Scouting Report: Fan favourites Rublev, Shelton, Tiafoe headline Washington field

pThe hard courts of the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/washington/418/overview'Mubadala Citi DC Open/a will host the lone ATP Tour event of the week in Washington. The ATP 500 field includes top seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andrey-rublev/re44/overview'Andrey Rublev/a and a host of American stars, led by a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/ben-shelton/s0s1/overview'Ben Shelton/a and local hero a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/frances-tiafoe/td51/overview'Frances Tiafoe/a./p

pATPTour.com breaks down five key storylines at the American event./p

[ATP APP]

pstrongFIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN WASHINGTONbr /

1) Rublev On A Roll?: /strongAfter breaking a four-match losing streak in Umag, Rublev put together a strong week to reach the semi-finals on the European clay. It will be a quick turnaround to the American hard courts, but Rublev will be full of confidence after earning his way back into the win column./p

pnbsp;/p

div style="position: relative; display: block; max-width: 100%;"

div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"

iframe src="https://players.brightcove.net/6057277721001/8gZSNwgH_default/index.html?videoId=6359249793112" allow="encrypted-media" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; right: 0px; bottom: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%;"/iframe

/div

/div

pstrong2) Shelton Leads American Charge:/strong The popular 21-year-old will be the top-ranked American in Washington. Having rose to U.S. No. 1 behind his Houston title in April, Shelton is now the American No. 3 at World No. 14. After a first-round loss to #NextGenATP Chinese star Shang Juncheng last year in Washington, he will be seeking his first wins at the event. (Shang also beat Shelton last week in Atlanta.)/p

pstrong3) The Wait For A Home Champ: /strongIt has been 17 years since an American lifted the Washington title, with a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andy-roddick/r485/overview'Andy Roddick/a beating a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/john-isner/i186/overview'John Isner/a in the 2007 final. But a host of candidates could soon snap that streak, including a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/sebastian-korda/k0ah/overview'Sebastian Korda/a, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/frances-tiafoe/td51/overview'Frances Tiafoe/a, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alex-michelsen/m0qi/overview'Alex Michelsen/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/reilly-opelka/o522/overview'Reilly Opelka/a. Tiafoe is a fan favourite all around the world, but especially in D.C., as a native of nearby Hyattsville, Maryland./p

p/p

pstrong4) Khachanov, Mannarino Seek Turnarounds: /strongAt No. 22 and No. 32 in the PIF ATP Rankings, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/karen-khachanov/ke29/overview'Karen Khachanov/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/adrian-mannarino/me82/overview'Adrian Mannarino/a have both struggled to find their best tennis in recent months. Khachanov won the Doha title in February, his sixth tour-level crown, but has not recorded multiple wins at the same event since Rome. Mannarino is 8-18 this season and enters Atlanta on six-match losing streak. Both players will be seeded in Washington, fuelling hopes they can live up to that billing and snap out of their slumps./p

pstrong5) Heliovaara/Patten Lead Doubles Draw:/strong Finland's a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/harri-heliovaara/h808/overview'Harri Heliovaara/a and Great Britain's a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/henry-patten/p0g6/overview'Henry Patten/a are among the top doubles contenders in Washington, along with Aussies a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/max-purcell/ph71/overview'Max Purcell/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jordan-thompson/tc61/overview'Jordan Thompson/a, as well as a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jamie-murray/mc81/overview'Jamie Murray/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/michael-venus/v576/overview'Michael Venus/a. Heliovaara and Patten face a tough opening matchup against Shelton and Croatia's a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/ivan-dodig/d646/overview'Ivan Dodig/a, the No. 20 in the PIF ATP Doubles Rankings./p

p[NEWSLETTER FORM]/p