American Teenage Tennis Sensation Coco Gauff To Play The 2020 Citi Open

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Coco Gauff is returning to the Nation's Capital this summer for the Citi Open.

The 15-year-old American tennis sensation who earned worldwide attention with her star-making run at Wimbledon last summer and capped off a remarkable 2019 campaign as the youngest player ranked inside the Top 100, is poised to make her second appearance in Washington.

The Citi Open, which returns to the Rock Creek Park Tennis Center from August 1-August 9, 2020, remains one of five tournaments in the U.S. to feature fields from both the ATP and WTA Tours.  

Next summer will mark the 10^th anniversary of the Citi Open's expansion to include a women's field. To celebrate the occasion, the Citi Open is thrilled to announce Gauff – one of the rising stars on the WTA Tour – as one of the first player commitments for 2020.

"Seeing the energy and excitement that Coco brought to our Citi Open fans and community last summer was one of the highlights of the tournament, so we are thrilled to welcome her back in 2020," said Mark Ein, owner of MDE Tennis, the manager of the Citi Open. "Around the world, people are witnessing that Coco is a compelling talent and personality on the court and a wonderful representative of our sport off the court.  She is certainly a big part of the future of tennis and the perfect headliner to help us commemorate the tenth anniversary of the addition of the women's tournament to the Citi Open."

Gauff was among the headliners at the 2019 Citi Open which shattered several tournament records, including attendance records as seven of the tournament's eleven sessions sold out, including one of the qualifying rounds when she was the headliner.

In her maiden appearance last summer, Gauff earned a pair of wins during the qualifying rounds to secure a berth in the main draw. Gauff also partnered with fellow American teenager Caty McNally to capture the women's doubles crown – the first WTA title for both rising stars.  She will both play singles and defend her doubles title at the Citi Open.

"I'm super excited to announce that I'm coming back to D.C. to play the Citi Open," Gauff said. "I hope I'm able to defend my doubles title with Caty. I'm excited to be back in the capital of my home country. I definitely had a lot of fun last year and I hope I can do it again."

Gauff's first appearance in Washington was met with a palpable buzz as crowds flocked to see her just weeks removed from her impressive run at Wimbledon.

Gauff, who became the youngest woman to qualify for Wimbledon in the Open era, defeated her idol and five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in the first round at the All England Club, before saving two match points in a third-round triumph over Polona Hercog. Along the way, Gauff became the youngest player to reach the Round of 16 at Wimbledon since 1991.

Gauff's Grand Slam success continued at the US Open, where she earned a pair of three-set victories on Louis Armstrong Stadium, before ultimately falling in the third round to defending champion Naomi Osaka in front of a packed crowd on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Although the WTA's Age Eligibility Rule limited the number of tournaments Gauff could play last year, the native of Delray Beach, Florida, made the most of her opportunities.

In October, Gauff captured her first career WTA singles crown as she dispatched former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the final of the Linz Open. Along the way, she defeated Kiki Bertens in the quarterfinals for her first career Top 10 win. Gauff also became the youngest WTA singles champion since 2004.

A week later, Gauff capped off her 2019 season with another doubles title as she and McNally partnered again to win the Luxembourg Open.

Gauff, who can expand her tournament schedule once she turns 16 in March, finished 2019 with career-high rankings of No.68 in singles and No.76 in doubles.

Gauff has also quickly become an inspiration both on and off the court. In November, Gauff was featured as part Time Magazine's inaugural 100 Next list, which celebrates rising stars from a range of industries, who are shaping the future on a global stage. Gauff is also a nominee for the WTA's Newcomer of the Year award. The winner will be announced December 11.

Citi Open, which is home to the only ATP 500 tournament in the U.S. and one of only 13 around the world, returned to the US Open Series last year for the first time since 2014. The US Open Series is a summer hard-court swing of men's and women's tournaments leading up to the US Open. Other US Open Series cities include Newport (ATP), Atlanta (ATP), San José (WTA), Toronto (WTA), Montreal (ATP), Cincinnati (ATP/WTA) and Winston-Salem (ATP).

