Southern California Open

This article is about the tournament known as the Acura Classic from 2000 to 2007. For the tournament known as the Acura Classic from 1995 to 1999, see LA Women's Tennis Championships.

Mercury Insurance Open
WTA Tour
Location	San Diego, California  United States
Venue	La Costa Resort and Spa
Category	WTA Tier I (2004–2007) WTA Premier tournaments (2010–)
Surface	Hardcourt / Outdoor
Draw	56S / 32SQ / 16D
Prize Money	US$ 700,000

The Southern California Open, currently sponsored by Mercury Insurance and titled the Mercury Insurance Open is a WTA Tour affiliated professional tennis tournament held at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California. It was classified on the WTA Tour as a Tier I tournament from 2004 until 2007.

The event was formed in 1984 by Raquel Giscafre as the Ginny of San Diego ^[1]. Prior to this there had been two previous women's tennis tournaments in San Diego: a Virginia Slims event in 1971 and the Wells Fargo Open, which ran from 1979 to 1982. Giscafre's former doubles partner, Jane Stratton, attained co-ownership of the tournament from 1986 until the event's cessation. The tournament has had various principal sponsors throughout its history, and has been played under the headings of the Great American Bank Classic, the Mazda Classic and the Toshiba Classic. The tournament was known for its strong player fields, location in the hills and atmosphere.

Although the tournament achieved the Tier I status only recently, it became a draw to the heavyweights in women's tennis since its inception in the 1980s, being a crucial warm-up tournament leading to the US Open. Past champions of the tournament include former world number ones Steffi Graf, Jennifer Capriati, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams, Martina Hingis, Justine Henin, and Maria Sharapova. Six players won the tournament more than once, four of them consecutively. Graf holds the record for most wins (4); Venus Williams holds the record for most consecutive titles (3).

On September 7, 2009, the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour announced the return of professional women's tennis to San Diego in 2010. The Mercury Insurance Open is slated to begin August 2, 2010. The Mercury Insurance Open replaces the LA Women's Tennis Championships on the WTA Tour calendar. The tournament will be a Premier event with $700,000 in prize money. Although the Mercury Insurance Open is under new management, Raquel Giscafre will stay on as the tournament director.

Sponsor history:

• Virginia Slims of San Diego: 1971, 1985–1988
• Wells Fargo Open: 1979–1982
• Ginny of San Diego: 1984
• Great American Bank Classic: 1989–1990
• Mazda Classic: 1991–1993
• Toshiba Classic; 1994–1998
• TIG Classic: 1999
• Acura Classic: 2000–2007
• Mercury Insurance Open: 2010

Past finals

Singles

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score
1971	Billie Jean King	Rosemary Casals	3–6, 7–5, 6–1
1972-78	Not Held
1979	Tracy Austin	Martina Navrátilová	6–4, 6–2
1980	Tracy Austin	Wendy Turnbull	6–1, 6–3
1981	Tracy Austin	Pam Shriver	6–2, 5–7, 6–2
1982	Tracy Austin	Kathy Rinaldi	7–6, 6–3
1983	Not Held
1984	Debbie Spence	Betsy Nagelsen	6–3, 6–7 (3–7), 6–4
1985	Annabel Croft	Wendy Turnbull	6–0, 7–6 (7–5)
1986	Melissa Gurney	Stephanie Rehe	6–2, 6–4
1987	Raffaella Reggi	Anne Minter	6–0, 6–4
1988	Stephanie Rehe	Ann Grossman	6–1, 6–1
1989	Steffi Graf	Zina Garrison	6–4, 7–5
1990	Steffi Graf	Manuela Maleeva Fragnière	6–3, 6–2
1991	Jennifer Capriati	Monica Seles	4–6, 6–1, 7–6 (7–2)
1992	Jennifer Capriati	Conchita Martínez	6–3, 6–2
1993	Steffi Graf	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–4, 4–6, 6–1
1994	Steffi Graf	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–2, 6–1
1995	Conchita Martínez	Lisa Raymond	6–2, 6–0
1996	Kimiko Date	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	3–6, 6–3, 6–0
1997	Martina Hingis	Monica Seles	7–6 (7–4), 6–4
1998	Lindsay Davenport	Mary Pierce	6–3, 6–1
1999	Martina Hingis	Venus Williams	6–4, 6–0
2000	Venus Williams	Monica Seles	6–0, 6–7 (3–7), 6–2
2001	Venus Williams	Monica Seles	6–2, 6–3
2002	Venus Williams	Jelena Dokić	6–2, 6–2
2003	Justine Henin	Kim Clijsters	3–6, 6–2, 6–3
↓  Tier I tournament  ↓
2004	Lindsay Davenport	Anastasia Myskina	6–1, 6–1
2005	Mary Pierce	Ai Sugiyama	6–0, 6–3
2006	Maria Sharapova	Kim Clijsters	7–5, 7–5
2007	Maria Sharapova	Patty Schnyder	6–2, 3–6, 6–0
2008-09	Not Held
2010	Svetlana Kuznetsova	Agnieszka Radwańska	6–4, 6–7(7), 6–3
2011	Agnieszka Radwańska	Vera Zvonareva	6–3, 6–4

