The Birmingham Classic (currently sponsored by Rothesay Pensions) is a
250-level women's
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
tournament on the
WTA Tour
The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour.
WTA Tour tou ...
held at the
Edgbaston Priory Club in
Edgbaston
Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre.
In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family a ...
, Birmingham, United Kingdom. Held at this location since 1982, the tournament is played on outdoor grass courts. It is seen as a warm up tournament for
Wimbledon and a sister tournament to the men's
Queen's Club Championships
The Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for male tennis players, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is part of the ATP Tour 500 series on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...
. Prior to 2014, the event was part of the WTA's
International series. Between 2014 and 2019, it was a
premier level tournament. The 2020 competition was cancelled due to the
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
pandemic.
Sponsorship of the tournament has changed through the years, with the current sponsored name being the "Rothesay Classic". Previously, the event has been called the "Viking Classic", "Nature Valley Classic", "Aegon Birmingham Classic", the "DFS Classic", the "Dow Classic", and the "Edgbaston Cup."
Pam Shriver holds the record for the most singles titles with four (1984–1987 consecutively).
Past finals
Singles
Champions by country
Doubles
Champions by country
See also
*
Birmingham Open
The Birmingham Open is a defunct tennis tournament that was played on ATP Tour for one year in 1991. The event was held in Birmingham, England, Birmingham, England and was played on indoor carpet courts.
The tournament was held in November 1991 ...
– men's tournament
External links
Official website
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Grass court tennis tournaments
WTA Tour
Tennis tournaments in England
Sport in Birmingham, West Midlands
Recurring sporting events established in 1982
1982 establishments in England