Photo by christaki.

Washington tennis fans have just barely had time to digest the Washington Kastles’ triumphant World Team Tennis championship. But on the heels of their dramatic victory, it’s time once again for a longer-standing rite of D.C. summers: the Legg Mason Tennis Classic. Play got underway this weekend in Rock Creek Park in the annual tournament, which is the third event in the Olympus U.S. Open Series, a sequence of six linked North American tournaments leading up to September’s grand slam in New York. The week-long event features a men’s singles and doubles draw, with the championship matches to be played on Sunday afternoon. DCist will be there all week to bring you the good stuff.

The story of this year’s tournament is Andy Roddick. The highest ranked player participating in the tournament (at #5 in the world), it is the American’s first action since his epic, heartbreaking loss to Roger Federer in the final at Wimbledon. Roddick nearly went up two sets to love in that match and took the world’s #1 to a record 30-game final set before falling, a gritty performance with flashes of brilliance which undoubtedly earned him a few extra fans as he returns to Washington. Roddick — a three-time Legg Mason champion, most recently in 2007 — was slated to play on Tuesday, but this weekend’s rain a scheduling conflict has pushed his opening match back to Wednesday evening.