The main draws for the 2017 Citi Open (ATP and WTA Washington) will get underway on Monday. While the high seeds in the singles events will avoid play due to byes, there are still two big names on the day's order of play. American Shelby Rogers will open her singles tournament while Dominic Thiem of Austria will participate in the event's doubles draw.
Preview of Rogers' match
Rogers is scheduled to play against Colombia's Mariana Duque-Marino, a 27-year old currently ranked outside of the top 100 on the women's tour. The two players have but one match in their head-to-head history.
That took place in the USA on the hardcourt surface at Indian Wells, conditions that are similar to their upcoming match in Washington. Rogers won that match in three sets, and she appears to be the favorite heading into Washington's first round.
The 24-year-old American has generally survived the early-round competition on the WTA Tour this season. Despite only being ranked 61st in the world, she has only lost in the first round of the main draw of an event three times to date in 2017. Her schedule has been packed, and all totaled she is 12-3 in her opening-round matches of main draws this season. Duque-Marino certainly hasn't done so well.
The Colombian usually has trouble qualifying for tour-level events.
The highest-ranked player that she has beaten so far this season is Irina Camelia-Begu, a player who was ranked 46th at the French Open when Duque-Marino caused an upset. That result was on clay, while Washington is a hard-court surface event. Rogers, in a match that is scheduled for the evening session on Grandstand 1, looks like a big favorite to advance to the second round.
Thiem getting the hard-court matches in
In the men's draw, there really aren't any big names to play on Monday for singles action. The day is loaded with peripheral American players, all looking to make bigger names for themselves in front of what will be a largely American crowd. Dominic Thiem has a bye through the first round in Washington's singles event; however, he appears determined to get some match play in on the hard-court surface.
Not only is he not playing in Kitzbuhel, a clay-court event, for the first time in a long time. But in going to Washington, he is pulling double duty in both singles and doubles. Partnered with Sweden's Robert Lindstedt, Thiem's team will take on the pair of Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, the two seeds in the men's doubles event. That match will take place on Court No. 2 and not before 4 pm on Monday.
Tennis fans looking for Thiem's match in the main draw will have to wait. As the No. 1 seed, he will avoid playing in the first round. Look for Thiem to play on Tuesday or Wednesday in the round of 32.
