Amelia Island Championships

(Redirected from MPS Group Championships)

The Amelia Island Championships was a women's tennis tournament held in Amelia Island Plantation and later Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, United States. The Women's Tennis Association event was an International series tournament played on outdoor green clay courts from 1980 to 2010.

Amelia Island Championships
Tournament information
Founded1980
Abolished2010
Editions31
LocationAmelia Island and Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
United States
VenueAmelia Island Plantation and Sawgrass Country Club
CategoryInternational
SurfaceGreen Clay / outdoors
Draw32M / 32Q / 16D
Prize money$220,000

History

edit

Formerly the Bausch & Lomb Championships, the tournament lost its title sponsor when Bausch & Lomb did not renew its contract following the 2008 event at Amelia Island Plantation on Amelia Island, Florida. Tournament organizers Octagon hired Axia Public Relations, a public relations firm, to find a new title sponsor. In August 2008, Axia and Octagon announced Fortune 1000 global staffing firm MPS Group (NYSE:MPS) of Jacksonville, Florida as the official tournament title sponsor. Octagon moved the annual event to Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach as part of the tournament changes to attract more attendees and enjoy upgraded facilities.

On May 21, 2010, The WTA announced that the event would not be held in 2011. The WTA wanted to reduce the number of spring clay court events and the tournament offered the smallest prize money. The WTA offered replacement dates in February and July, but no facility was available in February, and temperatures in July can be unbearable.[1]

One of the most unusual matches in the tournament's history occurred in the first round of the 2002 event. Anne Kremer defeated Jennifer Hopkins 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, with both players serving a combined 29 double faults. An investigation discovered that the court markings had been incorrectly measured, resulting in a smaller service box than normal.[2]

Sponsors

edit
  • 1980–1983: Murjani WTA Championships
  • 1984: Lipton WTA Champions
  • 1984: NutraSweet WTA Championships
  • 1985–1986: Sunkist WITA Championships
  • 1987–2008 : Bausch & Lomb Championships
  • 2009–2010 : The MPS Group Championships

Past finals

edit

Singles

edit
Location Year Champions Runners-up Score
Amelia Island 1980   Martina Navratilova   Hana Mandlíková 5–7, 6–3, 6–2
1981   Chris Evert   Martina Navratilova 6–0, 6–0
1982   Chris Evert (2)   Andrea Jaeger 6–3, 6–1
1983   Chris Evert (3)   Carling Bassett 6–3, 2–6, 7–5
1984   Martina Navratilova (2)   Chris Evert 6–2, 6–0
1985   Zina Garrison   Chris Evert 6–4, 6–3
1986   Steffi Graf   Claudia Kohde-Kilsch 6–4, 5–7, 7–6(7–3)
1987   Steffi Graf (2)   Hana Mandlíková 6–3, 6–4
1988   Martina Navratilova (3)   Gabriela Sabatini 6–0, 6–2
1989   Gabriela Sabatini   Steffi Graf 3–6, 6–3, 7–5
1990   Steffi Graf (3)   Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6–1, 6–0
1991   Gabriela Sabatini (2)   Steffi Graf 7–5, 7–6
1992   Gabriela Sabatini (3)   Steffi Graf 6–2, 1–6, 6–3
1993   Arantxa Sánchez Vicario   Gabriela Sabatini 6–2, 5–7, 6–2
1994   Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (2)   Gabriela Sabatini 6–1, 6–4
1995   Conchita Martínez   Gabriela Sabatini 6–1, 6–4
1996   Irina Spîrlea   Mary Pierce 6–7, 6–4, 6–3
1997   Lindsay Davenport   Mary Pierce 6–2, 6–3
1998   Mary Pierce   Conchita Martínez 6–7(8–10), 6–0, 6–2
1999   Monica Seles   Ruxandra Dragomir 6–2, 6–3
2000   Monica Seles (2)   Conchita Martínez 6–3, 6–2
2001   Amélie Mauresmo   Amanda Coetzer 6–4, 7–5
2002   Venus Williams   Justine Henin 2–6, 7–5, 7–6(7–5)
2003   Elena Dementieva   Lindsay Davenport 4–6, 7–5, 6–3
2004   Lindsay Davenport (2)   Amélie Mauresmo 6–4, 6–4
2005   Lindsay Davenport (3)   Silvia Farina Elia 7–5, 7–5
2006   Nadia Petrova   Francesca Schiavone 6–4, 6–4
2007   Tatiana Golovin   Nadia Petrova 6–2, 6–1
2008   Maria Sharapova   Dominika Cibulková 7–6(9–7), 6–3
Ponte Vedra Beach 2009   Caroline Wozniacki   Aleksandra Wozniak 6–1, 6–2
2010   Caroline Wozniacki (2)   Olga Govortsova 6–2, 7–5

Doubles

edit
Location Year Champions Runners-up Score
Amelia Island 1980   Rosemary Casals
  Ilana Kloss
  Kathy Jordan
  Pam Shriver
7–6, 7–6
1981   Kathy Jordan
  Anne Smith
  Joanne Russell
  Pam Shriver
6–3, 5–7, 7–6
1982   Leslie Allen
  Mima Jaušovec
  Barbara Potter
  Sharon Walsh
6–1, 7–5
1983   Candy Reynolds
  Rosalyn Fairbank
  Virginia Ruzici
  Hana Mandlíková
6–4, 6–2
1984   Kathy Jordan (2)
  Anne Smith (2)
  Anne Hobbs
  Mima Jaušovec
6–4, 4–6, 6–4
1985   Rosalyn Fairbank (2)
  Hana Mandlíková
  Carling Bassett
  Chris Evert
6–1, 2–6, 6–2
1986   Claudia Kohde-Kilsch
  Helena Suková
  Gabriela Sabatini
  Catherine Tanvier
6–2, 5–7, 7–6
1987   Steffi Graf
  Gabriela Sabatini
  Hana Mandlíková
  Wendy Turnbull
3–6, 6–3, 7–5
1988   Zina Garrison Jackson
  Eva Pfaff
  Katrina Adams
  Penny Barg-Mager
4–6, 6–2, 7–6
1989   Larisa Savchenko
  Natasha Zvereva
  Martina Navratilova
  Pam Shriver
7–6, 2–6, 6–1
1990   Mercedes Paz
  Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
  Regina Rajchrtová
  Andrea Temesvári
7–6, 6–4
1991   Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (2)
  Helena Suková (2)
  Mercedes Paz
  Natasha Zvereva
4–6, 6–2, 6–2
1992   Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (3)
  Natasha Zvereva (2)
  Zina Garrison-Jackson
  Jana Novotná
6–1, 6–0
1993   Manuela Maleeva-Fragnière
  Leila Meskhi
  Amanda Coetzer
  Inés Gorrochategui
3–6, 6–3, 6–4
1994   Larisa Neiland
  Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (4)
  Amanda Coetzer
  Inés Gorrochategui
6–2, 6–7, 6–4
1995   Amanda Coetzer
  Inés Gorrochategui
  Nicole Arendt
  Manon Bollegraf
6–2, 3–6, 6–2
1996   Chanda Rubin
  Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (5)
  Meredith McGrath
  Larisa Neiland
6–1, 6–1
1997   Lindsay Davenport
  Jana Novotná
  Nicole Arendt
  Manon Bollegraf
6–3, 6–0
1998   Sandra Cacic
  Mary Pierce
  Barbara Schett
  Patty Schnyder
7–6, 4–6, 7–6
1999   Conchita Martínez
  Patricia Tarabini
  Lisa Raymond
  Rennae Stubbs
7–5, 0–6, 6–4
2000 Rain prevented play
2001   Conchita Martínez (2)
  Patricia Tarabini (2)
  Martina Navratilova
  Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
6–4, 6–2
2002   Daniela Hantuchová
  Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (6)
  María Emilia Salerni
  Åsa Svensson
6–4, 6–2
2003   Lindsay Davenport (2)
  Lisa Raymond
  Virginia Ruano Pascual
  Paola Suárez
7–5, 6–2
2004   Nadia Petrova
  Meghann Shaughnessy
  Myriam Casanova
  Alicia Molik
3–6, 6–2, 7–5
2005   Bryanne Stewart
  Samantha Stosur
  Květa Peschke
  Patty Schnyder
6–4, 6–2
2006   Shinobu Asagoe
  Katarina Srebotnik
  Liezel Huber
  Sania Mirza
6–2, 6–4
2007   Mara Santangelo
  Katarina Srebotnik (2)
  Anabel Medina Garrigues
  Virginia Ruano Pascual
6–3, 7–6(7–4)
2008   Bethanie Mattek
  Vladimíra Uhlířová
  Victoria Azarenka
  Elena Vesnina
6–3, 6–1
Ponte Vedra Beach 2009   Chuang Chia-jung
  Sania Mirza
  Květa Peschke
  Lisa Raymond
6–3, 4–6, [10–7]
2010   Bethanie Mattek-Sands (2)
  Yan Zi
  Chuang Chia-jung
  Peng Shuai
4–6, 6–4, [10–8]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Fussman, Chet: "End of an era: First Coast loses women's tennis event after 31 years" Florida Times-Union, May 22, 2010
  2. ^ "Kremer Win Over Hopkins Stands". Midland Daily News. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
edit

30°11′37″N 81°22′18″W / 30.19361°N 81.37167°W / 30.19361; -81.37167