The U.S. National Indoor Championships was a

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

tournament that was last held at the Racquet Club of Memphis in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, United States. Also known as the U.S. International Indoor Championships. The event was played on indoor hard courts and usually took place in February. For much of its more than 100-year history it was a combined men's and women's tournament but in 2014, its final year, only a men's tournament was held. The event was previously known under various sponsored names including the Memphis Open, the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships, the Kroger St. Jude Championship, and the Volvo Championships. It was called throughout most of its history the National Indoor Championships.

History

The tournament began in March 1898 when the inaugural edition was played at the Newton Winter Tennis Club in

Newton Center Newton Centre is one of the thirteen List of villages in Newton, Massachusetts, villages within the city of Newton, Massachusetts, Newton in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The main commercial cent ...

. The men's singles was the only event played and was won by Leo Ware who defeated

Holcombe Ward Holcombe Ward (November 23, 1878 – January 23, 1967) was an American tennis player who was active during the last years of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th. He won the U.S. National Championships singles title in 1904 and add ...

in the final in straight sets. There was no tournament held in 1899. In 1900 a men's doubles event was added and the tournament moved to the

Seventh Regiment Armory The Park Avenue Armory, also known as the 7th Regiment Armory, is a historic Armory (military), armory for the National Guard (United States), U.S. Army National Guard at 643 Park Avenue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, Uni ...

in Manhattan, New York, where it was played on a wood court until 1963 with the exception of 1941 (Coliseum in Oklahoma City) and from 1942 until 1945 when no tournament was held due to World War II. When the Seventh Regiment Armory was closed for renovations a new venue for the tournament had to be selected by the USLTA. In 1964 the tournament moved to

Salisbury, Maryland Salisbury ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Wicomico County, Maryland, United States. Salisbury is the largest city in Eastern Shore of Maryland, the state's Eastern Shore region, with a population of 33,050 at the 2020 United States census ...

, and was organized by

Jimmy Connors James Scott Connors (born September 2, 1952) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 2 ...

' manager Bill Riordan. The last move occurred after the 1976 tournament, when Memphis became the host of the event and was the location of the tournament until its end in 2014. The men's tournament was part of the

Grand Prix tennis circuit The ITF Grand Prix Circuit was a professional tennis tour for male players founded in 1970 as the ILTF Grand Prix Tennis Circuit it was administered by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and ran annually until 1989 when it and the rival ...

between 1976 and 1989 before becoming an

ATP Tour The ATP Tour (known as ATP World Tour between January 2009 and December 2018) is the sole worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) founded in 1990 that replaced the earlier dual Grand Prix ...

event. The 2013 tournament was the last combined men's and women's tournament and was held February 16–24, 2013, at The Racquet Club of Memphis.

Marina Erakovic Marina Erakovic ( ; ; born 6 March 1988) is a former tennis player from New Zealand. She achieved career-high rankings of 39 in singles and 25 in doubles, and won a singles title at Memphis in February 2013, and eight doubles titles on the W ...

was the last woman to win the title. In 2014 the WTA event moved to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. The men's tournament lost its

ATP World Tour 500 series The ATP 500 tournaments (previously known as the ''ATP World Tour 500'' tournaments, ''ATP International Series Gold'', and ''ATP Championship Series'') are the fourth highest tier of annual men's tennis tournament after the four Grand Slam (tenni ...

certification, which also moved to Rio de Janeiro, but continued as an ATP 250 event known as the Memphis Open, taking over the ATP 250 sanction from the

SAP Open The Pacific Coast Championships were an annual men's tennis tournament founded as the Pacific States Championships or the Pacific Coast Sectional Championships also known as the Pacific Coast International Championships. It was the second-oldest ...

in San Jose.

Men's finals

Singles

Doubles

Women's finals

Singles

Doubles

References

External links

* {{coord, 35.116, N, 89.890, W, region:US-TN_type:landmark_scale:50000, display=title Indoor tennis tournaments Hard court tennis tournaments Sports competitions in Memphis, Tennessee St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Regions Financial Corporation Tennis tournaments in Oklahoma Tennis tournaments in Massachusetts Tennis tournaments in New York City Tennis tournaments in Maryland Tennis tournaments in Tennessee 1898 establishments in Massachusetts ATP Tour 500 Defunct tennis tournaments in the United States 2014 disestablishments in Tennessee Grand Prix tennis circuit Recurring sporting events established in 1898 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2014 National and multi-national tennis tournaments

History

Men's finals

Singles

Doubles

Women's finals

Singles

Doubles

See also

References

External links