The Los Angeles Open was a former

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 held in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, United States from 1927 until 2012. It included a women's draw until 1974 when

Linda Lewis Linda Ann Fredericks (born 27 September 1950), better known as Linda Lewis, is an English vocalist, songwriter and guitarist. She is the eldest of six children, three of whom also had singing careers. She is best known for the singles "Rock-a- ...

won the last ladies title. Subsequently, it became a men-only event and integrated into the ATP's professional tennis circuit. The inaugural edition of the event, known as the Pacific Southwest Championships, was organized by Perry T. Jones and held at the Los Angeles Tennis Club (LATC) starting in October 1927.

Bill Tilden William Tatem Tilden II (February 10, 1893 – June 5, 1953), nicknamed "Big Bill", was an American tennis player. Tilden was the world No. 1 amateur for six consecutive years, from 1920 to 1925, and was ranked as the world No. 1 professional b ...

and

Kea Bouman Cornelia "Kea" Tiedemann-Bouman (23 November 1903 – 17 November 1998) was a female tennis player from the Netherlands. She won the singles title at the 1927 French Championships, beating Irene Bowder Peacock of South Africa in the final. Bouma ...

were the first singles champions. The tournament quickly became a prestigious event on the tennis calendar.

History

The tournament was usually held in September and hosted the top men (and until 1975, women) in the world. Tournament winners from its beginning in 1927 until 1967 included most of the world's No. 1 tennis players:

, Ellsworth Vines,

Don Budge John Donald Budge (June 13, 1915 – January 26, 2000) was an American tennis player. He is most famous as the first tennis player — male or female, and still the only American male — to win the Grand Slam, and to win all four Grand Slam e ...

Fred Perry Frederick John Perry (18 May 1909 – 2 February 1995) was a British tennis and table tennis player and former world No. 1 from England who won 10 Majors including eight Grand Slam tournaments and two Pro Slams single titles, as well ...

, Jack Kramer,

Pancho Gonzales Ricardo Alonso "Pancho" González (May 9, 1928 – July 3, 1995), known sometimes as Richard Gonzales, was an American tennis player. He won 15 major singles titles, including two U.S. National Singles Championships in 1948 and 1949, and 13 P ...

and amateur champions

Roy Emerson Roy Stanley Emerson (born 3 November 1936) is an Australian former tennis player who won 12 Grand Slam singles titles and 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, for a total of 28 Grand Slam titles. He is the only male player to have completed a caree ...

and Barry MacKay. In the open era the event was known by various (sponsored) names including ''Farmers Classic'', ''Countrywide Classic'', ''Los Angeles Tennis Open'', ''Pacific South West Open'' and ''Jack Kramer Open''. Jack Kramer became the tournament director in 1970 when Jones retired. In the open era, the tournament was won by Rod Laver twice, a second and third time by Gonzales, Stan Smith,

Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He started to play tennis at six years old. He was the first black player selected to the Un ...

, Jimmy Connors,

John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was known for his shot-making and volleying skills, his rivalries with Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors, and his confrontational on-court beha ...

, Pete Sampras, Richard Krajicek, and

Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is an eight-time major champion and an Olympic gold medalist, as well as a runner-up in seven other majors. Agassi is the second of five men to ac ...

. In doubles, Bob and Mike Bryan won a record six titles. From 1975 to 1979 the tournament was played indoors at the

Pauley Pavilion Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, commonly known as Pauley Pavilion, is an indoor arena located in the Westwood Village district of Los Angeles, California, on the campus of UCLA. It is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's basketball teams. The ...

. Beginning in 1984, the tournament was held at the

Los Angeles Tennis Center The Los Angeles Tennis Center is a tennis facility located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. The center opened May 20, 1984, and hosted the demonstration tennis event of the 1984 Sum ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

, which was built to host the 1984 Summer Olympics tennis event. The matches were played on the Straus Stadium court with a capacity of 6,500 and the 1,500-seat capacity Grandstand court. In its last years it was an

ATP World Tour 250 series The ATP 250 tournaments (previously known as the ''ATP World Tour 250'' tournaments, ''ATP International Series'', and ''ATP World Series'') are the lowest tier of annual men's tennis tournaments on the main ATP Tour, after the four Grand Slam to ...

tournament on the

ATP Tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organ ...

and had a 28-player singles draw and 16-team doubles draw. The tournament, with prize money of $557,550 in 2012, was one of the events included in the

US Open Series The US Open Series is the name given by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) to a series of North American professional tennis tournaments leading up to and including the US Open. It is part of the "North American hard court season". Emira ...

. Special events during the tournament's run included Kids Day, Fashion Day, Valspar Performance Challenge, and a Legends Invitational Singles competition. Colombian investors purchased the tournament's license for $1.5 million at the end of 2012 and moved the tournament to Bogotá. The new tournament is called the Claro Open Colombia.Claro Open Colombia
ATP World Tour, 2013 Main Entrance to the Countrywide Classic at UCLA's L.A. Tennis Center. Straus Stadium at the L.A. Tennis Center, on the UCLA campus. Grandstand court at the LA Tennis Open.

Past winners

Men's singles

Women's singles

Men's doubles

Most titles

Previous names

References

External links

Official website
{{Coord, 34.070, N, 118.448, W, region:US-CA_type:landmark_scale:50000, display=title Tennis tournaments in California Hard court tennis tournaments in the United States US Open Series Defunct tennis tournaments in the United States 1927 establishments in California 2012 disestablishments in California Recurring sporting events established in 1927 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2012