Credit One Charleston Open Tennis Tournament

The Credit One Charleston Open, (formerly known as the Volvo Car Open) is a WTA Tour-affiliated professional tennis tournament for women. It is held annually since 1973 and is the oldest professional all-women’s tournament in America. The tournament is an exciting one for women tennis stars as it carries a purse of $565,530 and will celebrate 50 years in 2022 at the newly renovated Credit One Stadium in Charleston, South Carolina.

The tournament is played on the green clay courts at LTP-Daniel Island. For most of the tournament’s existence, from 1973 to 2000, the tournament was held at the Sea Pines Plantation on Hilton Head Island, except for 1975 and 1976. But the event moved to Charleston in 2001.

From 1990 to 2008, the tournament was classified as a WTA Tier I event. Then in 2009 it was downgraded to a WTA Premier tournament. And in 2012, it celebrated its 40th year anniversary by naming its main stadium court in honor of Billie Jean King.

And this year, the tournament is welcoming Credit One as the new title sponsor. The brand new tournament will be celebrating its 50th year of tennis from April 2nd through April 10th 2022.

This marks one of the biggest chances to the largest women’s only tennis tournament in North America. And it continues the annual tradition of welcoming over 100 world-class women athletes to compete. Records are broken every year and fans can enjoy timeless memories of the hottest matches to come out of tennis for the coveted title of the Credit One Charleston Open.

Tournament Information Rundown

As you can guess, a tournament with this kind of history has a lot to talk about. But if you’d like a brief rundown of the history of this historic tournament, then here’s some basic information below.

• Founded 1973; 49 years ago
• Editions 48 (2021)
• Location Hilton Head Island, SC, U.S. (1973–74, 1977–2000)
  • Amelia Island, FL, U.S. (1975–76)
  • Charleston, SC, U.S. (2001–current)
• Venue LTP-Daniel Island
• Category WTA 500
• Surface Clay (green) – outdoors
• Draw 56S / 32Q / 16D
• Prize money US$565,530 (2021)

About Credit One Stadium

Credit One Stadium lies on Daniel Island in Charleston, South Carolina. The original venue was built in 2001 with 17 courts, including the 10,200-seat Credit One Stadium, which was once known as the Volvo Car Stadium. Since then, the stadium has hosted the WTA Tour’s Volvo Cars Open.

One of the standout features of the venue is how it’s the only WTA tournament venue that plays its games on green Har-True clay courts. In addition, the stadium has the distinction of being the recording site for The Hootie & The Blowfish album, “Live in Charleston” on August 12, 2005.

History

When the venue isn’t hosting the Charleston Open, the stadium is often used for concerts during the summer. These concerts have been an ongoing summer feature for about 16 years running and include the following big name bands, musicians, and artists:

John Mayer, Moody Blues, O.A.R., Train with needtobreathe, Blues Traveler with Cracker, Hootie & the Blowfish with Collective Soul, Bob Dylan, The Lumineers, Barenaked Ladies, The Killers, Everclear, fun., Willie Nelson, Plain White T’s with Daughtry and Goo Goo Dolls, Third Eye Blind, Alabama Shakes, Ellie Goulding, Ben Folds, Death Cab for Cutie, Panic! at the Disco with Weezer, Sister Hazel, Jimmy Buffett, Our Lady Peace with Tonic, B-52’s with Culture Club, Tom Bailey of Thompson Twins, and Dave Matthews Band.

As of 2021, the venue has undergone extensive renovations to update it and make for a better experience for their fans. This includes adding a new four-storied stage house and a canopy over much of the court. The idea was to make sure that this year’s tournament and future tournaments would benefit from a comfortable viewing experience that can’t be found anywhere else.

The projected end date for these renovations is March of 2022 and it’s very likely that visitors will see the results as of this year’s tournament.

Notable Singles Finals

The tournament has a history of incredible finales to their events and games. And here’s a list of the past finals across the entire history of the tournament.

