Acura Classic

Infobox WTA Tennis Tournament
Name = Acura Classic
Current =
Logo =
Logo_size = 100px
City = San Diego, California
Country = USA
Tier = Tier I
Surface = Hard / Outdoors
Draw = 56M/32Q/32D
Prize_Money = $1,340,000
Web_site = [http://www.acuraclassic.com/ acuraclassic.com]
Notes = The Acura Classic was a WTA Tour affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every summer 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 its final year in 2007.

The event was formed in 1984 by Raquel Giscafre as the Ginny of San Diego. Her 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 Tennis Classic, the Mazda Tennis Classic and the Toshiba Tennis Classic. The tournament was known for its strong player fields, location in the hills, and its 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).

The event saw its last year of play in 2007. [cite web |url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/20070729-9999-1s29acura.html|title=Acura has come a long way, baby, but its run is ending|accessdate=2007-08-04] Maria Sharapova won the final singles event; whilst Cara Black and Liezel Huber triumphed in the doubles event. With this victory, Black became the winner of the most doubles titles, with 4.

Past finals

Singles

Doubles

ee also

*List of tennis tournaments

External links

* [http://www.acuraclassic.com Official website]

References and footnotes