ECC Antwerp
| ECC Antwerp | |
|---|---|
| Defunct tennis tournament | |
| Event name | European Champions' Championship (1982–1985) The European Community Championship (1986–1998) |
| Tour | Invitational/Exhibition (1982–1991) World Series (1992–1994) Championship Series (1996–1998) |
| Founded | 1982 |
| Abolished | 1998 |
| Editions | 16 |
| Location | Antwerp, Belgium |
| Venue | Sportpaleis |
| Surface | Carpet (indoor) (1982–1996) Hard (indoor) (1997–1998) |
The European Community Championship was a men's professional tennis tournament held from 1982 until 1998 in Antwerp, Belgium. The tournament was held as a special invitational/exhibition event run outside the Grand Prix series and did not distribute any ATP ranking points until 1992, when the tournament became part of the ATP Tour. While an exhibition tournament, invitations were extended to players who won a tournament title in Europe during that year. The surface of the tournament was indoor carpet.
The inaugural event was held in December 1982, with a 700,000ドル purse on offer for 24 players. At that time, the high level (Super Series) European Grand Prix events like the Italian Open or indoor tournament in Wembley, London offered only 300,000ドル and 200,000ドル respectively.
It was called the European Champions' Championship and from 1986 was renamed the European Community Championship (ECC). Its nickname was the "Gold Racquet" tournament because if a player won the tournament thrice within a 5-year span, he would also receive a special trophy, a life-size, 13.2-pound gold racquet studded with 1,420 diamonds valued at 1,000,000,ドル created by the artist Varozza. This inspired the Proximus Diamond Games, a WTA Tour event held in Antwerp since 2002, to have a similar trophy system.
In 1985, Ivan Lendl won his third title within 4 years and received the 200,000ドル winners prize together with the Gold Racquet. In 1991, Boris Becker spoiled Lendl's quest for a 1,250,000ドル million prize (250,000ドル prize money plus the 1,000,000ドル racquet) at the ECC in Antwerp by beating him in the semifinals. Had Lendl won, he would have kept the gold-and-diamond racquet trophy valued at about 1,000,000,ドル adding to his from 1985. He was in the running for a second after victories in 1987 and 1989, but wound up with only 100,000ドル that year.
Past finals
[edit ]Singles
[edit ]Doubles
[edit ]| Year | Winners | Runners-up | Score | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | United States John Fitzgerald Sweden Anders Järryd |
United States Jared Palmer United States Patrick McEnroe |
6–2, 6–2 | ||
| 1993 | Canada Grant Connell United States Patrick Galbraith |
South Africa Wayne Ferreira Spain Javier Sánchez |
6–3, 7–6 | ||
| 1994 | Sweden Jan Apell Sweden Jonas Björkman |
Netherlands Hendrik Jan Davids Canada Sébastien Lareau |
4–6, 6–1, 6–2 | ||
| 1995 | Not held | ||||
| 1996 | Sweden Jonas Björkman Sweden Nicklas Kulti |
Russia Yevgeny Kafelnikov Netherlands Menno Oosting |
6–4, 6–4 | ||
| 1997 | South Africa David Adams France Olivier Delaître |
Australia Sandon Stolle Czech Republic Cyril Suk |
3–6, 6–2, 6–1 | ||
| 1998 | South Africa Wayne Ferreira Russia Yevgeny Kafelnikov |
Spain Tomás Carbonell Spain Francisco Roig |
7–5, 3–6, 6–2 | ||
See also
[edit ]References
[edit ]- World of Tennis annuals