The longtime beneficiary of Citi Open is the Washington Tennis & Education Foundation, a non-profit which provides free tennis and educational programs for children in underserved communities. The tournament is one of WTEF's biggest annual fundraisers and has raised millions for youth programs in the Washington D.C. area.

About Citi Open Tournament:
The Citi Open® tournament has been Washington, D.C.'s premier tennis event since 1969 and benefits the Washington Tennis & Education Foundation (WTEF), the tournament's non-profit owner and beneficiary. Beginning in 2019, venture capitalist and entrepreneur Mark Ein will manage and operate the tournament under an agreement with WTEF. The organization provides underserved children in the D.C.-area with a safe environment to learn critical life skills both on and off the courts through academic and athletic enrichment. The Citi Open Tennis Tournament is one of only 13 elite ATP World Tour 500-level events worldwide and the only one held in the United States. The tournament also features a WTA International Tournament, which provides fans the opportunity to watch simultaneous competitions of both world-class men's and women's tennis throughout the nine-day event. It is one of only five U.S. tournaments that include both men's and women's fields. Washington is one of the five largest tennis events in the United States and one of only five tour events featuring players from both the ATP and WTA Tours competing simultaneously. After 50 years, it is also the longest running pro tennis event at the same site in the United States.

About Citi:
Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com/| Twitter: @Citi | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi| Blog: http://blog.citigroup.com | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi| LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi.

About MDE Tennis:
MDE Tennis, which is part of MDE Sports & Entertainment, oversees operations for Citi Open and the Washington Kastles. Mark D. Ein is the CEO of MDE Sports & Entertainment and MDE Tennis. Ein is an investor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, who has created, acquired, invested in and built a series of growth companies across a diverse set of industries over the course of his 30-year career. During this time, Ein has been involved in the founding or early stages of six companies that have been worth over one billion dollars and has led over $1.8 billion of private equity, venture capital, and public company investments. Ein is the Founder and CEO of Capitol Investment Corporation, Venturehouse Group, LLC and Leland Investment Co.

Ein actively supports many community, charitable and cultural organizations and currently serves on the boards of the DC Public Education Fund, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, International Tennis Hall of Fame, DC College Access Program (DC-CAP), and DC Policy Center (Co-Founder). He formerly served on the Board of the United States Tennis Association (USTA) from 2012-2018 (serving as a Vice President of the Board from 2016-2018). Ein has been a member of the World Economic Forum since 2016, and the Gridiron Club, the oldest and one of the most prestigious journalistic organizations in Washington, D.C.

A native of the Washington, D.C., area and a ball boy in his youth at the city's summer pro tennis tournament that became the Citi Open, Ein is also the Founder and Owner of the Washington Kastles, the most successful team in World TeamTennis history. The Kastles have won the league championship six of its 11 years since its founding and holds the record for the longest winning streak in U.S. pro team sports history winning 34 straight matches from 2011 through 2013. In September 2009, Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty presented Ein with the Key to the City, highlighting his Washington Kastles success on the court and, "for their commitment to the District's communities and our youth."

In September 2018, Ein founded the Washington Justice esports franchise in the Overwatch League, bringing the premier global esports league to the greater Washington, D.C. region. Also, in 2018, Ein acquired the Washington City Paper, the renowned weekly paper serving the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area since 1981. In 2019, Ein took over management and operation of Citi Open in Washington, D.C., one of only five U.S. professional tennis tournaments that include both men's and women's fields.

About WTEF:
The Washington Tennis & Education Foundation (WTEF) is a premier educational and tennis organization for underserved children in Washington, D.C. The mission of WTEF is to improve the life prospects of low-income, underserved children and youth in the District of Columbia through athletic and academic enrichment. We seek to keep children off city streets during out-of-school time in a safe environment they can trust. We also engage them in productive activities that teach discipline, build confidence, improve school performance, and encourage a healthy lifestyle. We empower our students to achieve their highest potential by helping them develop meaningful values and critical life skills that will lead them to make constructive life choices. WTEF builds life champions. For more information, visit www.wtef.org.

SOURCE Citi Open

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