WASHINGTON—Kei Nishikori, who rose to a career-high No. 11 in the ATP Rankings this week, will compete in this summer’s Citi Open tennis tournament in Washington, DC. Nishikori is one of the highest-ranked male players from Asia in history, second only to Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 9 in 2003.
The 23-year-old Japanese athlete, currently the highest-ranked player from Asia on the ATP World Tour, is making his third career appearance in the D.C. tournament. He joins a very strong field of players committed to the event, including world No. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the world's top-ranked doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan, Tommy Haas, John Isner, Sam Querrey, Kevin Anderson, Lleyton Hewitt, Bernard Tomic and Gael Monfils, among many others.
The D.C. tournament was one of the first events Nishikori competed in during his career, reaching the second round at age 17 shortly after turning pro in 2007. The following year, the ATP World Tour named him Newcomer of the Year. Nishikori has won three ATP titles, including last year’s Japan Open, where he became the tournament’s first homegrown champion. His 2013 career highlights include reaching the quarterfinals of both the Australian and French Opens and defeating defending champion Roger Federer at the Madrid Open in the third round, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.
The Citi Open will be held July 27 to August 4 at the William H.G. Fitzgerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park, Washington, D.C. It is one of only 11 elite ATP World Tour 500-level events worldwide and the only one held in the United States. The event is also part of the prestigious Emirates Airline US Open Series, the five-week summer tennis season that links nine North American hard-court tournaments to the final Grand Slam of the year, the US Open. In addition, the Citi Open features a WTA International tournament, which provides fans the opportunity to watch simultaneous competitions of both world-class men’s and women’s tennis throughout the nine-day event. The tournament features 48 men’s singles players and 16 doubles teams, 32 women’s singles players and 16 doubles teams, and offers nearly $2 million in player compensation.
The tournament’s owner and beneficiary, the Washington Tennis & Education Foundation (WTEF), provides under-served children in the D.C. area a safe environment to learn critical life skills both on and off the courts through academic and athletic enrichment.
Ticket pricing and package details are now available at
www.citiopentennis.com or by phone at 202-721-9500. Daily and single-session tickets are available through Ticketmaster.
For more information, visit the Citi Open on the web at
www.citiopentennis.com. The Citi Open is on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/CitiOpen and Twitter @CitiOpen. To receive news and updates about the tournament, join the growing Citi Open Text Club by texting DC to 25973. The 2013 Citi Open is a Lagardère Unlimited production.