This redirect 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.
Tennis tournament
San Diego Open (tennis)
The Acura Classic is a defunct WTA Tour affiliated professional tennis tournament 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 [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).
The event saw its last year of play in 2007 [2]. 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 having won 4.