WASHINGTON — Americans Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton are two of tennis’ most exciting young stars.
The two fan favorites are fueled by supportive crowds throughout the United States, culminating at the U.S. Open in late August-early September, the final grand slam of the year. With a stacked field featuring men’s five players ranked inside the top 10, they expect this week to offer valuable preparation for the upcoming grand slam, both in the intense competition level and passionate fan support.
The close friends are joining forces to play doubles at the Mubadala Citi DC Open. The eighth-and-11th-ranked players on the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour, respectively, they begin play under the lights Monday night against Australia’s Matthew Ebden and John Peers.
“I think we should get a good crowd here, and we thought that would be a good place to play,” Shelton said Sunday. “Hopefully get a W and play a couple of matches, but even if it’s just one match, we will have a lot of fun out there. We will enjoy ourselves Monday night, get ourselves ready and in a good place for our singles matches, and I love playing doubles. I like the extra competition, especially if I’m playing with one of my boys who I like to be around, and obviously Foe is one of my best friends out here on tour.”
While the duo has played doubles together before at the Laver Cup each of the last two years, this year’s DC Open marks the first time they’ll be alongside one another in the U.S. It will be Shelton’s 12th doubles match of the 2025 season and Tiafoe’s fourth.
This marks Shelton’s third consecutive year in doubles at the DC Open, reaching the finals alongside fellow American Mackenzie McDonald in 2023. Meanwhile, Tiafoe has played doubles in Washington four times, twice reaching the semifinals, with fellow Junior Tennis Champions Center alumnae Denis Kudla in 2018 and Alex De Minaur in 2022.
The pairing started with a text message from Shelton to Tiafoe: “What do you think about dubs in D.C?” Tiafoe also joked that Shelton thinks he’s from Washington now, as Shelton’s girlfriend, Trinity Rodman, is a star forward for the Washington Spirit in the National Women’s Soccer League.
Although they play doubles sparingly together, it’s an opportunity both players and fans are excited about.
“No, I love him, and we have had incredible battles, became incredibly close the last few years,” Tiafoe said. “Our humor, mannerisms, very much the same. The crowd is going to go nuts. We just practiced just now. We couldn’t even get off the court. The crowd is going to go absolutely nuts. I’m super excited to get out there with him. We’re going to go for it and try pretty hard to try to win some matches out here, both singles and doubles. It’s going to be really fun.”
Both highly accomplished singles players in their own right, doubles present a unique opportunity in the differences from singles. Communication and court positioning are paramount, which can take time to develop. Playing doubles often helps in certain aspects, particularly volleying and returning.
For Shelton, this doubles opportunity will be important preparation for the U.S. Open. There, he’ll be teaming up with fellow American, Taylor Townsend, in mixed doubles. Townsend, who is the No. 2 doubles player on the Women’s Association Tour, is playing both doubles and singles in Washington as well.
Spectators of all ages packed the practice court Sunday to watch the two American phenoms hitting with one another. However, one particular passionate fan stood out among the rest outside of the practice courts on Monday: 52-year-old Marco Bevilacqua, of Baltimore.
Bevilacqua, initially from Italy, brought two large double-sided posters that caught the attention of players and fans. On one side of one poster was Tiafoe, with Gael Monfils on the other. The other poster was No. 7 Lorenzo Musetti with Nick Kyrgios on the back side. He received autographs from Tiafoe, Musetti and Kyrgios as several fans also stopped for photos.
Just hours ahead of Monday’s match, Bevilacqua knows that Tiafoe and Shelton will put on a show.
“It’s going to be fantastic,” Bevilacqua said. “They’re both phenomenal players. Come on, two Americans in the capital of the United States, ATP 500 Tournament, it’s going to be fantastic for everybody attending. It’s superb. The City of Washington did fantastic work in attracting a lot of the top players, with Ben and Frances being two of them.”
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