The U.S. Pro Indoor (mainly known as such during its run, but also as the ''U.S. Professional Indoor'', the ''Ebel U.S. Pro Indoor'', the ''Comcast U.S. Indoor'', and the ''Advanta Championships'') is a defunct professional tennis tournament held in Philadelphia, United States from 1968 to 1998. It played on indoor carpet courts, and indoor hard courts. It was part of the World Championship Tennis (WCT) circuit from 1968 to 1977 and the

Grand Prix Tour The Grand Prix tennis circuit was a professional tennis tour for male players that existed from 1970 to 1989. The Grand Prix and World Championship Tennis (WCT) were the two predecessors to the current tour for male players, the ATP Tour, with t ...

from 1978 to 1989 before being held on the ATP Tour. It was held annually first at the Spectrum, and then at the CoreStates Center. It was originally named the Philadelphia Indoor Open Tournament prior to the open era.

History

The ''United States Professional Indoor'' tennis championships were first created in Philadelphia, United States, in 1968, as part of the newly created WCT circuit, rival of the National Tennis League (NTL). As the first event of the season, the Philadelphia ''U.S. Professional Indoor'' attracted all WCT stars at the Philadelphia Spectrum at each of its yearly editions, with

Rod Laver Rodney George Laver (born 9 August 1938) is an Australian former tennis player. Laver was the world number 1 ranked professional in some sources in 1964, in all sources from 1965 to 1969 and in some sources in 1970, spanning four years befor ...

John Newcombe John David Newcombe AO OBE (born 23 May 1944) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He is one of the few men to have attained a world No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles. At the majors, he won seven singles titles, a fo ...

Marty Riessen Marty Riessen (born December 4, 1941) is an American former amateur and professional tennis player active from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was ranked as high as No. 11 in the world in singles on the ATP rankings in September 1974, though was rank ...

winning the event in the early 1970s. After the WCT absorbed the NTL in 1970, the tournament continued to exist within the WCT tour until 1978, when the event officially became part of the

, precursor of the current ATP Tour. As part of the Grand Prix's top tier tournaments until 1986, the Philadelphia event known as the ''U.S. Pro Indoor'' since 1973, saw American players dominating the fields in the 1970s and 1980s, with Tim Mayotte reaching four finals, World No. 1s

Jimmy Connors James Scott Connors (born September 2, 1952) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He held the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranking for a then-record 160 consecutive weeks from 1974 to 1977 and a career total of 268 ...

and John McEnroe six finals each, and Czechoslovak Ivan Lendl three. In 1985, Swiss watch company Ebel S.A. started its six-year sponsorship of the event, the tournament becoming until 1990 the ''Ebel U.S. Pro Indoor''. The event entered the new ATP circuit in 1990 as part of the

Championship Series In sport, a championship is a Competition#Sports, competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match sy ...

, to see eighteen-year-old, and future US Open champion

Pete Sampras Petros "Pete" Sampras ( el, Πέτρος Σάμπρας; born August 12, 1971) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. His professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating longtime rival Andre ...

win his first career title against Andrés Gómez. In 1991, the event lost Ebel's sponsorship, and went back to being the ''U.S. Pro Indoor'' for two editions, before

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

became the sponsor of the event in 1992, effectively saving it from being discontinued. In the following years, the ''Comcast U.S. Indoors prize money was reduced to less than a million dollars, preventing the creation of attractive line ups, and gaining the nickname "Comatose U.S. Indoor". In 1997,

Advanta Advanta (TSO Financial until 1988) was an American banking company. It controlled two banks, Advanta Bank Corp and Advanta National Bank. (It is not associated with Advanta Energy Corp., a California energy consultancy.) Growth Advanta began in 195 ...

, already the sponsor of the 1971-created women's tournament of Philadelphia, the Advanta Championships, since 1995, took upon the sponsorship of the men's event, which also became the ''Advanta Championships''.

won his third and fourth Philadelphia titles in the last two editions of the event, now taking place on indoor hard courts at the CoreStates Center, before it was definitely discontinued in 1998.

Past finals

Singles

Doubles

Records

Singles

References

External links

itftennis.com search function (search Philadelphia)

{{ATP International Series Gold tournaments ATP Tour Hard court tennis tournaments Indoor tennis tournaments Sports in Philadelphia Defunct tennis tournaments in the United States World Championship Tennis Tennis in Pennsylvania 1968 establishments in Pennsylvania 1998 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Grand Prix tennis circuit

History

Past finals

Singles

Doubles

Records

Singles

See also

References

External links