Canadian Open: Difference between revisions

==History==

 

The men's tournament began in 1881, and was held at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club, while the women's competition was first held in 1892. Of the major tennis tournaments in the world today, only Wimbledon (1877) and the US Open (1881) have been around longer. Prior to 1968 the tournament was known as the Canadian National Championships. Between 1970 and 1989 it was a major event of the Grand Prix Tennis Tour as part of the Grand Prix Super Series. The tournament was sponsored for a number of years by tobacco brands. In the 1970s, Rothmans International was the chief sponsor, followed by Player's Limited in the 1980s, and then du Maurier from 1997 to 2000. Federal legislation, however, then came into effect that banned tobacco advertising. Rogers Communications, a Canadian communications and media company, took over as the new presenting sponsor. The event was played on clay until 1979 when it switched permanently to hard courts. Both the men's and women's tournaments were played as a single combined tournament at the National Tennis Centre in Toronto until 1981, when the men's tournament was played at the Jarry Park Stadium in Montréal for the first time. Similarly 1982 was the first year in which the women's tournament was played in Montréal.