Once upon a time—like, say, three or four years ago—tennis took a long, mid-summer siesta before it began to rev itself back up for the second half of the season. But with Wimbledon moving back a week, the Citi Open in Washington, D.C., enjoying a resurgence, and the WTA debuting a brand-new Northern California tournament site, the game has shifted gears more quickly in 2018. This week, Serena Williams will lead a strong draw in San Jose; Andy Murray, Alexander Zverev, Caroline Wozniacki and Sloane Stephens will do the same in D.C.; and Juan Martin del Potro takes his crowd-pleasing talents to Cabo San Lucas. Del Potro may not be quite ready to end his siesta, though; at Wimbledon he said, with a wink, that the beach helped draw him to Mexico this year.
Here’s a look at the five events that will close out July, and what we can expect from each.
Citi Open (ATP)
*Washington, D.C.
$2,146,815; 500 ranking points
Hard court
Draw is here*
Has some of the shine come off Alexander Zverev over the last six weeks? The German entered the French Open like a lion, but he wasn’t roaring quite as loudly by the time he left Wimbledon. After a stellar spring, Zverev failed to get out of the quarterfinals at either major. But if there’s a place where the world No. 3 can begin to turn his season around again, D.C. is it. He says he likes the city and the tournament, and why wouldn’t he? He won here in 2017. This time he returns as the top seed, but the draw hasn’t done him any favors: Sascha is slated to face his older brother, Mischa, in the third round.
While Zverev tries to regain his momentum at the top of this bracket, his friend John Isner will try to keep his going at the bottom. The No. 2 seed, who made his breakthrough run in D.C. 11 years ago, is flying as high as he ever has right now, after reaching his first major semifinal at Wimbledon, and winning his fifth straight title in Atlanta. Isner’s draw in D.C. looks promising, too; the seeds closest to him are Andrey Rublev, Lucas Pouille and Karen Khachanov.
But the most interesting aspect of this event may be who isn’t seeded: three-time Grand Slam champions Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka are both buried deep in the brackets. Murray will finally begin his comeback from hip surgery in earnest against American Mackenzie McDonald (the winner plays Kyle Edmund); Wawrinka, meanwhile, could face Kei Nishikori in the second round.
Also lurking in this stacked field of 48: Nick Kyrgios, Denis Shapovalov, David Goffin, Hyeon Chung, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Steve Johnson
Destination Tennis: Washington D.C.'s Smithsonian Air & Space Museum