Halep, Raonic Awarded DC Wild Cards

The Washington, DC field has received a Top 10 infusion.World No. 2 Simona Halep, ninth-ranked Milos Raonic, 10th-ranked Grigor Dimitrov and 2015 Citi Open Champion Sloane Stephens have all accepted wild cards to Washington, DC, the tournament announced today.Watch: Vesely Celebrates Win With DogThe tournament will be held July 29-August 6 at the Rock Creek Park Tennis Center.Two-time French Open finalist Halep will make her DC debut following her run to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Halep has a total of 15 titles, returning to her career-high ranking of No. 2 this year, after first reaching the ranking in 2015.Stephens is making a comeback to tennis, after an injury kept her sidelined following the 2016 Olympics. She won her first WTA Tour title at the Citi Open in 2015.

With the addition of Raonic to the roster, the tournament now boasts four of its most recent men’s singles champions competing for the title.The tournament has previously announced that three-time champion Juan Martin del Potro, defending champion Gael Monfils, and 2015 champion Kei Nishikori will return to Washington this summer. In 2014, Raonic defeated Vasek Pospisil at the Citi Open, in the first all-Canadian ATP World Tour final.Meanwhile, Dimitrov is back for the fifth time following a successful run to the Australian Open semifinal earlier this year and winning two Tour titles so far in 2017. The tournament benefits underserved and low-income kids in the D.C. community through the Washington Tennis & Education Foundation. Photo credit: Ashley Western/CameraSport
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