Doubles

Year	Champions	Runners-up	Score
1971	Rosemary Casals Billie Jean King	Françoise Durr Judy Tegart Dalton	6–7, 6–2, 6–3
1972 - 1978	Not Held
1979	Rosemary Casals Martina Navrátilová	Betty Ann Grubb Stuart Ann Kiyomura	3–6, 6–4, 6–2
1980	Tracy Austin Ann Kiyomura	Rosemary Casals Wendy Turnbull	3–6, 6–4, 6–3
1981	Kathy Jordan Candy Reynolds	Rosemary Casals Pam Shriver	6–1, 2–6, 6–4
1982	Kathy Jordan Paula Smith	Patrica Medrado Claudia Monteiro	6–3, 5–7, 7–6
1983	Not Held
1984	Betsy Nagelsen Paula Smith	Terry Holladay Iwona Kuczyńska	6–2, 6–4
1985	Candy Reynolds Wendy Turnbull	Rosalyn Fairbank Susan Leo	6–4, 6–0
1986	Beth Herr Alycia Moulton	Elise Burgin Rosalyn Fairbank	5–7, 6–2, 6–4
1987	Jana Novotná Catherine Suire	Elise Burgin Sharon Walsh	6–3, 6–4
1988	Patty Fendick Jill Hetherington	Betsy Nagelsen Dinky van Rensburg	7–6 (12–10), 6–4
1989	Elise Burgin Rosalyn Fairbank	Gretchen Magers Robin White	4–6, 6–3, 6–3
1990	Patty Fendick Zina Garrison	Elise Burgin Rosalyn Fairbank-Nideffer	6–4, 7–6 (7–5)
1991	Jill Hetherington Kathy Rinaldi	Gigi Fernández Nathalie Tauziat	6–4, 3–6, 6–2
1992	Jana Novotná Larisa Neiland	Conchita Martínez Mercedes Paz	6–1, 6–4
1993	Gigi Fernández Helena Suková	Pam Shriver Elizabeth Smylie	6–4, 6–3
1994	Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Ginger Helgeson Rachel McQuillan	6–3, 6–3
1995	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	Alexia Dechaume-Balleret Sandrine Testud	6–2, 6–1
1996	Gigi Fernández Conchita Martínez	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Larisa Neiland	4–6, 6–3, 6–4
1997	Martina Hingis Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Amy Frazier Kimberly Po	6–3, 7–5
1998	Lindsay Davenport Natasha Zvereva	Alexandra Fusai Nathalie Tauziat	6–2, 6–1
1999	Lindsay Davenport Corina Morariu	Serena Williams Venus Williams	6–4, 6–1
2000	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	Lindsay Davenport Anna Kournikova	4–6, 6–3, 7–6 (8–6)
2001	Cara Black Elena Likhovtseva	Martina Hingis Anna Kournikova	6–4, 1–6, 6–4
2002	Elena Dementieva Janette Husárová	Daniela Hantuchová Ai Sugiyama	6–2, 6–4
2003	Kim Clijsters Ai Sugiyama	Lindsay Davenport Lisa Raymond	6–4, 7–5
↓  Tier I tournament  ↓
2004	Cara Black Rennae Stubbs	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	4–6, 6–1, 6–4
2005	Conchita Martínez Virginia Ruano Pascual	Daniela Hantuchová Ai Sugiyama	6–7 (7–9), 6–1, 7–5
2006	Cara Black Rennae Stubbs	Anna-Lena Grönefeld Meghann Shaughnessy	6–2, 6–2
2007	Cara Black Liezel Huber	Anna Chakvetadze Victoria Azarenka	7–5, 6–3
2008-09	Not Held
2010	Maria Kirilenko Zheng Jie	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	6–4, 6–4
2011	Kvĕta Peschke Katarina Srebotnik	Raquel Kops-Jones Abigail Spears	6-0, 6-2

See also

• List of tennis tournaments

External links

• Official Website

References and footnotes

1. ^ "Acura has come a long way, baby, but its run is ending". http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/20070729-9999-1s29acura.html. Retrieved 2007-08-04. 

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Miami	Favorite WTA Tier I - II Tournament 1996	Succeeded by Indian Wells