![Maria Sharapova, December 2008](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Maria_Sharapova%2C_December_2008.jpg)
The VanOpen, currently sponsored as Odlum Brown VanOpen, is a professional
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 played on outdoor
hardcourts. It is part of the
Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits – the ATP Tour, the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Champions Tour. It was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, a ...
(ATP)
Challenger Tour, and of the
ITF Women's Circuit
The ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, previously known as the ITF Women's Circuit, is a series of professional tennis tournaments run by the International Tennis Federation for female professional tennis players.
History
It serves as a developmental ...
. It is held at Hollyburn Country Club in
West Vancouver
West Vancouver is a district municipality in the province of British Columbia, Canada. A member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District, West Vancouver is to the northwest of the city of Vancouver on the northern side of English Ba ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, Canada. The event was hosted continuously from 2002 to 2015, but returned in 2017 after a one-year hiatus.
History
The inaugural Odlum Brown VanOpen took place in the summer of 2002, in the Jericho Tennis Club, before it eventually moved to Hollyburn Country Club, in West Vancouver, for the 2005 edition.
Started as a $25,000 ITF Women's Circuit event, the Van Open saw the victory of eventual
world No. 1 Maria Sharapova
Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ( , ; rus, Мари́я Ю́рьевна Шара́пова, p=mɐˈrʲijə ʂɐˈrapəvə, a=Maria_sharapova.ogg; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian former world No. 1 tennis player. She competed on the WTA Tour from 2 ...
over
Laura Granville
Laura Granville (born May 12, 1981) is a former American professional tennis player. During the two years she spent at Stanford University, she set the record for most consecutive singles victories with 58 and finished with an overall record of ...
in 2002, and of then-Junior world No. 1 and
French Open girls' singles champion Anna-Lena Grönefeld
Anna-Lena Grönefeld (also spelled Groenefeld; born 4 June 1985) is a German former professional tennis player.
Competing as a professional from 2003 until 2019, she won one singles title on the WTA Tour, at the 2006 Mexican Open, and reached t ...
in 2003.
[
The following year, ]Tennis Canada
Tennis Canada is the national governing body of tennis within Canada. It works together with the provincial associations to organize tournaments and rules. They also oversee the Canada Davis Cup team and the Canada Fed Cup team. Tennis Canada ...
and Tennis BC (tennis' governing body in British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
) joined to bring the event to the Women's Tennis Association
The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women and was founded to create a better future for women's tenn ...
(WTA) Tour as a $110,000 Tier V event.[ Czech qualifier, and eventual top-ten member ]Nicole Vaidišová
Nicole Vaidišová Štěpánková (; born 23 April 1989) is a Czech former professional tennis player.
Vaidišová is an Australian Open and French Open semifinalist as well as a two-time quarterfinalist at Wimbledon. She started playing tenn ...
won the singles final over 2002 runner-up Laura Granville
Laura Granville (born May 12, 1981) is a former American professional tennis player. During the two years she spent at Stanford University, she set the record for most consecutive singles victories with 58 and finished with an overall record of ...
, becoming, as World No. 180, the lowest-ranked player to win a tour title during the 2004 WTA Tour
The 2004 WTA Tour was the elite professional tennis circuit organized by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for the 2004 season. The 2004 WTA Tour calendar comprised the Grand Slam tournaments (supervised by the International Tennis Federation ...
season, and at 15 years, 3 months, and 23 days, the sixth youngest player to win a professional title in tour history.
While the women's event returned to its $25k format in 2005, "to help develop some of the world's best Canadian junior girls", a $100k men's Challenger event was added to the tournament, with the United States Tennis Association
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...
(USTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits – the ATP Tour, the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Champions Tour. It was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, a ...
(ATP Tour) joining Tennis Canada, Tennis BC and the ITF in the organisation of the Open.[ Israeli ]Dudi Sela
David "Dudi" Sela ( he, דודי סלע; born 4 April 1985) is an Israeli professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 29 in July 2009.
Sela won the French Open 2003 junior doubles title. Representing Israe ...
won the inaugural men's singles event over Australian Paul Baccanello in straight sets, and American Ansley Cargill won the first of her two women's singles titles (2005, 2006).
The VanOpen continued to grow in the following editions, with the ITF event's prize money moving up to $50k in 2007, and $75k in 2009.[ Amongst the tournament's champions since 2005 have been, on the women's side, former junior world No. 1 ]Urszula Radwańska
Urszula Radwańska (; born 7 December 1990) is a Polish professional tennis player.
Radwańska has won one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as seven singles and ten doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 8 October 2012, she reached ...
(2008 singles), Stéphanie Dubois
Stéphanie Dubois (born October 31, 1986) is a former tennis player from Canada. She turned professional in 2004 and achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 87 in January 2012.
Dubois was awarded Female Player of the Year by Tennis Canada tw ...
(2007 doubles, 2009 singles), and on the men's side Rik de Voest
Rik de Voest (born 5 June 1980) is a former professional South African tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles ranking of world No. 110 in August 2006. Rik resides in Vancouver, Canada where he pursues a career in real estate.
De V ...
(2006 singles, 2007 and 2009 doubles), Frédéric Niemeyer
Frédéric Niemeyer (born April 24, 1976) is a Canadian retired, professional tennis player and current tennis coach at Tennis Canada.
Career
Niemeyer reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 134 achieved on 22 March 2004. He a ...
(2007 singles), Dudi Sela (2005, 2008 and 2010 singles), who claimed his second VanOpen title, and 2006 Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis
Marcos Baghdatis ( el, Μάρκος Παγδατής, ar, ماركوس بغداتيس; ; born 17 June 1985) is a Cypriot former professional tennis player. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Australian Open and a semifinalist at the 2006 Wimbledo ...
(2009 singles), who won in Vancouver his first title since February 2007.
Past finals
Men's singles
Women's singles
Men's doubles
Women's doubles
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vancouver Open
ATP Challenger Tour
ITF Women's World Tennis Tour
Tennis tournaments in Canada
Hard court tennis tournaments
Sport in Vancouver
Tennis in British Columbia
Recurring sporting events established in 2002
2002 establishments in British Columbia