 26, 2025 at 7:58 am
Catherine, I think you’re right, in WTA everybody plays the same now, what can a coach say? You never hear of any WTA players lauding their coaches like I just showed Rafter praising Roche. Or Agassi with Gilbert, who noticed Andre was playing against no. 75 and no. 1 the same and was mismanaging his game. Andre was not losing to people, he was beating himself. Raducanu knows how to play and win Grand Slams but she lost her way and Petchey helped put her back on track.
catherine · July 28, 2025 at 5:28 am
Fernandez owned Washington – not a great surprise, she’s being playing well lately. Frankly, I wonder why anyone makes the trip to DC. The heat is brutal. I’ve seen players hallucinating. Leylah wanted to play Emma in DC but this wasn’t going to happen. R was completely wrung out in her qf. She said at one point she felt so tired she didn’t know what she was doing ‘and that could have been a good thing’. Automatic play ?
Scoop Malinowski · July 28, 2025 at 8:44 am
Catherine, DC is a really nice and historic tournament. It’s in a really nice location in suburban DC, near beautiful Bethesda MD. It’s on the edge of the famous Rock Creek Park. One of the oldest ATP tournaments in the US. Yes it’s hot but still a fabulous tournament, been to it about ten times and loved every minute of it. Well organized, well staged and always fantastic tennis. They always get big draws and the players love the event too. I remember seeing Bencic and Mladenovic, just starting out in WTA, watching Alexander Zverev in one of his first matches as a teen. Also saw Isner for the first time just out of college and he made final with an amazing run winning four matches in third set TBs, I saw Paire and Ivo almost brawl outside the court after their night match as Paire was insulting Ivo in French to his box and Ivo understood French ), Steve Johnson called young Medvedev a POS for taking an injury timeout at the end of the second set, so many good memories in DC. Fernandez got hot, this was long overdue. Hopefully Fokina will get his first title sooner than later.
catherine · July 28, 2025 at 10:28 am
Scoop- I’m sure all those things you say about DC are true and certainly the tournament is well supported. Maybe it’s just that myself I can’t stand heat and feel sorry for those who work and suffer in it.
But I imagine players who go to DC know what they might be in for and are prepared. Unfortunately Raducanu isn’t comfortable in grilling conditions and had little left v Kalinskaya.
Scoop Malinowski · July 28, 2025 at 10:55 am
Catherine, I remember going for the first time and was surprised that the first match of the day was scheduled at 4 pm to avoid the heat of midday. Then for some reason, despite numerous faintings by fans, they changed the time for first match back to the more normal noon or 1. One year a heavy rain delay and flooding of the grounds and media tent delayed the tournament. But everything ran smooth this year. Despite the oven heat, it’s a very nice tournament if you can spend time in the shade which there is not much of on the grounds. Raducanu should be able to deal with the heat by now, all players should be able to handle it. If not, theyre in the wrong profession. It is an easy excuse to use for losing though, if there was no injury to blame.
catherine · July 29, 2025 at 3:22 am
Emma didn’t use it — I did. Anyway she flew straight off to Canada and won her first match so she couldn’t have been that exhausted. Petchey is back in her box, together with physical coach.
I’m interested in how the Canadians perform – looks like Fernandez might end up ahead of FAA and Denis after years of being ‘promising’.
Scoop Malinowski · July 29, 2025 at 10:22 am
Catherine: “Players fabricate injuries to protect their ego.” Emma is a master at it. Nice to see her gaining ground now in the rankings. Canadian tennis is struggling. The best hope just might be Victoria Mboko. Diallo is all the sudden about 38 in the world which is amazing. Didn’t expect that. Felix and Shapo are essentially journeymen now. I don’t see them ever returning to top ten. Draxl has the most Challenger match wins this year, seven finals and two titles.