WASHINGTON – Tournament officials announced that all-time great and 20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal will make his Washington debut this summer at the 2021 Citi Open, which will be held this year from July 31 - August 8 at the Rock Creek Park Tennis Center, heralding a historic return of Washington’s summer tennis tradition for the 52nd year.
“I am very excited to come to Washington for the first time,” said Nadal. “I have never been there and it’s one more place I wanted to come and play. I am looking forward to playing again and Washington shall be the best start for the US Summer Swing for me. Looking forward to seeing again my US fans that I haven’t seen since I won the 2019 US Open in NYC!. Vamos!”
“We are thrilled to welcome Rafael Nadal, who is not just one of the greatest tennis players of all-time, but also a global sporting icon and inspiring role model to our Washington community this summer,” said Citi Open Chairman and CEO of MDE Tennis Mark Ein. “I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate the joyous return of the things we cherish like live sports, coming together as a community and our historic event than having Rafa and the rest of our very deep and exciting player field competing for the Citi Open title.”
In his Citi Open debut, Nadal will look to claim his 89th ATP title, but will contend with a very deep field of contenders, including Canadians world No. 12 Denis Shapovalov and Next-Gen ATP star world No. 19 Felix Auger-Aliassime, Polish world No. 18 and 2021 Miami Open champion Hubert Hurkacz, and Russian world No. 29 Karen Khachanov, who collectively comprise four of the recent eight Wimbledon quarterfinalists.
Source: citiopentennis.com