Year Champions Runners-up Score

• 1973 United States Rosemary Casals United States Nancy Richey 3–6, 6–1, 7–5
• 1974 United States Chris Evert Australia Kerry Melville 6–1, 6–3
• 1975 United States Chris Evert (2) Czechoslovakia Martina Navratilova 7–5, 6–4
• 1976 United States Chris Evert (3) Australia Kerry Reid 6–2, 6–2
• 1977 United States Chris Evert (4) United States Billie Jean King 6–0, 6–1
• 1978 United States Chris Evert (5) Australia Kerry Reid 6–2, 6–0
• 1979 United States Tracy Austin Australia Kerry Reid 7–6(7–3), 7–6(9–7)
• 1980 United States Tracy Austin (2) Czechoslovakia Regina Maršíková 3–6, 6–1, 6–0
• 1981 United States Chris Evert (6) United States Pam Shriver 6–3, 6–2
• 1982 United States Martina Navratilova United States Andrea Jaeger 6–4, 6–2
• 1983 United States Martina Navratilova (2) United States Tracy Austin 5–7, 6–1, 6–0
• 1984 United States Chris Evert (7) West Germany Claudia Kohde-Kilsch 6–2, 6–3
• 1985 United States Chris Evert (8) Argentina Gabriela Sabatini 6–4, 6–0
• 1986 West Germany Steffi Graf United States Chris Evert 6–4, 7–5
• 1987 West Germany Steffi Graf (2) Bulgaria Manuela Maleeva-Fragnière 6–2, 4–6, 6–3
• ↓ Tier II event ↓
• 1988 United States Martina Navratilova (3) Argentina Gabriela Sabatini 6–1, 4–6, 6–4
• 1989 West Germany Steffi Graf (3) Soviet Union Natasha Zvereva 6–1, 6–1
• ↓ Tier I event ↓
• 1990 United States Martina Navratilova (4) United States Jennifer Capriati 6–2, 6–4
• 1991 Argentina Gabriela Sabatini Soviet Union Leila Meskhi 6–1, 6–1
• 1992 Argentina Gabriela Sabatini (2) Spain Conchita Martínez 6–1, 6–4
• 1993 Germany Steffi Graf (4) Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 7–6(10–8), 6–1
• 1994 Spain Conchita Martínez Belarus Natalia Zvereva 6–4, 6–0
• 1995 Spain Conchita Martínez (2) Bulgaria Magdalena Maleeva 6–1, 6–1
• 1996 Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Austria Barbara Paulus 6–2, 2–6, 6–2
• 1997 Switzerland Martina Hingis United States Monica Seles 3–6, 6–3, 7–6(7–5)
• 1998 South Africa Amanda Coetzer Romania Irina Spîrlea 6–3, 6–4
• 1999 Switzerland Martina Hingis (2) Russia Anna Kournikova 6–4, 6–3
• 2000 France Mary Pierce Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6–1, 6–0
• 2001 United States Jennifer Capriati Switzerland Martina Hingis 6–0, 4–6, 6–4
• 2002 Croatia Iva Majoli Switzerland Patty Schnyder 7–6(7–5), 6–4
• 2003 Belgium Justine Henin United States Serena Williams 6–3, 6–4
• 2004 United States Venus Williams Spain Conchita Martínez 2–6, 6–2, 6–1
• 2005 Belgium Justine Henin (2) Russia Elena Dementieva 7–5, 6–4
• 2006 Russia Nadia Petrova Switzerland Patty Schnyder 6–3, 4–6, 6–1
• 2007 Serbia Jelena Janković Russia Dinara Safina 6–2, 6–2
• 2008 United States Serena Williams Russia Vera Zvonareva 6–4, 3–6, 6–3
• ↓ Premier event ↓
• 2009 Germany Sabine Lisicki Denmark Caroline Wozniacki 6–2, 6–4
• 2010 Australia Samantha Stosur Russia Vera Zvonareva 6–0, 6–3
• 2011 Denmark Caroline Wozniacki Russia Elena Vesnina 6–2, 6–3
• 2012 United States Serena Williams (2) Czech Republic Lucie Šafářová 6–0, 6–1
• 2013 United States Serena Williams (3) Serbia Jelena Janković 3–6, 6–0, 6–2
• 2014 Germany Andrea Petkovic Slovakia Jana Čepelová 7–5, 6–2
• 2015 Germany Angelique Kerber United States Madison Keys 6–2, 4–6, 7–5
• 2016 United States Sloane Stephens Russia Elena Vesnina 7–6(7–4), 6–2
• 2017 Russia Daria Kasatkina Latvia Jeļena Ostapenko 6–3, 6–1
• 2018 Netherlands Kiki Bertens Germany Julia Görges 6–2, 6–1
• 2019 United States Madison Keys Denmark Caroline Wozniacki 7–6(7–5), 6–3
• 2020 No singles tournament (coronavirus pandemic).[16]
• 2021 Russia Veronika Kudermetova Montenegro Danka Kovinić 6–4, 6–2