O'Brien is one of only 12 female tournament directors at the 54 WTA tournamentsWASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL
ATP/WTA Citi Open Tournament Dir KEELY O’BRIEN, who is in her second year in the position, “earned a promotion to the lead role after working there for 13 years” and is “one of just four” females to hold a similar position at the 64 ATP World Tour events, according to a profile by Ben Rothenberg of the N.Y. TIMES. She is “one of only 12 female tournament directors at the 54 WTA tournaments and the only female tournament director of any of the 14 combined ATP-WTA events.” Nearly all of O’Brien’s professional life has been “spent working in tennis.” Citi Open Chair & co-Founder DONALD DELL said O’Brien is a “very good leader, and you only find that out by leading.” O'Brien said that former WTA Tour CEO ANNE WORCESTER was an "inspiration" for her. In return, Worcester said O'Brien "brings a terrific, fresh perspective to that role." Worcester added that the tennis authorities “'still have a long way to go' on gender equality, even in a sport where gender equality is a leading selling point." She added, "I couldn’t believe that when I walk into a meeting of WTA tournament directors worldwide that it’s mostly men in the room" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/18).
