Nottingham Open
Nottingham Open, officially named Nature Valley Open for sponsorship reasons, is a tennis tournament for men and women held in Nottingham, United Kingdom, played on outdoor grass courts at the Nottingham Tennis Centre. After being discontinued in 2008, it was briefly re-established as an ATP World Tour 250 event on the men's tour in 2015 & 2016, before being downgraded to a Challenger event in 2017, and an international event on the women's tour. The tournament is held in June as a preparation before the third Grand Slam event of the season, the oldest and widely considered the most prestigious tennis tournament, The Championships, Wimbledon.
| Nottingham Open | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tournament information | |||||||||
| Event name | Nature Valley Open | ||||||||
| Founded | 1970 (men) 1971 (women) | ||||||||
| Location | Nottingham United Kingdom | ||||||||
| Venue | Nottingham Tennis Centre | ||||||||
| Surface | Grass - outdoors | ||||||||
| Website | lta.org.uk | ||||||||
| Current champions (2019) | |||||||||
| Men's singles |  | ||||||||
| Women's singles |  | ||||||||
| Men's doubles |   | ||||||||
| Women's doubles |  | ||||||||
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History
The event was previously known as John Player Tournament, John Player Open,[1] Slazenger Nottingham Open, Red Letter Days Open, Samsung Open, 10tele.com Open and Aegon Open Nottingham. Originally a replacement of the Manchester Open and part of the Grand Prix tennis circuit from (1970–89), it was also a Grand Prix Super Series prestigious event (1974–75), which was discontinued after the 2008 edition, and the International Women's Open at Eastbourne became a combined event for both male and female players.[2]
Nottingham City Council bosses announced their "extreme disappointment" at having Nottingham Open removed from the ATP Tour. The event had, according to the council, been partly responsible for stimulating interest in tennis in Nottingham. Roger Draper, the head of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) responded by saying that the changes would introduce tennis to a "new audience".[3] It was announced later in 2008 that Nottingham would host a new tennis event, the Aegon Nottingham Challenge, in lieu of The Surbiton Trophy, which was cancelled, in 2009. The new event was an ATP Challenger Series event, one level lower than the main ATP Tour. The Nottingham Tennis Centre, which had hosted the Open, had undergone refurbishments costing £735,000 in 2008, and councillor Dave Trimble called it "great news" to have a new tennis event in the city.[3][4]
In 2015 Birmingham based company Eventmasters LTD[5] were appointed by the LTA to promote official hospitality at both the WTA ATP Open events transforming part of the indoor court area into the Sherwood Suite.
Past finals
Men's singles
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Men's doubles
Women's singles
| Year | Champions | Runners-up | Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | ||||||
| 2019 | |  | 2–6, 7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–4) | ||||
| 2018 | .svg.png){kind=small} | | 6–3, 3–6, 6–4 | ||||
| 2017 | | | 2–6, 7–6(7–3), 7–5 | ||||
| 2016 |  | | 7–6(10–8), 7–5 | ||||
| 2015 | |  | 1–6, 6–4, 6–2 | ||||
| ↑ WTA International tournament ↑ | |||||||
| 2011–14 | ITF Tournament | ||||||
| 1974–2010 | Not held | ||||||
| 1973 | | | 8–6, 6–4 | ||||
| 1972 | | | unfinished (rain)[lower-alpha 1] | ||||
| 1971 | | | 6–4, 7–9, 6–3 | ||||
Women's doubles
| Year | Champions | Runners-up | Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | ||||||
| 2019 | | | 7–6(7–5), 7–5 | ||||
| 2018 |  | | 6–3, 7–6(7–5) | ||||
| 2017 | | | 6–4, 4–6, [10–4] | ||||
| 2016 |  | .svg.png){kind=small} | 7–5, 3–6, [10–7] | ||||
| 2015 | | | 3–6, 6–3, [11–9] | ||||
| ↑ WTA International tournament ↑ | |||||||
| 2011–14 | ITF Tournament | ||||||
| 1974–2010 | Not held | ||||||
| 1973 | |  | 6–2, 9–7 | ||||
Notes
- This was a round robin event. King finished first and Goolagong second.[7]
References
- "Nastase Stalled NOTTINGHAM, England (UPI)". 20 June 1976. The Hays Daily News. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
- "Wimbledon warm-up event scrapped". BBC Sport. 8 April 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
- "Anger over scrapped tennis event". BBC News. 9 April 2008. Retrieved 16 December 2008.
- "Nottingham to host tennis trophy". BBC Sport. 11 December 2008. Retrieved 16 December 2008.
- Eventmasters LTD
- "Gullikson-Fillol Player tennis final rained out again NOTTINGHAM. England". 14 June 1977. The Independent Newspaper Long Beach. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
- John Barrett, ed. (1973). World of Tennis '73 : a BP and Commercial Union yearbook. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 283. ISBN 9780671216238.
External links
- Nature Valley International – ATP tournament profile
- Nature Valley Open – WTA tournament profile
- Nature Valley Open – LTA tournament profile
- Official website