Posted by Peter Bodo, TENNIS.com
You probably couldn't find two places that have less in common than San Diego, which is in the Golden State of California, and North Conway, which is in the Factory Outlet State of New Hampshire. San Diego is a metropolis on the West Coast, hard by the Pacific Ocean, North Conway is a small town nestled in the lap of the White Mountains, hard by the Saco River.
But this they have common: each place has hosted a great tennis event that eventually fell victim to its own success and the changing nature of the pro game. In a sense, the late, great Volvo International and the Acura Classic -- wait, there's another thing they have in common, car sponsors! -- are cautionary tales, as well as tales of glory and, unfortunately, tremendous waste. The Volvo tournament lasted until 1996; the final Acura Classic is being played this week, at the LaCosta Resort and Spa, near San Diego.
The Volvo International went belly up after 26 years, the best of which were the 15 year (1970-84) spent in New Hampshire, where the event was commonly known as the "Wimbledon of the Woods." It failed because tournament promoter Jim Westhall could not keep pace with the demands of demands of the ATP. The Acura Classic has gone under for similar reasons. In order for the event to retain its hard-earned Tier I sanction and place on the calendar, the tournament would have had to build a $70 million stadium. The co-owners of the franchise, former tour players Jane Stratton and Raquel Giscafre, simply weren't up to it. So they sold the promotional rights back to the WTA.
"There really is no place in San Diego to play a Tier I event," says Giscafre. "We had a good business opportunity to sell the tournament to make way for an event in China. That's part of evolution. It's sad, but that's reality."
Some pundits say that Giscarfe and Stratton were "squeezed out" of the game, but satisfying as such conspiracy theories are to some, it simply isn't true. But the pressures they faced are similar to the ones that eventually killed the Volvo International and Westhall.
Both events grew so big that the promoters had to start playing "chicken" with the tours. As success enabled the promoters to pursue better playing fields, they became subject to more and more stringent demands by the player organizations, both financially and infrastructurally. For example, in order to meet the prize-money and sanction fees demanded by the ATP, Westhall had to contemplate going to split sessions (day and night) -- a reality that ultimately forced him to leave North Conway for Stratton, Vt. And it was all downhill from there.
It's all business, sure. But it's still seems kind of crazy that events with so much going for them (including great local support) can just vanish, almost overnight.
Call it a Tale of Two Cities. Or Two Car Makers.
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