Charleston Open

Charleston Open
WTA Tour
Founded1973; 51 years ago (1973)
Editions52 (2024)
LocationHilton Head Island, SC, U.S. (1973–74, 1977–2000)
Amelia Island, FL, U.S. (1975–76)
Daniel Island, SC, U.S. (2001–current)
VenueLTP-Daniel Island
CategoryWTA 500
SurfaceClay (green) - outdoors
Draw48S / 32Q / 16D
Prize moneyUS$922,573 (2024)
Websitecreditonecharlestonopen.com
Current champions (2024)
SinglesUnited States Danielle Collins
DoublesUnited States Ashlyn Krueger
United States Sloane Stephens

The Charleston Open, currently sponsored by Credit One, is a WTA Tour-affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every year since 1973.[1][2][3][4] It is the oldest professional all-women's tournament in America with a $888,636 purse.[5] The tournament celebrated 50 years in 2022 at the newly renovated Credit One Stadium located in Charleston, South Carolina.[6]

The tournament is played on the green clay courts at LTP-Daniel Island (which contains the 10,200-seat Credit One Stadium) on Daniel Island in Charleston, South Carolina, US.[7] From its inception in 1973 to 2000, the tournament was held at the Sea Pines Plantation on Hilton Head Island with the exception of 1975 and 1976 when it was played on Amelia Island off the coast of Florida. The event moved to Charleston, and specifically Daniel Island, in 2001.[8]

From 1973 to 2015, the title sponsor was Family Circle magazine, which had made it the longest-running title sponsor in professional tennis.[9] Volvo Cars took over sponsorship from 2016 to 2021.[10][11] Credit One Bank became the title sponsor of both the tournament and stadium in July 2021.[12] Also in 2021, two tournaments were organised in consecutive weeks as a makeup tournament for those cancelled by pandemic restrictions. The Medical University of South Carolina sponsored the event.[13]

From 1990 to 2008, the tournament was classified as a WTA Tier I event. In 2009, it was downgraded to a WTA Premier tournament. It celebrated its 40th year in 2012[14] by naming its main stadium court in honor of Billie Jean King.[15][16] With the reorganization of the WTA's schedule in 2021, the tournament became a WTA 500 tournament. The 2021 second tournament held the week afterwards was part of the WTA 250 tournaments list.

The current champion is Danielle Collins, who won the singles tournament in April 2024.

  1. ^ "Venus Williams powered into the third round of the Charleston open". Archived from the original on 11 April 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  2. ^ "WTA Tournaments - Family Circle Cup". WTA. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  3. ^ "Meredith Corporation Unveils New Title Sponsor for Family Circle Cup". Volvo Cars Open. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  4. ^ "ABC: Andrea Petkovic in straight sets to reach the final of the Charleston Open". ABC News. 11 April 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  5. ^ "2021 Volvo Car Open Charleston Prize Money with $565,530 on Offer". Tennis Up To Date. April 4, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  6. ^ "Bencic holds off Jabeur in Charleston, wins sixth career title". Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Family Circle Cup (Tennis Tournament)". Daniel Island, South Carolina. Archived from the original on September 30, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  8. ^ Daniel Kaplan (March 13, 2000). "After 28 years, Family Circle moving to a new $9M home". SportsBusiness Daily. Archived from the original on August 22, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
  9. ^ Gene Sapakoff (August 30, 2015). "Tourney to take a ride with Volvo Tennis cup's new sponsor might help draw big names". The Post and Courier. Archived from the original on 30 October 2022.
  10. ^ Ashley Heffernan (September 1, 2015). "Family Circle Cup tennis tournament renamed to Volvo Cars Open". Columbia Regional Business Report.
  11. ^ "Meredith Corporation Unveils New Title Sponsor For The Family Circle Cup". Meredith Corporation. August 31, 2015. Archived from the original on April 14, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
  12. ^ Bilodeau, Kevin (2021-07-21). "Credit One Bank to take over as title sponsor of Charleston tennis tournament and stadium". live5news.com. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  13. ^ "CHARLESTON TENNIS TO HOST WTA 250 TOURNAMENT FOLLOWING VOLVO CAR OPEN". Charleston Open. Retrieved 2024-04-09.
  14. ^ "Family Circle Cup celebrates 40th year". ABC News. April 2012. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  15. ^ "Family Circle Cup names its stadium court after women's pioneer Billie Jean King". The Washington Post. April 7, 2012. Retrieved April 8, 2012. [dead link‍]
  16. ^ "Court named after Billie Jean King". ESPN. April 8, 2012.