Charleston and Houston, located nearly 1,000 miles apart in South Carolina and Texas respectively, could hardly be more different: Charleston is home to less than 200,000 people, is known for its gumbo, oysters, and shrimp, and does not boast a single team in a major North American sports league, whilst Houston is a huge city of over 2 million people, is more famous for its NASA space shuttles than its seafood, and has sporting representatives in every major league except the NHL.
These cities do however share the distinction of hosting the only major US clay court tournaments of the tennis season: the Charleston Open and the US Men’s Clay Court Championships. Alongside events in Portugal and Morocco, the Charleston Open and the US Men’s Clay Court Championships raise the curtain on the international clay court season, before the WTA and ATP tours travel throughout continental Europe, culminating in Roland-Garros, the sole clay court Grand Slam tournament, before the grass court season takes over.
The Charleston Open, hosted at the city’s Family Circle Tennis Center, was first held in 1973 as the Family Circle Cup. The event then became the Volvo Open in 2016, before Credit One lent its name to the tournament in 2021. The event is today a WTA 500 event, and awards nearly USD $1 million in prize money each year. The 2023 tournament will take place between 1-9 April, showcasing a draw which is stacked with outstanding players, including no less than 5 former Grand Slam champions: Aryna Sabalenka, Victoria Azarenka, Jeļena Ostapenko, Sloane Stephens, and Sofia Kenin. Single session adult ticket prices start from USD $10.
The US Men’s Clay Court Championships, meanwhile, was first held in 1910, in Omaha, Nebraska, and moved to its current home at the River Oaks Country Club in 2008. It is a historic event, but also a modern one: technological innovations such as the live streaming of matches on the internet have contributed to the competition’s longevity, and it is today an ATP 250 tournament. The 2023 Championships will also take place between 1-9 April, with American stars such as Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, John Isner, and Brandon Nakashima taking part. Single session ticket prices start at USD $37.89, including fees.
For more information on these events, including ticket prices, click the links below: