FAMILY CIRCLE CUP

Credit One Charleston Open

It’s clay court season! The Credit One Charleston Open, a WTA 500 event, is the largest women’s professional tennis tournament in North America that sees players compete on clay courts for the first time in the calendar year. Featuring 48 singles players and 16 doubles teams, Credit One Stadium hosts this special event for almost 90,000 tennis fans.

With humble beginnings as the Family Circle Cup at Hilton Head in 1973, this event has been a major contributor toward the evolution of women’s tennis. It was the first women’s event in the sport to boast a prize of $100,000, and although the name and location have changed through the years, the impact that inaugural finals competitors Rosie Casals and Nancy Richey made cannot be denied. Casals was the victor that day, paving the way for multi-time champions like Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, Justine Henin and Serena Williams. Although there are decades of moments to look back on, the Credit One Charleston Open’s historic roots are still helping the game grow today.