Washington D.C., USA – Top seed Taylor Fritz and eighth seed Daniil Medvedev both secured their spots in the last 16 of the ATP/WTA DC Open on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. While Fritz enjoyed a straightforward victory, Medvedev had to overcome a tough challenge to advance in the men’s draw.
Fritz’s Smooth Sail, Medvedev’s Gritty Comeback
World No. 4 Taylor Fritz, playing his first match since his Wimbledon semifinal loss to Carlos Alcaraz, displayed formidable form. He breezed past Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic 6-3, 6-2 in just 59 minutes. The American’s powerful serve and a barrage of superb backhands contributed to 28 winners, leaving Vukic little room to maneuver. Fritz established early leads in both sets (3-0 in the first, 4-0 in the second) and maintained control throughout. He will now face Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi in the last 16. Their head-to-head stands at 1-0 in favor of Arnaldi, from their single previous encounter in Acapulco in February 2024.
Earlier in the day, Russian eighth seed Daniil Medvedev was forced to dig deep against the big-serving American Reilly Opelka. Medvedev dropped the first set but battled back fiercely to win a roller-coaster tussle 3-6, 7-5, 6-1. After levelling the match in the second set, Medvedev capitalized on Opelka’s faltering serve in the decider to secure his passage. Medvedev will now face China’s Wu Yibing in the last 16 on Thursday. Medvedev leads their head-to-head 1-0, with their previous match being a straight-sets victory for Medvedev at the US Open in 2022. Wu Yibing earned his spot by upsetting 10th seed Alexei Popyrin 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.
However, the day also saw an upset in the men’s draw, as Russian fifth seed Andrey Rublev tumbled out, losing 7-5, 6-2 to American Learner Tien.
Women’s Draw Sees Upsets and Veteran Performance
In the women’s draw, second seed Emma Navarro was eliminated by Greece’s Maria Sakkari, who secured a 7-5, 7-6 (7/1) victory. Third seed Elena Rybakina, however, comfortably booked her place in the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Canada’s Victoria Mboko.
In the women’s doubles, the legendary 45-year-old Venus Williams, partnering with Hailey Baptiste, pushed the second-seeded duo of Taylor Townsend and Zhang Shuai to a deciding tie-break before ultimately losing 6-4, 3-6, 10-6.
Williams, who made headlines on Tuesday by becoming the oldest winner of a WTA match since 2004 with her singles victory over Peyton Stearns, will aim to extend her impressive singles run on Thursday. She is set to take on Polish fifth seed Magdalena Frech in the last 16. This will be their first career meeting.
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