Celebrating 25 years in Charleston

It was a bold move: The Family Circle Cup, as it was then known – and had been since its inception in 1973 – was moving out of sleepy, coastal Hilton Head Island, and into the big city: Charleston.

The history-making tournament was nearing its 30th birthday and had outgrown itself. When organizers struck a deal with the city of Charleston some two hours away from the Sea Pines Racquet Club, the decision was made.

Charleston was to be its new home.

The reception couldn’t have been better: Fans filled the main stadium for qualifying matches from day one. American Jennifer Capriati, fresh off her maiden major at the Australian Open, captured the trophy in a three-set tussle over Martina Hingis, a re-match from Melbourne. CBS broadcasted the action to a nationwide audience.

Twenty-five years later, women’s tennis still reigns supreme on Daniel Island, the Credit One Charleston Open’s ever-evolving home that has kept the event’s original Southern charm while also continuing to level up the WTA 500 stop, which has for three years running been named the ‘Tournament of the Year’ for its tier. In 2018, Ben Navarro acquired the sanction of the WTA tournament along with the operations of the LTP Daniel Island Tennis Center and Credit One Stadium.

A who’s who honor roll
Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and Tracy Austin were some of the original dominant names of the event in Hilton Head, and that theme didn’t stop as the tournament made its move.

After Capriati’s win in 2001, major champions Iva Majoli (2002), Venus Williams (2004) and Serena Williams (2008, 2012 and 2013) would hoist the trophy in Charleston, further cementing its status as a must-play stop.

But in 2003, Justine Henin denied a three-American semifinal line-up (Serena, Lindsay Davenport and Ashley Harkleroad) with her win in Charleston, boosting her confidence as a top star. Just six weeks later the Belgian would claim her first career Grand Slam win, at the French Open in Paris.

Since then, Charleston has become a harbinger for names to watch, too:

– Sam Stosur won here in 2010 just a year before her singles triumph at the US Open
– Angelique Kerber and Sloane Stephens did the same, respectively. Kerber claimed the title in 2015 before capturing the Australian Open the next January, while Stephens won in Charleston in 2016 before claiming her US Open title the following year
– each of Nadia Petrova (2006), Sabine Lisicki (2009), Andrea Petkovic (2014), Daria Kasatkina (2017), Veronika Kudermetova (2021) and Ons Jabeur (2023) would claim the biggest titles of their respective careers here

Green clay: one of a kind
Green clay was once synonymous with professional tennis, especially in the American South. Even the US Open was held on the Har-Tru green clay, from 1975 to 1977, before moving to hard courts at Flushing Meadows.

But by the time the Credit One moved to Charleston in 2001, only the Amelia Island, Florida, event shared the iconic green clay courts on the women’s calendar. Sarasota was also held in 2002 and 2003 on green clay, too, but when Amelia Island fell off the calendar in 2009, Charleston stood alone.

The tournament secured its spot on the calendar in the first week of April as an important gateway: Held after Indian Wells and Miami (U.S. hardcourt events) and just prior to the European red clay swing, the green clay offers a soft transition from one surface to the next.

Since Amelia Island’s departure, Charleston is the only WTA or ATP (men’s) tour-level stop to be held on the surface, marking the unique nature of the event.

In 2025, it made more clay history, becoming the first WTA or ATP event to use Electronic Line Calling Live (ELC Live) in lieu of manual line-calling. ELC Live provides “out” calls throughout matches and has been widely adopted across a variety of surfaces, with Charleston becoming the first to use the technology on clay.

25 years of tradition – and change
One thing has never changed in Charleston: Giving fans that up-close, intimate experience of world class women’s tennis.

Over the last quarter-century, though, there’s been plenty of new. New partners in Volvo Cars in 2016 – and then Credit One Bank in 2021 – a re-imagined Credit One Stadium, an ever-growing suite of food, drink and entertainment offerings – and much, much more.

This year, record crowds made their way in for Family Weekend, which features qualifying matches, and set the tone for record-breaking numbers throughout the week.

It actually provided a true full-circle moment: Qualifying matches returned to stadium court in 2025, harkening back to those packed crowds to watch qualies in 2001.

Some things never change. But in the best way possible. Here’s to another 25.