ATP Tour

Shelton, Draper headline Washington wild cards

World No. 5 Ben Shelton and Jack Draper were among the players awarded wild cards into the Mubadala DC Open, the tournament announced Wednesday.

Shelton, the highest-ranked American player in the PIF ATP Rankings, is set to make his fourth appearance in Washington, where he reached back-to-back semi-finals in 2024 and 2025. The American also advanced to the doubles final with countryman Mackenzie McDonald in 2023. This season, Shelton has won ATP Tour titles in Dallas, Munich and Stuttgart.

Draper has also been awarded a main-draw wild card. The British lefty last competed in Washington in 2022, when he made his only previous appearance at the tournament. Most recently, the 24-year-old reached the semi-finals at the ATP 250 in Eastbourne.

Former champion Kei Nishikori and Stefanos Tsitsipas are also among those who have received a main-draw wild card for the ATP 500 event.

Nishikori, who is competing in his final season on the ATP Tour, triumphed in the American capital in 2015 and holds an 18-7 record at the tournament, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. The former World No. 4 last played in Washington in 2021 when he fell to McDonald in the semi-finals.

Tsitsipas will return to Washington for the first time since 2019, when he reached the semi-finals. The Greek also made the last four on his tournament debut in 2018.

Main-draw action in Washington will take place from 27 July to 2 August. The field also includes Felix Auger-Aliassime, defending champion Alex de Minaur and Daniil Medvedev. Americans Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe and Learner Tien will lead the home charge.