About the Tournament
History
The Indianapolis Tennis Championships traces its roots back to a local tennis haven in 1920 when the Woodstock Country Club held the Western Open Championships for the first time. During the early years of the tournament, the best local players, and many nationally ranked players came to Indianapolis to vie for the Western Open Championships title. When the Open Era of tennis was created in 1969 and tennis started to become more popular with players ranking among other professional athletes, Woodstock became home to the nationally recognized U.S. Open Clay Court Championships.
By 1974, the sport of tennis was attracting large crowds and a larger Indianapolis venue was necessary to continue hosting the tournament. The event made a temporary move to the Indianapolis Racquet Club (IRC), which at the time was the second largest indoor facility in the country. Since they had just completed construction on eight outdoor clay courts, the IRC was an attractive site to carry-on the tradition of the Clay Court Championships. The move also continued to attract to biggest stars in tennis. The honor roll of past clay court participant’s reads like a tennis hall of fame list. Players like Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, Arthur Ashe, Ivan Lendl Andres Gomez, Jose-Luis Clerc and others came each year to compete on the green-clay in Indianapolis.
Over the next five years tournament organizers recognized the need for an even larger tennis facility than what the IRC could offer – they needed a venue that would solidify the city’s claim as the “Amateur Sports Capital of the World.” The dream of bringing Indianapolis to the forefront of tennis throughout the world became a reality in 1979 when the Indianapolis Sports Center (ISC) - now, known as the Indianapolis Tennis Center and current site of the RCA Championships was constructed. The 13-acre clay court tennis complex was considered state-of-the-art and one of the finest 9,000-seat stadium on the tennis circuit.
The Indianapolis Sports Center hosted the U.S. Open Clay Court Championships until 1987 when it decided that the Sports Center should become a self-supporting, year-round tennis facility. Thus, 14 of the 18 clay courts were resurfaced with Deco-Turf II, the same surface as the U.S. Open. With the change in surface came a change in the tournament’s name and date. The tournament became known as the U.S. Men’s Hardcourt Championships and the event gained the attention of the world’s best player’s as a premier warm-up stop for the U.S. Open. Tennis stars like Boris Becker, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Andre Agassi, Goran Ivanisevic, Carlos Moya, Patrick Rafter, Gustavo Kuerten, Andy Roddick and many others have flocked to Indianapolis over the years to tune-up their game before competing at the world renowned U.S. Open.
The tournament morphed through yet another growth stage in 1992 when Indianapolis based Thomson Consumer Electronics became 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. Mike O’Hara executive vice president of Consumer Products Marketing and Sales Worldwide for Thomson said, “Our 12 year partnership not only provided us with the opportunity to showcase our brand and technology to millions of fans worldwide, but it also helped us raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the children and families benefiting from Riley Hospital for Children and many other Indiana charities.”
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. The name changed, but the tournament stayed the same.
After 36 years of association with the event Eli Lilly and Co. raised their sponsorship to a presenting level for the 2008 and 2009 tournament. The tournament is now officially, known as the Indianapolis Tennis Championships presented by Lilly. Sidney Taurel, Lilly’s chairman and chief executive officer said, “As a company that is focused on helping people live longer, healthier lives, we know that exercise is a key component of success. This partnership is another step forward in helping our community get healthier.”
In addition to attracting the world’s best tennis players, the Indianapolis Tennis Championships holds the honored distinction of being named “Tournament of the Year” by the players on the ATP tour a record 11 times – 10 of those years being consecutive from 1988-1997 and the last honor coming in 2001. Through the support of hundreds of volunteers and with corporate sponsors like RCA and Lilly, the Indianapolis Tennis Championships has consistently staged world-class tennis for the past 17 years. The tournament’s organizers, its volunteer base and the thousands of fans who continue to come back year after year, have always maintained a “players-first” attitude that has helped ensure a high standard of excellence and a long life for professional tennis in Indianapolis.
Total Prize Money
$525,000
