Washington Open Draw (2026)

The Mubadala Citi DC Open, or as most people call it, the Washington Open, is the first significant Hard-Court tournament of the North American swing. This page will track the Washington Open draw from the ceremony, all the way to the Finals. The 2026 edition is scheduled to run from 27 July to 2 August at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center. The Washington Open combines an ATP 500 and a WTA 500 event on the same site and is unique in that regard.

Below you’ll find confirmed seeds for both draws, how the bracket is built, which players hold wild cards, and the matchups worth watching once the sections are set. My team and I will update this page as the draw lands and in case of any late changes. Furthermore, Washington Open betting will be available at 7bet throughout the tournament for UK players over 18.

Washington Open Draw

For the 2026 edition, the Washington Open draw will be split across 2 days. The WTA bracket is scheduled for Friday 24 July, with the ATP bracket following on Saturday 25 July. Bettors and fans will be keen to know that the field this year has shrunk. Instead of 48 players on the ATP side, there are going to be 32 Men’s Singles participants, and instead of 32 WTA players, there are 28 confirmed participants. 

The order of play for the opening day of the Mubadala Citi DC Open is confirmed on Sunday 26 July, ahead of first-round matches starting Monday. Below is a table with the main round dates.

Men’s Field for 2026 and Changes to the Draw

The shrunken field has a significant impact on the bracket. Under the old 48-player format, the TOP 16 received a first-round Bye week. With a straight 32-player draw, that’s no longer the case, meaning no one gets a first-round bye with the Mubadala Citi DC Open draw. We’ll see everyone in the First Round. Plus, the higher seeds won’t have a freshness advantage down the road, as everyone will play the same number of rounds – 5. 

Women’s Field for 2026 and Changes to the Draw

While not facing as dramatic a change, the WTA or women’s side of the field has also shrunken from 32 to 28 players. This means that byes will be a thing. Twenty players enter on WTA Ranking position, four receive wild cards, and four come through qualifying. 

Because of this number, the top four WTA seeds will receive a 1st-round bye and enter in the 2nd round. This means that favourites can be fresher down the road, but could take more time getting up to speed, as opposed to Wild cards and lower seeds.

Draw Ceremony

Both draws are conducted the same way. Seeds are fixed in positions so that the #1 and #2 can only meet in the Final, while the Top 4 can only meet from the Semi-Finals onward, and so on. 

Plus, if you were to look at the draw on the first days, you’d see a lot of “Q” blanks. These spots are allocated for the qualifiers. 

Seeded Players

As with any major tennis tournament, seeding is one of the most important aspects of the Washington Open draw. The seeding is determined by ATP and WTA Ranking positions at the entry deadline. Both sides of the event seed 8 players.

Projected ATP Seeds (Men’s)

Please note that this is just a preliminary prediction.

A late change to the men’s seeding forced the organisers to deal with a couple of head-scratchers. On 22 July, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Daniil Medvedev withdrew, removing two of the top four contenders. Defending champ – Alex de Minaur returns, along with local favourites Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz to headline the projected TOP 3.

Projected WTA Seeds (Women’s)

Please note that this is just a preliminary prediction.

On the women’s side, World No. 3 Jessica Pegula headlines the draw as the top seed, even though she enters the Mubadala Citi DC Open as a Wild Card. She has two Washington Open titles under her belt already, so it’s likely to see her make a deep run. Elina Svitolina is likely to be seeded second, with Naomi Osaka and Jasmine Paolini completing the quartet that receives byes into round two.

Qualifiers, Wild Cards & Lucky Losers

Not every place in the bracket is going to be filled by ranking. Four routes feed players into the main draw, and each behaves differently once the Mubadala Citi DC Open draw is made. It’s important to know this to understand better how the draw impacts later play.

Wild Cards

Awarded at the organiser’s discretion, Wild Cards are usually reserved for local players, returning names or players whose ranking doesn’t reflect their level. 

Men’s Wild Cards for 2026 are: Ben Shelton, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jack Draper and Kei Nishikori—all household names in ATP tennis.

