Bay Area loses longtime women’s tennis event as WTA moves to Washington D.C.

After a nearly continuous run of over 50 years, the Bay Area will no longer have a major women’s tennis tournament.

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) announced on Thursday that the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic is moving from San Jose to Washington D.C.

The move brings an end to an iconic part of women’s tennis history, as the Bay Area’s event was the first U.S.-based event held on the groundbreaking Virginia Slims tour in 1971. Billie Jean King won the initial event and became a three-time champion.

It’s been held every year but two (1978, 2020) since then, making it the oldest and longest-running women’s-only tennis event in the world. Other major tennis names to win multiple Bay Area tournaments include Chris Evert (three times), Martina Navratilova (five times), Kim Clijsters (four times).

And that’s also true for the biggest names in the sport, the Williams sisters of Serena (three times) and Venus (twice). But perhaps most noteworthy is that a then-14-year-old Venus made her professional debut in Oakland in 1994 and won her first match, something that was highlighted in the recent movie King Richard.

The move to Washington D.C. pairs up the women’s 500-level event with the men’s Associated of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in the same city and makes that event the only combined 500-level event on tour.

“The Bay Area has played host to so many unforgettable moments as one of the Hologic WTA Tour’s longest-running tournaments,” Steve Simon, WTA Chairman & CEO, said in a statement. “The legacy of this much-loved event will live on in its new home, in Washington, D.C., where I am excited to see WTA and ATP stars competing together for the first time at the 500 level, creating new memories for many more years to come.”

The event was played on San Jose State’s campus for the last five years (with the 2020 tournament canceled because of coronavirus). Before that, it was held in the San Francisco Civic Auditorium (1971-77), the Oakland Coliseum Arena (1979-95), the Kaiser Convention Center in Oakland (1996) and at Stanford University’s Taube Tennis Center (1997-2017).

The 2022 event saw Daria Kasatkina defeat Shelby Rogers 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-2 in the single’s final, making the Russian native the final winner in the Bay Area. Perhaps the highlight of the final Bay Area tournament was a matchup between Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff, which Gauff won 6-4, 6-4.

In the press release announcing the decision, tournament owner and operator IMG says the move will create a more convenient tour schedule for players and will allow for “larger audiences” in the nation’s capital to watch both men’s and women’s action.

“We’d like to thank the Bay Area for over 50 years of support, enthusiasm and passion. We’ve loved bringing the best in women’s tennis to your doorstep year after year,” Josh Ripple, SVP of Tennis Events at IMG, said in a statement. “While we’re sad to go, we are also very excited about this new chapter in the event’s history as the only 500-level combined event on the tours in the U.S. We hope that by bringing this event to D.C. we can start new traditions and bring that same passion for women’s tennis we saw in San Jose to the capital.”

The newly named Mubadala Citi DC Open will be held from July 29-Aug. 6 in Washington D.C.