River Oaks International Tennis Tournament

River Oaks International
Defunct tennis tournament
Tour	Grand Prix (1971) WCT (1972–1977) Grand Prix (1978–1981) WCT (1982–1984)
Founded	1931
Abolished	2007
Editions	73
Location	Houston, Texas, U.S.
Venue	River Oaks Country Club
Surface	Clay / outdoor

The River Oaks International Tennis Tournament, also known as the River Oaks Invitational Tennis Tournament, was a men's tennis tournament held in early spring from 1931 until 2007 at the River Oaks Country Club, Houston, Texas, USA.^[1] The tournament was the oldest in the country to still be played at its original site, in the original stadium. The tournament was founded by cotton broker Jack Norton.^[2] From the very beginning, the River Oaks International was an invitational amateur tournament, and was not associated with the professional tennis associations. From the start, the field was filled with a few stars and then local candidates filled out the rest of the field. The inaugural edition in April 1931, which made a loss of $1,500, was won by 19-year-old Ellsworth Vines.^[3][4] The tournament was not held during the World War II years 1942–1945.^[5]

In 1971 the tournament was part of the Grand Prix tennis circuit while from 1973 until 1977 it formed part of the World Championship Tennis circuit.^[2][6] One of the landmark tournament events was in 1974, the championship match was broadcast before a national audience; thirty-four-year-old Rod Laver, met heir apparent, seventeen-year-old Björn Borg. Laver, who in 1961 became the first foreign player to win the singles title, won in straight sets and became the first man to hold four singles championships at River Oaks.^[7]

In 2008, the River Oaks International was merged with one of the oldest, and last remaining clay court tournaments in the United States, the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships.^[8][9]

