The Washington Open has been thrown into disarray with several of tennis’ biggest stars withdrawing from the competition.
Jannik Sinner’s withdrawal from the Washington Open was followed by Carlos Alcaraz and Jack Draper dropping out of the competition.
That leaves the men’s draw wide open, with several of the top 10 looking to capitalise on three of the most dangerous players on tour missing the first American hard court tournament before the US Open.
Here are five players who could win the Washington Open.
Taylor Fritz
Taylor Fritz has put himself into the conversation of ‘best of the rest’ with his impressive displays across 2025.
The star had an excellent grass court season, reaching the final four of Wimbledon for the first time and winning the Eastbourne Open.
He enters Washington as the top seed after Sinner and Alcaraz’s withdrawals, and there’s every chance he picks up the trophy.
However, the big serving American has been handed a fairly difficult draw, with a likely second round match against fellow heavy hitter, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
Holger Rune
Holger Rune will be looking to bounce back from his disappointing first round exit at Wimbledon with a strong display in Washington.
The Dane has enlisted the help of legendary eight-time Grand Slam winner Andre Agassi ahead of hard court season and he has every chance of a successful tournament.
Rune has only played the tournament once before, reaching the third round in 2022, so he’ll be looking to make a bigger impact this year.
Ben Shelton
Often touted as the next big thing in tennis, Ben Shelton has been building upon his career in nearly every tournament in 2025.
The World No. 8 is celebrating his highest ever spot in the ATP Tour rankings after an excellent quarterfinal appearance at this year’s Wimbledon.
On home soil, and on his favourite surface, Shelton has all the ingredients to benefit from the field being weaker than normal.
The American is yet to win a tournament in 2025, and the Washington Open is likely his best opportunity yet.
Andrey Rublev
Andrey Rublev was another player to come out of Wimbledon in better form than he entered it with the Russian star reaching the quarterfinal.
The star played some excellent tennis at SW19, and looked supreme when taking the first set off Alcaraz in their last eight clash.
Three of the Russian’s ATP 1000 finals have come on hard court and, on paper, the star is the fifth best player at the tournament.
The World No. 10 should see this as an excellent opportunity to further climb the rankings under new coach Marat Safin.
Flavio Cobolli
If his latest form is anything to go on, World No. 18 Flavio Cobolli looks set to be tennis’ next huge breakout star.
The star reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Wimbledon, but he didn’t take a break like many players on the tour.
Cobolli jetted back to Italy to compete in the 2025 Hopman Cup final against Canada, which saw him defeat Felix Auger-Aliassime in three sets.
Being slightly more match fit than the rest of the tour could be a huge benefit for the Italian in Washington.