The American hard-court season gets into full swing this week and there is a heavy home presence in the draw for the Mubadala DC Open.
Australia's Alex de Minaur is back to defend his title after beating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in last year's final, with Americans Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz, Learner Tien and Frances Tiafoe all among the seeds.
Tiafoe will have a particularly strong home support behind him, given he grew up in nearby Hyattsville, but it may be one of the other Americans celebrating come Sunday's final at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center.
Mubadala DC Open betting picks and predictions
Ben Shelton to win (+650)
World number six Shelton will be back in action for the first time since his shock first-round defeat to Otto Virtanen at Wimbledon, which came quickly off the back of a loss in the second round of the French Open against Raphael Collignon.
Those Grand Slam disappointments will have hurt the 23-year-old, but in between times he did claim a third ATP Tour title of the year at the Stuttgart Open.
Shelton beat Fritz in that final on grass, while he also saw off his compatriot on hard courts in the Dallas Open final back in February, and with those two players on opposing sides of the draw for this event, they could go head-to-head in a final again.
There is certainly every chance Shelton can go far in Washington, D.C., as he has impressed on his last two appearances at the tournament, reaching the semifinals in both 2024 and 2025.
The six-time ATP Tour winner also appears to be in the favorable half of the draw, with fourth seed Lorenzo Musetti, who is making his return from injury, and Tiafoe likely to be his main rivals for a place in the final.
Shelton looks a strong candidate to reach the final and may be set to land his seventh title on the Tour.
Taylor Fritz to win (+550)
In the other half of the draw, Fritz may be the one to side with, especially given top seed De Minaur has been handed a tough first-round match against former world number three Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has received a wild card into the event.
Fritz enjoyed an impressive if ultimately fruitless grass-court season, reaching the finals of both the Stuttgart and Halle Opens where he was beaten by Shelton and Tiafoe respectively, before a knee injury played a large part in his quarterfinal exit at the hands of Alexander Zverev at Wimbledon.
Following a few weeks' rest, the third seed will now be seeking a strong start to the American hard-court season, one he hopes culminates in a deep run at the US Open, having reached the final of that Slam in 2024.
A more than winnable first-round match against Zizou Bergs should help Fritz settle back into life on hard courts and with five previous tournament victories to his name on the surface, including at Indian Wells, he could take some stopping if he starts building up momentum.
Stefanos Tsitsipas to beat Alex de Minaur (+120)
As the top seed and defending champion, De Minaur can feel a little hard done by that he has been pitted against a player of Tsitsipas' quality in the first round, especially given his record when facing the Greek star.
Tsitsipas has won 12 of the 13 previous head-to-heads between the pair, nine of which have come on hard courts, including this year's straight-sets success in the second round of the Miami Open.
Injuries and a drop in form have seen the two-time Grand Slam finalist plummet down the rankings in recent years, but there are signs that he could be returning to somewhere near his best after he ended a 16-month title drought with his victory at this month's Swiss Open.
If he is rediscovering his best form, then he could well be the value choice to win this high-profile, first round encounter, ending De Minaur's title defence before it even really gets started.
Mubadala DC Open odds
Arthur Fils | +450 |
Taylor Fritz | +550 |
Ben Shelton | +650 |
Alex de Minaur | +650 |
Tommy Paul | +900 |
Jakub Mensik | +1200 |
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