Year	Champions	Runners-up	Score
1931	Ellsworth Vines	Bruce Barnes	6–3, 6–4, 10–8
1932	Wilmer Allison	Jake Hess	8–6, 6–3, 6–2
1933	Frank Parker	George Lott	7–5, 10–12, 6–4, 6–2
1934	Lester Stoefen	Wilmer Allison	6–2, 6–2, 6–2
1935	Bryan Grant	Wilmer Allison	6–3, 1–6, 6–4, 6–4
1936	Bryan Grant	Wilmer Allison	6–4, 4–6, 6–4, 6–0
1937	Bryan Grant	Wilmer Allison	4–6, 6–3, 6–3, 7–5
1938	Wayne Sabin	Ernest Sutter	6–4, 4–6, 4–6, 6–0, 6–2
1939	Frank Guernsey	Frank Kovacs	4–6, 7–5, 6–1, 6–3
1940	Robert Riggs	Bryan Grant	7–5, 6–3, 7–5
1941	Frank Kovacs	Bryan Grant	6–4, 2–6, 7–5, 6–3
1942	No competition (due to WWII)
1943
1944
1945
1946	Gardnar Mulloy	William Talbert	6–4, 4–6, 6–3, 5–7, 6–4
1947	Jack Kramer	Gardnar Mulloy	6–1, 6–0, 6–2
1948	Frank Parker	William Talbert	9–7, 6–2, 6–1
1949	Ted Schroeder	William Talbert	6–4, 4–6, 6–1, 6–4
1950	Robert Falkenburg	Ted Schroeder	6–0, 15–13, 3–6, 6–4
1951	Arthur Larsen	Herbert Flam	6–4, 7–5, 3–6, 10–8
1952	Gardnar Mulloy	Arthur Larsen	6–3, 3–6, 3–6, 8–6, 6–4
1953	Gardnar Mulloy	Vic Seixas	6–4, 5–7, 6–4, 6–2
1954	Dick Savitt	Ham Richardson	4–6, 6–3, 6–4, 7–5
1955	Tony Trabert	Vic Seixas	6–0, 6–1, 6–4
1956	Ham Richardson	Vic Seixas	7–5, 6–0, 3–6, 6–4
1957	Herbert Flam	Mervyn Rose	7–5, 6–1, 6–4
1958	Barry MacKay	Luis Ayala	8–10, 6–4, 6–3, 6–3
1959	Bernard Bartzen	Dick Savitt	2–6, 7–5, 4–6, 0–2 retired
1960	Barry MacKay	Neale Fraser	7–5, 6–3, 6–4
1961	Rod Laver	Roy Emerson	7–5, 7–5, 1–6, 6–3
1962	Rod Laver	Roy Emerson	6–1, 7–5, 7–5
1963	Manuel Santana	Chuck McKinley	6–4, 13-11, 3–6, 2–6, 6–4
1964	Roy Emerson	Nikola Pilić	6–1, 6–4, 6–2
1965	Ramanathan Krishnan	Cliff Richey	6–4, 2–6, 6–4, 6–3
1966	Marty Mulligan	Nikola Pilić	6–2, 3–6, 6–4, 0–6, 4–5
1967	John Newcombe	Tony Roche	6–2, 7–5, 6–3
1968	Cliff Richey	Boro Jovanović	6–4, 6–1, 6–0
1969	Željko Franulović	Rafael Osuna	7–5, 6–3, 6–2
1970	Clark Graebner	Cliff Richey	2–6, 6–3, 5–7, 6–3, 6–2
1971	Cliff Richey	Clark Graebner	6–1, 6–2, 6–2
1972	Rod Laver	Ken Rosewall	6–2, 6–4
1973	Ken Rosewall	Fred Stolle	6–4, 6–1, 7–5
1974	Rod Laver	Björn Borg	7–6, 6–2
1975	Ken Rosewall	Cliff Drysdale	6–4, 6–7, 6–4
1976	Harold Solomon	Ken Rosewall	6–4, 1–6, 6–1
1977	Adriano Panatta	Vitas Gerulaitis	7–6, 6–7, 6–1
1978	Brian Gottfried	Ilie Năstase	3.6, 6–2, 6–1
1979	José Higueras	Gene Mayer	6–3, 2–6, 7–6
1980	Ivan Lendl	Eddie Dibbs	6–1, 6–3
1981	Guillermo Vilas	Sammy Giammalva Jr.	6–2, 6–4
1982	Ivan Lendl	José Luis Clerc	3–6, 7–6, 6–0, 1–4 retired
1983	Ivan Lendl	Paul McNamee	6–2, 6–0, 6–3
1984	Mark Dickson	Sammy Giammalva Jr.	6–3, 6–2
1985	Paul McNamee	Anders Järryd	7–6, 4–6, 6–4
1986	Jimmy Arias	Mats Wilander	6–2, 2–6, 6–1
1987	Jimmy Arias	Jonas Svensson	6–2, 6–4
1988	Henri Leconte	Michael Chang	4–6, 7–6, 6–3
1989	Magnus Gustafsson	Bruno Orešar	6–2, 6–0
1990	Richey Reneberg	Magnus Gustafsson	6–4, 6–4
1991	Magnus Gustafsson	Magnus Larsson	6–7, 7–6, 6–1
1992	Bryan Shelton	Jeff Tarango	4–6, 6–3, 6–2
1993	Richey Reneberg	Todd Martin	5–7, 6–3, 6–3
1994	Magnus Larsson	Richey Reneberg	6–4, 6–2
1995	Mikael Tillström	Richard Fromberg	6–3, 6–4
1996	Christian Ruud	Jeff Tarango	3–6, 6–3, 7–5
1997	Jason Stoltenberg	Alex O'Brien	6–2, 4–6, 7–5
1998	Mariano Zabaleta	Xavier Malisse	7–6, 6–2
1999	Vince Spadea	Jason Stoltenberg	6–4, 6–2
2000	Magnus Larsson	Roger Federer	3–6, 6–1, 7–5
2001	Andrei Pavel	Christian Ruud	6–3, 6–4
2002	Michel Kratochvil	Wayne Ferreira	6–4, 4–6, 7–6
2003	James Blake	Wayne Ferreira	6–2, 4–6, 6–3
2004	Jiří Novák & Hugo Armando		Title shared
2005	James Blake	Dmitri Tursunov	6–2, 6–3
2006	Victor Hănescu	Juan Mónaco	6–7, 6–4, 7–5
2007	Dmitri Tursunov	Nicolás Massú	2–6, 1–0 retired
2008	see U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships

• U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships

• ATP – Tournament Profile