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The San Diego Open is an annual professional
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 on the
ATP Challenger Tour The ATP Challenger Tour (known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series) is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. It was founded in 1976 as a replacement for the ILTF Satellite Circuit (founded in 1971) as ...
, held in
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
, California. The tournament was founded in 1971. It is held at the Barnes Tennis Center. In 2025 it returned as an ATP Challenger 100 event when it replaced the WTA 500 event.


ATP tournament history

The San Diego Open was an ATP 250 tournament held at the Barnes Tennis Center in
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
, California. In August 2021, after the cancellation of the Asia Swing due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, the Barnes Tennis Center was allocated a two-year 250 tournament license. Prior to that, it was exclusively a WTA event which was last held as a WTA Challenger in 2015 in
Carlsbad, California Carlsbad is a beach city in the North County area of San Diego County, California, United States. The city is north of downtown San Diego and south of downtown Los Angeles. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of ...
. Daniel Vallverdu took on the position of managing director, Ryan Redondo was named the tournament director and
Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943), also known as BJK, is an American former World number 1 ranked female tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in w ...
accepted the role of honorary tournament chairman. With the ATP Tour returning to China in 2023, the tournament's men's event ceased. In its place an
ATP Challenger Tour The ATP Challenger Tour (known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series) is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. It was founded in 1976 as a replacement for the ILTF Satellite Circuit (founded in 1971) as ...
100 event was introduced in
2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...
.


WTA tournament history

This event was founded in 1971 as the Southern California Open, its official name. That year there had been two previous women's tennis tournaments in San Diego: a Virginia Slims of San Diego (sponsored name) aka the Southern California Open event, and the Wells Fargo Open, which ran from 1979 to 1982. Giscafre's former doubles partner, Jane Stratton, attained co-ownership of the tournament from 1986 until the event's cessation. The tournament has had various principal sponsors throughout its history, and has been played under the headings of the Great American Bank Classic, the
Mazda is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima (town), Fuchū, Hiroshima Prefecture, Hiroshima, Japan. The company was founded on January 30, 1920, as Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd. ...
Classic and the
Toshiba is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors ...
Classic. The tournament was known for its strong player fields, location in the hills and atmosphere. Although the tournament achieved Tier-I status only in 2004, it became a draw to the heavyweights in women's tennis since its inception in the 1980s, being a crucial warm-up tournament leading to the US Open. Past champions of the tournament include former world No.-1s
Steffi Graf Stefanie Maria Graf ( , ; born 14 June 1969) is a German former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for a r ...
, Jennifer Capriati, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams, Martina Hingis, Justine Henin, and
Maria Sharapova Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (, ; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 21 weeks. Sharapova won 36 WTA Tour-level sin ...
. Six players won the tournament more than once, four of them consecutively. Graf holds the record for most wins (4); Venus Williams holds the record for most consecutive titles (3). The tournament's purse doubled to $200,000 in 1989, when the sponsor changed to San Diego–based Great American Bank from Virginia Slims, a cigarette brand owned by Philip Morris. The tournament moved from the San Diego Tennis & Racquet Club to the La Costa Resort and Spa in 1991, when the sponsor was changed to Mazda from Great American, which was in financial decline. On September 7, 2009, the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour announced the return of professional women's tennis to San Diego in 2010, under the sponsorship of Mercury Insurance. The Mercury Insurance Open was renamed the Southern California Open starting in 2013. In 2014, the event was relocated to Tokyo, Japan. The tournament became the Carlsbad Classic in 2015, hosted by the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort in Carlsbad, California, from November 23–29. As a WTA Challenger event, the Carlsbad Classic featured a 32-player singles main draw, an 8-player qualifying draw, and an 8-team doubles draw with $125,000 in prize money. It was the first WTA tournament held during Thanksgiving week. The tournament returned to the WTA Tour as a WTA 500 event in 2022 for three editions at the Barnes Tennis Center. It was cancelled in 2025 and replaced by the Mérida Open on the WTA Tour. Starting in 2025, at the same location in San Diego, an
ATP Challenger Tour The ATP Challenger Tour (known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series) is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. It was founded in 1976 as a replacement for the ILTF Satellite Circuit (founded in 1971) as ...
event is held known as the ''Better Buzz San Diego Open''. :Official name * Southern California Open (San Diego) (1971–2013). :Sponsored names * ''Virginia Slims of San Diego'': 1971, 1985–1988 * ''Wells Fargo Open'': 1979–1982 * ''Ginny of San Diego'': 1984 * ''Great American Bank Classic'': 1989–1990 * ''Mazda Classic'': 1991–1993 * ''Toshiba Classic''; 1994–1998 * ''TIG Classic'': 1999 * ''Acura Classic'': 2000–2007 * ''Mercury Insurance Open'': 2010–2012 * ''Southern California Open'': 2013 * ''Carlsbad Classic'': 2015 * ''Cymbiotika:'' 2023–2024


Past finals


Men's singles


Women's singles


Prior tournaments in San Diego area


Subsequent and current organized event


Men's doubles


Women's doubles


Prior


Subsequent & current


See also


Official website


References


External links


San Diego Overview ATP Tour TennisOfficial website
{{navboxes, title=Former Tournament categories , list1= {{ATP World Tour 250 series {{WTA 1000 tournaments {{WTA Premier tournaments {{WTA Tier III tournaments {{WTA Tier IV tournaments {{WTA 125K series tournaments {{Virginia Slims tennis tournaments {{US Open Series Tournaments Defunct tennis tournaments in the United States Hard court tennis tournaments in the United States WTA Tour Sports in Carlsbad, California WTA 125 tournaments Women's tennis tournaments in the United States Women's sports in San Diego Sports competitions in San Diego County, California