Memphis Open (tennis)

Memphis Open
Memphis Open
Defunct tennis tournament
Founded	1975
Abolished	2017
Editions	43
Location	Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Venue	Racquet Club of Memphis
Category	250 series
Surface	Hard / indoor
Website	memphisopen.com

The Memphis Open was a professional tennis tournament that ran from 1975 to 2017. From 1977 onwards, the event was held at the Racquet Club of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee. The Memphis Open was the only ATP event in the United States which was played on indoor hard courts; it usually took place in February. For part of its history it was a combined men's and women's tournament, but for its final four years it was solely a men's tournament.

The event was previously known under various sponsored names including the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships, the Kroger St. Jude Championship, the Volvo Championships, the Cellular South Cup, and the Federal Express International and was for a period time part of the now defunct U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships.

The last singles champion of the Memphis Open was Ryan Harrison and the last doubles champions are Brian Baker and Nikola Mektić. The 2017 Memphis Open titles were the first career titles for all three men. As of 2018, the tournament has moved to New York as the new New York Open.

History

In 1974, Memphis cotton merchant William B. "Billy" Dunavant Jr. purchased the Memphis Athletic Club and began a $7 M expansion to transform the facility into what is now the Racquet Club of Memphis. What is now known as the Memphis Open was first played in 1975 on indoor carpet as part of the WCT. In 1977, the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships moved to Memphis from Salisbury, Maryland and increased the event's prize money to $220,000.^[1] The Memphis Open had the distinction (until 2014) of being the only private indoor racquet club in the world to host a men's and women's professional tennis event.^[2] The tournament was played on indoor carpet into the 1980s, but the club eventually changed its surface to hard courts.

In November 2001, the Racquet Club of Memphis purchased the rights to the WTA event in Oklahoma City and moved it to Memphis, where the tournament hosted both men's and women's events for 12 years. In 2008, the event was elevated to ATP 500 Series status. In 2014, the men's and women's events moved to Rio de Janeiro.^[3] Memphis then purchased the ATP 250 event in San Jose to keep professional tennis in the city.^[4] In late 2014, Tennis Rendezvous LLC, owned by the USTA and Golden Set Holdings LLC, purchased the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships and renamed it the Memphis Open. In 2015, the Memphis Open was sold again, purchased by New York-based financial management company GF Capital.

Over the years, the Memphis Open has counted nine ATP year-end No. 1 players among its winners: Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Stefan Edberg, Andre Agassi, Ivan Lendl, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, and Andy Roddick. In 2016, Kei Nishikori won the event for a fourth consecutive time, tying Connors' record for the most overall Memphis titles.

In April 2017 the ATP announced that the tournament will relocate to the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Long Island, New York in 2018 after the event failed to find a title sponsor in Memphis.^[5]

