ATP Tour

Fritz, Medvedev earn contrasting wins in Washington openers

Taylor Fritz made a winning return to hard courts on Wednesday at the Mubadala Citi DC Open, where he opened his Washington campaign in style.

The top seed delivered a commanding display to move past Aleksandar Vukic 6-3, 6-2 and record his first win on the surface since reaching the Miami semi-finals in March — his most recent hard-court appearance. Fritz won 88 per cent (29/33) of first-serve points and saved the only break point he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats, in a typically clinical serving display.

Taylor is all business 💼

The perfect start for the top seed @Taylor_Fritz97 on home soil as he defeats Vukic 6-3 6-2! @mubadalacitidc | #MubadalaCitiDCOpen pic.twitter.com/SJV2jeJe2k

— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 23, 2025

The No. 4 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Fritz arrived in Washington after a career-best grass-court season, during which he won titles in Stuttgart and Eastbourne before reaching the semi-finals at Wimbledon. A former semi-finalist in Washington, Fritz will next face Matteo Arnaldi after the Italian beat countryman Lorenzo Sonego 7-5, 7-5.

Fritz, last year’s runner-up at the Nitto ATP Finals, is seventh in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin.

Daniil Medvedev, who reached the 2019 Washington final, was also victorious on Wednesday in D.C. The eighth seed bounced back from his opening-round defeat at Wimbledon by rallying past Reilly Opelka 3-6, 7-5, 6-1.

Opelka stunned Medvedev in ‘s-Hertogenbosch last month, but Medvedev earned some quick revenge to improve to 5-2 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series and move to a 24-14 record on the season.

“It’s tough to play against Reilly, you need to have a good feel on his serve,” said Medvedev, who will next face Wu Yibing. “You have to guess a little bit, but you don’t want to overguess it, like I did in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. He got in my head and made 24 aces… Today was better and I managed to get more looks on his serve.”

Watch Medvedev vs. Opelka Highlights: 

Alex de Minaur recorded his first win in Washington since reaching the 2018 final by moving past Buyunchaokete 7-6(5), 6-2. Now with 31 tour-level wins in 2025, De Minaur and Fritz are tied for the third-most victories on the ATP Tour this year.

2025 ATP Tour Win Leaders

De Minaur set a third-round meeting with 11th seed Jiri Lehecka, who defeated American Zachary Svajda 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3.