This article is about the ILTF/WCT/GP/ATP defunct tennis event. For the defunct women's tennis event of Philadelphia, see
Advanta Championships Philadelphia.
The U.S. Professional Indoor Championships, also known as U.S. Pro Indoor,[1] was a professional
tennis tournament founded in 1962 as the Philadelphia Invitational Indoor Tennis Championships. [2] The tournament was held in
Philadelphia, United States from 1962 to 1998. It played on indoor
carpet courts, and indoor
hard courts. It was part of the
ILTF World Circuit from 1962 to 1967 and again in 1970, the
World Championship Tennis (WCT) circuit in 1968, 1969 and from 1971 to 1977 and the
Grand Prix Tour from 1978 to 1989 before being held on the
ATP Tour. It was held annually first at the
Spectrum, and then at the
CoreStates Center. It was originally named the Philadelphia Indoor Open Tournament prior to the open era.
History
The tournament was founded in 1962 as the Philadelphia Invitational Indoor Tennis Championships.[3][4] This tournament until 1970 was part of the
ILTF World Circuit.[4] In 1964 the tournament was also known as the Philadelphia Indoor Championships.[4][5] In 1969 the name was changed to the Philadelphia International Indoor Open Championships.[4] In 1970 the tournament was organised by the
International Tennis Players Association (founded in 1965 as the International Professional Tennis Players Association)[6] and branded as the International Tennis Players Association Open Indoor[7] or ITPA Open Indoor. In 1971 the tournament was re-branded as the Philadelphia International Indoor Open Championships[8] also called the Philadelphia International Indoor[9]
In 1972 the United States Professional Indoor tennis championships were created in
Philadelphia, United States, as part of the
WCT circuit,[10][11] rival of the National Tennis League (NTL). As the first event of the season, the Philadelphia U.S. Professional Indoor attracted all WCT stars at the Philadelphia
Spectrum at each of its yearly editions, with
Rod Laver,
John Newcombe or
Marty Riessen winning the event in the early 1970s. After the WCT absorbed the NTL in 1970, the tournament continued to exist within the WCT tour until 1978, when the event officially became part of the
Grand Prix Tour, precursor of the current
ATP Tour.
As part of the Grand Prix's top tier tournaments until 1986, the Philadelphia event known as the U.S. Pro Indoor since 1973, saw American players dominating the fields in the 1970s and 1980s, with
Tim Mayotte reaching four finals,
World No. 1sJimmy Connors and
John McEnroe six finals each, and Czechoslovak
Ivan Lendl three. In 1985, Swiss watch company Ebel S.A. started its six-year sponsorship of the event, the tournament becoming until 1990 the Ebel U.S. Pro Indoor.[12][13] The event entered the new ATP circuit in 1990 as part of the
Championship Series, to see eighteen-year-old, and future
US Open champion
Pete Sampras win his first career title against
Andrés Gómez.
In 1991, the event lost Ebel's sponsorship,[14] and went back to being the U.S. Pro Indoor for two editions, before
Comcast became the sponsor of the event in 1992, effectively saving it from being discontinued.[15] In the following years, the Comcast U.S. Indoor's prize money was reduced to less than a million dollars, preventing the creation of attractive line ups, and gaining the nickname "Comatose U.S. Indoor".[16] In 1997,
Advanta, already the sponsor of the 1971-created women's tournament of Philadelphia, the
Advanta Championships, since 1995, took upon the sponsorship of the men's event, which also became the Advanta Championships.
Pete Sampras won his third and fourth Philadelphia titles in the last two editions of the event, taking place on indoor
hard courts at the
CoreStates Center, before it was definitely discontinued in 1998.
^Tingay, Lance (1973). "Philadelphia - New Dimension In Tennis by Laurie Pignon". In Barrett, John (ed.). World Tennis' 73 A BP AND COMMERCIAL UNION YEARBOOK. London: The Queen Anne Press Ltd. pp. 142, 143.
ISBN0362000913.
^McManus, Jim (2010). History of Tournaments: Professional Tennis Winners and Runner-ups. Pont Vedra Beach: MAC and Company Publishing. p. 300.
ISBN9781450728331.
^"McKinley Wins Meet". Jeffersonville Evening News. Jeffersonville, Indiana: Wikipedia Library - Newspaper Archive. Com. 17 February 1964. p. 7. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
^Kramer, Jack (1974). Robertson, Max (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Tennis. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd. p. 74.
ISBN0047960426.
^Tingay, Lance (1971). "US Tournaments". In Barrett, John (ed.). World Tennis' 71 A BP YEARBOOK. London: The Queen Anne Press Ltd. p. 240.
ISBN0362000913.
^Tingay, Lance (1971). "US Tournaments". In Barrett, John (ed.). World Tennis' 71 A BP YEARBOOK. London: The Queen Anne Press Ltd. p. 145.
ISBN0362000913.