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Asia’s Highest Ranked Player on ATP World Tour Commits to DC Tournament
WASHINGTON—Kei Nishikori, who rose to a career-high No. 11 on the Emirates ATP Rankings this week, will compete in this summer’s Citi OpenSM 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 appearance in the D.C. tournament in his career. He joins a very strong field of players committed to the event, including world No. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, world No. 1 doubles team Mike Bryan and Bob 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 Nishikori’s earliest career ATP events—in his first appearance, he reached the second round of the tournament at age 17 shortly after he turned pro in 2007. In 2008, the ATP World Tour named him Newcomer of the Year. He has won three ATP titles—one of which was 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-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.
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
