Virginia Slims of Nashville

Virginia Slims of Nashville
Defunct tennis tournament
Event name	Virginia Slims of Chattanooga (1971) Commercial Union Bank Classic (1973) Avon Futures of Nashville (1981) Avon Futures of Tennessee (1982) Ginny of Nashville (1983-84) Virginia Slims of Nashville (1988-91)
Tour	Virginia Slims Circuit (1970, 1973) Avon Futures Circuit (1981-82) Ginny Circuit (1983-84) Virginia Slims World Championship Series (1988-89) WTA Tour (1990–91)
Founded	1971
Abolished	1991
Editions	9
Surface	Hard / indoor (1971) Red Clay / outdoor (1973) Green Clay / outdoor (1981-82) Carpet / indoor (1983-84, 1988-91)

The Virginia Slims of Nashville is a defunct WTA Tour tennis tournament first founded in 1971 as the Virginia Slims of Chattanooga and first played in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The tournament ran annually with breaks, name changes and court surface changes until 1991 when it was last played in Nashville, Tennessee in the United States.

History

In February 1971 the Virginia Slims of Chattanooga event was founded, that event was played on indoor hard courts at the Manker Patten Tennis Center for one edition only.

In 1973 the event was revived at Nashville, Tennessee under a different official name the Nashville Classic it's sponsored name was the Commercial Union Bank Classic, and was played on outdoor red clay courts at the Centennial Park Tennis Center when it was discontinued again.

In 1981 after a break of eight years professional tour tennis returned to Nashville with the staging of the Avon Futures of Nashville tournament that was played at the Westside Racquet Club, ^[1] part of the Westside Athletic Club complex on outdoor green clay courts.

In 1982 it was rebranded as the Avon Futures of Tennessee and was part of the Avon Futures Circuit.

In 1983 the event was moved to the Maryland Farms Racquet Club, ^[2] in Brentwood, Tennessee

Also in 1983 the Ginny Satellite Circuit, replaced the Avon Futures Circuit, the previous event was then renamed as the Ginny of Nashville and was played indoors on hard Lykold courts until 1984 when it was stopped again.

In 1988 the event was revived as the Virginia Slims of Nashville as part of the Virginia Slims World Championship Series, and was played again at the Maryland Farms Racquet Club in Brentwood, Tennessee until 1989 as part of that circuit. In 1990 it be became a WTA Tour event until 1991. ^[3]

Finals

Singles

Year	Champions	Runners-up	Score
1971	Billie Jean King	Ann Haydon Jones	6–4, 6–1
1973	Margaret Court	Billie Jean King	6–3, 4–6, 6–2
1974 – 1980	Not held
1981	Susan Leo	Kim Sands	7–6, 6–3
1982	Eva Pfaff	Leigh-Anne Thompson	6–3, 7–5
1983	Kathleen Horvath	Marcela Skuherská	6–4, 6–3
1984 [4]	Jenny Klitch	Pam Teeguarden	6–2, 6–1
1985 – 1987	Not held
1988	Susan Sloane	Beverly Bowes	6–3, 6–2
1989	Leila Meskhi	Helen Kelesi	6–2, 6–3
1990	Natalia Medvedeva	Susan Sloane	6–3, 7–6(7–3)
1991	Sabine Appelmans	Katrina Adams	6–2, 6–4

Doubles

Year	Champions	Runners-up	Score
1973	Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve	Karen Krantzcke Janet Newberry	6–4, 6–7, 6–1
1974 – 1982	Not held
1983	Rosalyn Fairbank Candy Reynolds	Alycia Moulton Paula Smith	6–4, 7–6
1984	Sherry Acker Candy Reynolds	Mary Lou Piatek Paula Smith	5–7, 7–6, 7–6
1985 – 1987	Not held
1988	Jenny Byrne Janine Tremelling	Elise Burgin Rosalyn Fairbank	7–5, 6–7, 6–4
1989	Manon Bollegraf Meredith McGrath	Natalia Medvedeva Leila Meskhi	1–6, 7–6, 7–6
1990	Kathy Jordan Larisa Savchenko Neiland	Brenda Schultz Caroline Vis	6–1, 6–2
1991	Sandy Collins Elna Reinach	Yayuk Basuki Caroline Vis	5–7, 6–4, 7–6

Event names

• Virginia Slims of Chattanooga (1971)
• Commercial Union Bank Classic (1973)
• Avon Futures of Nashville (1981)
• Avon Futures of Tennessee (1982)
• Ginny of Nashville (1983-84)
• Virginia Slims of Nashville (1988-91)

References

1. Bakersfield Californian Newspaper Archive February 22, 1981 Page 31.
2. Avon Futures, Panama City News Herald Newspaper Archives. February 21, 1982 Page 46.
3. RESULTS PLUS – New York Times
4. Escanaba Daily Press NewspaperArchive January 9, 1984 Page 11.

External links

• WTA Results Archive Archived 2010-01-05 at the Wayback Machine