Women’s Wild Cards for 2026 are: Jessica Pegula, Venus Williams and Zheng Qinwen, with the last to be confirmed. Venus follows in the footsteps of her sister Serena, who was a Wild Card at Wimbledon. 

Qualifiers

Four qualifying places are available in both draws. The position fillers are determined through the qualifying tournament over the weekend of 25-26 July. Qualifiers occupy designated slots on the bracket, so you can see where they’ll land before knowing who they are.

Lucky Losers

If another player withdraws after the draw is made, their place is assigned to a lucky loser – the highest-ranked player who lost in the qualifiers. They inherit the withdrawn player’s exact position in the bracket. On the men’s side, given that two from the TOP 10 have already withdrawn, the Lucky Loser situation is worth keeping an eye on.

Potential Matchups to Watch

The bracket isn’t out at the time of writing this, so nothing below is a confirmed pairing. What follows is what the field suggests and the top matchups that could be very exciting for both casual and more seasoned tennis fans. 

Once the full draw is concluded, the odds will open on the tennis betting hub at 7bet. 

Men’s Side Seems to be Unusually Open

As mentioned, Auger-Aliassime and Medvedev are out, so only three players from the ATP TOP 10 remain on the field. That’s defending champion Australian Alex de Minaur and two Americans – Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz. In a 32-player draw with no byes, that leaves a lot of winnable territory below the top two seeds. Here are our picks for the things to watch on the ATP side:

• Alex de Minaur arrives to defend his title – the Aussie is the top seed and comes back after having saved three championship points in last year’s final. Most eyes are on him.
• Wild Card Extravaganza – Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jack Draper and Kei Nishikori are all unseeded, so any of them could be drawn against a seed in round one. Draper in particular will have a chip on his shoulder after missing the US Open cut and heading to the qualifiers.
• Americans a-plenty – Shelton, Fritz, Tien, Tiafoe, Paul and others give the home crowd plenty of opportunities to tune in and follow the action. The Washington Open draw will decide when they can run into one another.

The Women’s Side Offers a Familiar Name as a Wild Card

Pegula, Svitolina, Osaka and Paolini are set to skip the opening round, so the first two days will belong to the qualifiers and the lower seeds. Only once their matchups are confirmed can we get a clearer picture of what’s what.

However, most experts picture Jessica Pegula as the clear frontrunner, as she has won this particular tournament twice already.

Venus Williams on a wild card is the standout first-round storyline, and defending champion Leylah Fernandez at eighth seed has no bye to protect her.

Tournament Information

The Washington Open has been a staple on the North American part of the tennis calendar and has been running since 1969. Arthur Ashe, Donald Dell and John A. Harris were the founders of this tournament. 

The 2026 event is the 57th edition of the Men’s event (ATP) and the 14th of the Women’s (WTA). Here’s some of the key tournament information:

• Venue: William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center, Washington, D.C. 15 courts, with a main stadium holding around 7,500.
• Surface: Outdoor hard court.
• Category: ATP 500 and WTA 500, both awarding 500 ranking points to the champion.
• Dates: 27 July to 2 August 2026.
• Prize money: $2,469,450 for the men’s event, with $461,835 to the champion. The women’s champion receives $252,000.

The calendar position is what gives the event its weight. Washington kicks off the North American hard-court swing, feeding directly into the Canadian Open and Cincinnati before the US Open. A lot of top players like to go to D.C. because it’s the earliest serious spot for finding new rhythm after the grass season. 

Past champions include Andre Agassi, record-holder with five titles, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Juan Martín del Potro and Jannik Sinner. On the women’s side, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula have both lifted the trophy.

Follow the Tournament at 7bet

Once the brackets are confirmed, navigate to our Washington Open schedule and order of play page, which carries the daily matches schedule as soon as it’s released. Plus, you can always find odds and statistical insights on the previously mentioned tennis betting hub and even see how the matches unfold in the IN-PLAY part of the catalogue. 

Betting is only available to participants above 18 years. Please bet responsibly. BeGambleAware.org