Jared Wickerham/US Clay
No doubt that the tournament is different on a multitude of entertainment levels, but the fact remains that strictly from a tennis standpoint, its history is extraordinary. The U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship began in 1910, and has been held in 21 different U.S. cities. In 2000, it came to Houston, at the Westside Tennis Club. Since 2008, it has remained in the same city, but has been played at storied River Oaks Country Club.
The honor roll of the event’s champions is astounding. Bill Tilden took the title seven times between 1918 and 1927, and other American standouts, including Ellsworth Vines and Bobby Riggs (1936-38), claimed the top honor. Thereafter, luminaries Pancho Segura, Pancho Gonzalez and Tony Trabert were victorious, followed by Chuck McKinley, Dennis Ralston, Arthur Ashe and Cliff Richey. Jimmy Connors was a four-time victor, and as the years passed, Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander, Michael Chang and Jim Courier all triumphed on the dirt at different venues. Over the past two decades, Andy Roddick (three times), Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt and John Isner have all garnered this coveted title.
River Oaks, meanwhile, hosted a highly regarded tournament of its own, starting in 1931 up until 2007. Until the mid ‘80s, it was an official tournament, becoming part of the WCT circuit from 1970-84. Thereafter, it was a still popular exhibition which was taken seriously by the players. In its heyday, it had a similarly sterling cast of champions including Jack Kramer, Manuel Santana, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and Ken Rosewall. That only adds to the luster of the ATP 250 tournament today.
As Bryan explains, “The Stadium has been there for so long that you can just feel the history when you are out there on the court.”
That is a view shared by players across many generations who have competed and made history of their own at the two events. Consider the inimitable Texan and former U.S. No. 1 Cliff Richey, a member of one of the great American tennis families. He claimed two U.S. Clay Court crowns and two at River Oaks in the sixties and seventies. His sister Nancy resided at No. 1 in the U.S. four times, captured a pair of major singles titles, and took six U.S. Clay Court Championships.
“I ball-boyed there as a kid, had my wedding dinner party there, won it twice and won all of the junior events there,” he told me not long ago. “It always had that very enclosed, quaint, old green arena. The Center Court was one of those old shale courts that they died orange.
“There was sort of an up slope from the net to the baseline creating a little higher bounce. That center court was made to order for me. It felt like I was hitting down at the net man, like I was standing on a heightened baseline hitting over a lower net.”