Atlanta ’s rich sports history has featured tennis tournaments throughout the decades. The Atlanta Tennis Championships conjure up memories of the clay court tournament played in the same Atlanta Athletic Club stadium used for this year’s tournament. Additionally, there have been other notable tennis tournaments that have brought the sport to Atlanta.
The Atlanta Tennis Championships
The sanction for the Atlanta Tennis Championships was purchased by USTA Southern from the ATP World Tour on December 17, 2009. The section is the largest among the USTA’s 17 sections and represents approximately 25 percent of the national membership.
The 250-point tournament had been played in Indianapolis beginning in 1921. More of the rich history of the Indianapolis tournament is described below.
Olympus US Open Series
Having completed its sixth season in 2009, the Olympus US Open Series has established itself as a true regular season of hard court tennis, linking 10 summer tournaments to the US Open. In 2008, Olympus became the first title sponsor of the Series. The 2009 Olympus US Open Series set a new record with nearly 47 million viewers across the six-week season – the largest TV audience in Series history. In addition, the Olympus US Open Series received unprecedented television exposure with over 100 hours on ESPN2, more than 250 hours on Tennis Channel and two tournament finals on CBS Sports.
Atlanta ATP Tournament
The original Atlanta ATP tournament began in 1985, however it only stayed for one more season after it moved to Orlando, FL. The tournament then returned to Atlanta from 1992-2001 and was played at the Atlanta Athletic Club, Johns Creek, Ga., in late April. From 1992 to 1999, it was called the AT&T Tennis Challenge. In 2000, it was named the Galleryfurniture.com Tennis Challenge and, in 2001, it was called the Verizon Tennis Challenge. Singles champions include former No. 1 players Andy Roddick (2001), Pete Sampras (1998) Andre Agassi (1989, 1991 and 1992) and John McEnroe (1985).
In 2001, the tournament drew 75,097 fans, had a $400,000 purse and was telecast by FOX Sports Net to 114 countries.
The 1996 Olympics
The 1996 Olympics were played in Stone Mountain, east of the city. Singles gold medalists were Americans Agassi and Lindsay Davenport. Doubles gold medalists were Americans Mary Joe and Gigi Fernandez (unrelated) and Australians Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde.
Other Atlanta Tournaments
The Atlanta WCT was played as a part of the World Championship Tennis Tour in Atlanta from 1973-1976. It was played on outdoor clay courts in 1973-74 and on indoor carpet courts in 1975-1976. Singles champions were Ilie Nastase (1976), Mark Cox (1975), Dick Stockton (1974) and Stan Smith (1973). Doubles champions included Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Robert Lutz and Smith.
The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour played a one-year tournament in 1997 at Stone Mountain. Davenport won the singles crown.
Indianapolis Tournament
The Indianapolis Tennis Championships traces its roots back to 1921, when the Western Open Championships were held for the first time at the famed Woodstock Country Club. As the sport’s popularity rose with the dawning of the Open Era in 1968, Indianapolis became home to the nationally-recognized US Men’s Clay Court Championships.
By 1974, the sport was attracting such booming crowds that Indianapolis required a new venue to host the tournament – the Indianapolis Racquet Club – featuring eight newly constructed outdoor clay courts, which at the time made it the second-largest indoor facility in the country. The dream of bringing Indianapolis to the forefront of the international tennis landscape became reality in 1979, when the Indianapolis Sports Center — later to be known as the Indianapolis Tennis Center, site of the Indianapolis Tennis Championships — was constructed.
The Indianapolis Sports Center hosted the U.S. Open Clay Court Championships until 1987, when the complex became a self-supporting, year-round tennis facility. Fourteen of 18 clay courts were resurfaced with DecoTurf II, the same surface used at the US Open. With the change in the surface came a change in the tournament’s name and date. The event became known as the U.S. Men’s Hardcourt Championships and gained the attention of the world’s best players as a premier warm-up stop on the road to the US Open. Stars like Sampras, McEnroe, Agassi, Roddick, Boris Becker, Jimmy Connors, Jim Courier, Goran Ivanisevic, Carlos Moya, Patrick Rafter and Gustavo Kuerten flocked to Indianapolis over the years to tune up their game before American’s Grand Slam.
The tournament morphed once again in 1992 as its growing popularity led Thomson Consumer Electronics to become the new title sponsor through its RCA brand. Thomson/RCA supported the Indianapolis Tennis Championships through 2006. RCA was the longest running title sponsor of a men’s professional tennis tournament in North America. In 2007, the tournament changed its name once again. RCA ended its run as the title sponsor and the tournament became known as the Indianapolis Tennis Championships.