Due to its sponsorship links, it is also referred to as the Credit One Charleston Open. The event is one of the only women’s US-based clay court events. It is played on green clay rather than the European red clay surface.
The Charleston Open is one of the oldest and most historic non-Grand Slam events on the WTA Tour. Often, the tournament is credited with being a pioneer for women’s tennis and for providing a platform for some of the most iconic WTA players in history.
In 1973, Family Circle Magazine helped launch the competition to support women’s tennis. As a result, the competition was originally known as the Family Circle Cup. Under this name, the tournament occurred at Hilton Head, South Carolina, for 28 years.
Here, some of the greatest ever women’s players won the competition, including Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, and Martina Navratilova. But the event moved to Charleston in 2001 and it has remained here ever since.
Each season, the competition takes place at the LTP-Daniel Island, which was built to house the tournament in 2001. In 2022, to mark the 50th year anniversary of the Charleston Open, the newly renovated and modernized Credit One Stadium opened.
Both singles and doubles draw take place across the one-week WTA tournament at the Credit One Stadium. Sixty-four singles enter the main draw, while 16 doubles pairs compete in doubles.
Since the move to Charleston in 2001, Serena Williams has secured the most tournament wins with three. Her last victory came in 2013. In the doubles, two pairings have won the event a record two times.
American and Australian partners Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs and the Spanish-Aregnetinian duo of Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suárez have won the Charleston Open doubles twice each.