Finals

Singles

Year	Champions	Runners-up	Score
1975	Harold Solomon	Jiří Hřebec	2–6, 6–1, 6–4
1976	Vijay Amritraj	Stan Smith	6–2, 0–6, 6–0
1977	Björn Borg	Brian Gottfried	6–4, 6–3, 4–6, 7–5
1978	Jimmy Connors	Tim Gullikson	7–6, 6–3
1979	Jimmy Connors	Arthur Ashe	6–4, 5–7, 6–3
1980	John McEnroe	Jimmy Connors	7–6, 7–6^(8–6)
1981	Gene Mayer	Roscoe Tanner	6–2, 6–4
1982	Johan Kriek	John McEnroe	6–3, 3–6, 6–4
1983	Jimmy Connors	Gene Mayer	7–5, 6–0
1984	Jimmy Connors	Henri Leconte	6–3, 4–6, 7–5
1985	Stefan Edberg	Yannick Noah	6–1, 6–0
1986	Brad Gilbert	Stefan Edberg	7–5, 7–6
1987	Stefan Edberg	Jimmy Connors	6–3, 2–1 (retired)
1988	Andre Agassi	Mikael Pernfors	6–4, 6–4, 7–5
1989	Brad Gilbert	Johan Kriek	6–2, 6–2 (retired)
1990	Michael Stich	Wally Masur	6–7, 6–4, 7–6
1991	Ivan Lendl	Michael Stich	7–5, 6–3
1992	MaliVai Washington	Wayne Ferreira	6–3, 6–2
1993	Jim Courier	Todd Martin	5–7, 7–6^(7–4), 7–6^(7–4)
1994	Todd Martin	Brad Gilbert	6–4, 7–5
1995	Todd Martin	Paul Haarhuis	7–6^(7–2), 6–4
1996	Pete Sampras	Todd Martin	6–4, 7–6^(7–2)
1997	Michael Chang	Todd Woodbridge	6–3, 6–4
1998	Mark Philippoussis	Michael Chang	6–3, 6–2
1999	Tommy Haas	Jim Courier	6–4, 6–1
2000	Magnus Larsson	Byron Black	6–2, 1–6, 6–3
2001	Mark Philippoussis	Davide Sanguinetti	6–3, 6–7^(5–7), 6–3
2002	Andy Roddick	James Blake	6–4, 3–6, 7–5
2003	Taylor Dent	Andy Roddick	6–1, 6–4
2004	Joachim Johansson	Nicolas Kiefer	7–6^(7–5), 6–3
2005	Kenneth Carlsen	Max Mirnyi	7–5, 7–5
2006	Tommy Haas	Robin Söderling	6–3, 6–2
2007	Tommy Haas	Andy Roddick	6–3, 6–2
2008	Steve Darcis	Robin Söderling	6–3, 7–6^(7–5)
2009	Andy Roddick	Radek Štěpánek	7–5, 7–5
2010	Sam Querrey	John Isner	6–7^(3–7), 7–6^(7–5), 6–3
2011	Andy Roddick	Milos Raonic	7–6^(9–7), 6–7^(11–13), 7–5
2012	Jürgen Melzer	Milos Raonic	7–5, 7–6^(7–4)
2013	Kei Nishikori	Feliciano López	6–2, 6–3
2014	Kei Nishikori	Ivo Karlović	6–4, 7–6^(7–0)
2015	Kei Nishikori	Kevin Anderson	6–4, 6–4
2016	Kei Nishikori	Taylor Fritz	6–4, 6–4
2017	Ryan Harrison	Nikoloz Basilashvili	6–1, 6–4
2018	see New York Open

Doubles

Year	Champions	Runners-up	Score
1975	Dick Stockton Erik van Dillen	Mark Cox Cliff Drysdale	1–6, 7–5, 6–4
1976	Vijay Amritraj Anand Amritraj	Marty Riessen Roscoe Tanner	6–3, 6–4
1977	Sherwood Stewart Fred McNair	Robert Lutz Stan Smith	4–6, 7–6, 7–6
1978	Brian Gottfried Raúl Ramírez	Phil Dent John Newcombe	3–6, 7–6, 6–2
1979	Tom Okker Wojciech Fibak	Frew McMillan Dick Stockton	6–4, 6–4
1980	John McEnroe Brian Gottfried	Rod Frawley Tomáš Šmíd	6–3, 6–7, 7–6
1981	Gene Mayer Sandy Mayer	Mike Cahill Tom Gullikson	7–6, 6–7, 7–6
1982	Kevin Curren Steve Denton	John McEnroe Peter Fleming	7–6, 4–6, 6–2
1983	Peter McNamara Paul McNamee	Tim Gullikson Tom Gullikson	6–3, 5–7, 6–4
1984	Fritz Buehning Peter Fleming	Heinz Günthardt Tomáš Šmíd	6–3, 6–0
1985	Pavel Složil Tomáš Šmíd	Kevin Curren Steve Denton	1–6, 6–3, 6–4
1986	Ken Flach Robert Seguso	Guy Forget Anders Järryd	6–4, 4–6, 7–6
1987	Anders Järryd Jonas Svensson	Sergio Casal Emilio Sánchez	6–4, 6–2
1988	Kevin Curren David Pate	Peter Lundgren Mikael Pernfors	6–2, 6–2
1989	Paul Annacone Christo van Rensburg	Scott Davis Tim Wilkison	7–6, 6–7, 6–1
1990	Darren Cahill Mark Kratzmann	Udo Riglewski Michael Stich	7–5, 6–2
1991	Michael Stich Udo Riglewski	John Fitzgerald Laurie Warder	7–5, 6–3
1992	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	Kevin Curren Gary Muller	7–6, 6–1
1993	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	Jacco Eltingh Paul Haarhuis	7–5, 4–6, 7–6
1994	Byron Black Jonathan Stark	Jim Grabb Jared Palmer	7–6, 6–4
1995	Jared Palmer Richey Reneberg	Tommy Ho Brett Steven	4–6, 7–6, 6–1
1996	Mark Knowles Daniel Nestor	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	6–4, 7–5
1997	Ellis Ferreira Patrick Galbraith	Rick Leach Jonathan Stark	6–3, 3–6, 6–1
1998	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	Ellis Ferreira David Roditi	6–3, 6–4
1999	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	Sébastien Lareau Alex O'Brien	6–3, 6–4
2000	Justin Gimelstob Sébastien Lareau	Jim Grabb Richey Reneberg	6–2, 6–4
2001	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	Alex O'Brien Jonathan Stark	6–3, 7–6
2002	Brian MacPhie Nenad Zimonjić	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	6–3, 3–6, [10–4]
2003	Mark Knowles Daniel Nestor	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	6–2, 7–6
2004	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	Jeff Coetzee Chris Haggard	6–3, 6–4
2005	Simon Aspelin Todd Perry	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	6–4, 6–4
2006	Ivo Karlović Chris Haggard	James Blake Mardy Fish	0–6, 7–5, [10–5]
2007	Eric Butorac Jamie Murray	Julian Knowle Jürgen Melzer	7–5, 6–3
2008	Mahesh Bhupathi Mark Knowles	Sanchai Ratiwatana Sonchat Ratiwatana	7–6^(7–5), 6–2
2009	Mardy Fish Mark Knowles	Travis Parrott Filip Polášek	7–6^(9–7), 6–1
2010	John Isner Sam Querrey	Ross Hutchins Jordan Kerr	6–4, 6–4
2011	Max Mirnyi Daniel Nestor	Eric Butorac Jean-Julien Rojer	6–2, 6–7^(6–8), [10–3]
2012	Max Mirnyi Daniel Nestor	Ivan Dodig Marcelo Melo	4–6, 7–5, [10–7]
2013	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	James Blake Jack Sock	6–1, 6-2
2014	Eric Butorac Raven Klaasen	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	6–4, 6-4
2015	Mariusz Fyrstenberg Santiago González	Artem Sitak Donald Young	5–7, 7–6^(7–1), [10–8]
2016	Mariusz Fyrstenberg Santiago González	Steve Johnson Sam Querrey	6–4, 6–4
2017	Brian Baker Nikola Mektić	Ryan Harrison Steve Johnson	6–3, 6–4

Records

Record	Player(s)	Count	Years
Winner of most Men's Singles titles	Jimmy Connors Kei Nishikori	4	1977, 1978, 1983, 1984 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
Winner of most consecutive Men's Singles titles	Kei Nishikori	4	2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
Most Men's Singles finals	Jimmy Connors	6	1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1987
Winner of most Men's Doubles titles (individual & team)	Todd Woodbridge & Mark Woodforde	4	1992, 1993, 1998, 1999
Winner of most consecutive Men's Doubles titles (individual & team)	Todd Woodbridge & Mark Woodforde Mariusz Fyrstenberg & Santiago Gonzalez	2	1992, 1993 & 1998, 1999 2015, 2016
Most Men's Doubles finals (individual & team)	Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan	7	2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2013, 2014