From Nat Emerson to Roger Federer: A look at Western & Southern Open's 124-year history

The Western & Southern Open, Greater Cincinnati’s premier tennis tournament, is a lot older than you probably think. How about well more than a century old? That makes it the oldest professional tennis tournament still played in the area of its original host city.

But that could be changing.

South Carolina billionaire Ben Navarro, through his Beemok Capital group, bought the Western & Southern Open from the United States Tennis Association in August 2022.

Jason Williams: Why Cincinnati is back-up plan for Western & Southern Open's out-of-town owner

Navarro has been considering moving the two-week event to a proposed $400 million tennis complex in Charlotte, North Carolina, by 2026. Meanwhile, the city of Mason and the state of Ohio are trying to fund development and an expansion of the Lindner Family Tennis Center to keep the Western & Southern Open here instead.

If the move to Charlotte does happen, the nearly 125-year-old tournament may only be held in the Cincinnati area for a few more years.

First tournament in 1899

The tournament was first held Sept. 18-23, 1899, at the Avondale Athletic Club, which had opened two years earlier on Dana Avenue in Evanston, a site that is now part of Xavier University. It was a pretty big deal at the time, drawing 2,000 spectators to watch players from all over the country compete.

The Cincinnati Times-Star was enthusiastic: “Just think of it! The leading tennis players of the United States are here!”

The tournament’s first men’s champion was a local, though – Cincinnati’s own Nat Emerson, who was ranked in the top 10 of U.S. tennis players in 1908.

Myrtle McAteer, of Pittsburgh, won the first women’s singles title and teamed with Juliette Atkinson to win the women’s doubles final over Cincinnatians Winona Closterman and Julia Doherty.

The playing surface at the first tournament was described as “elastic clay and brick dust.” The prizes weren’t trophies or money, but Rookwood pottery – a tankard and mugs for the men’s winner, a vase for the women’s.

Venue and name changes

The Avondale Athletic Club closed after six years, so the Tri-State Tennis Tournament, as it was then known, moved to the Cincinnati Tennis Club at 1880 Dexter Ave. in Evanston in 1903. That site would host the tennis tournament, skipping a few years, until 1971.

Then, the tournament hopped around to a few locations, including Coney Island and inside the Cincinnati Convention Center, before settling in a new permanent stadium, now called the Lindner Family Tennis Center, in nearby Mason in 1979.

The tournament has been known by many names – Western Open, ATP Championship, Tennis Masters, Cincinnati Masters and finally Western & Southern Open – but one thing hasn’t changed. After more than 120 years, it has hosted the top names in tennis, from Andre Agassi to Serena Williams and seven-time champion Roger Federer.

If a change in location is in the future, though, this could be the end of an era.

Sources: “From Club Court to Center Court: The Evolution of Professional Tennis in Cincinnati” by Phillip S. Smith, Enquirer and Cincinnati Post archives

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: From Serena to Federer: Western & Southern Open boasts rich history