The professional tennis circuit has rolled through the UCLA campus every year since 1927, but 2010 might be remembered as the year the tournament came back from a near-inevitable death.
This year, the name was different, but the winners stayed the same as last year. Sam Querrey repeated, and so did the Bryan brothers, but the quality of tennis, and everything surrounding the tournament, greatly improved.
For starters, look at the players. Last year’s field couldn’t hold a candle to the 2010 lineup. It doesn’t take much for people to come and watch world No. 4 Andy Murray, but fans were captivated by the stories surrounding the other players.
Querrey, the local kid from Thousand Oaks, came back to defend his title on his home turf. He brought with him another year of experience, three additional ATP titles and, of course, the Samurai.
James Blake, once the No. 4 player in the world, came in ranked No. 117. Yet, despite a nagging knee injury, he returned to Los Angeles, much to the delight of the fans.
The Bryans had whiffed at chances to break the all-time doubles titles record for almost three months. That conveniently set up a chance to clinch the record close to home so that family and friends see it in person.
From the marquee exhibition match between John McEnroe and Andre Agassi, to Querrey sealing his victory over Murray, the tennis was spectacular. Sitting in the press room was like watching the pages of a tennis history book turn before my eyes. McEnroe and Agassi talked about their Grand Slam dominance, Blake talked about winning the Davis Cup, and the Bryans actually made history, before talking about how surreal it felt to do it.
Sure, this isn’t like the tournament in Indian Wells ““ sometimes called the “fifth slam.” It’s just an ATP 250 event that really has no big impact on rankings. But it’s great to have tennis like this in Los Angeles. It’s also good to know that it will continue, because at the end of last year, you wouldn’t have been able to count on that.
In addition to no title sponsor and a weak field, last year’s LA Tennis Open had a net loss of $1.2 million, according to tournament director Bob Kramer.
This year?
“Night and day ahead of 2009,” Kramer said.
With Farmers Insurance and Mercedes-Benz on board to provide money for the tournament for at least two more years, fans can be assured that great tennis will return, because as they know, it doesn’t take much for a tournament to pack up and leave.
Los Angeles had a separate women’s tennis counterpart every year since 1971, but not for 2010. The LA Women’s Tennis Championships used to be held in Carson, but, unlike the Farmers Classic, eventually had to make new arrangements. In 2008, it was the EastWest Bank Classic. In 2009, it was the LA Women’s Tennis Championships. In 2010, it was relocated to San Diego.
Such a fate has been avoided for the Farmers Classic, for now.
With the bounce-back year for the tournament, look for renewed buzz to continue into next year. Murray headlined the field after Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro had to drop out, but the goal for 2011 is two headliners. Besides, with local players like Querrey and the Bryans sure to return ““ and more success still to come for them ““ the excitement for next year will increase dramatically.
The greatness of tennis will continue to be on display in Los Angeles. That’s something we can all be happy about.