The Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open (known as the Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open for sponsorship reasons) was a professional men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was part of the International Series of the ATP Tour and was held annually in Asia.
History
The tournament was first created in 1996 in Shanghai, China, on indoor carpet courts and as part of the ATP World Series. The second new tournament started by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in Asia in three years, after the Beijing Open, created in 1993, the Shanghai event ran as a men's only tournament during four years, seeing the likes of Michael Chang, Goran Ivanišević, Marcelo Ríos and Magnus Norman reaching the finals. In 2000, the Tier IV Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tournaments of Beijing was moved to Shanghai, allowing the city to hold both the ATP event, now part of the International Series, and the WTA event.
In 2004, as the ATP was increasing its presence in Asia, having brought the Tennis Masters Cup to Shanghai in 2002, working on moving several events to different new locations, the ATP and WTA Shanghai tournaments were both relocated, with the women's, now a Tier II tournament, returning to Beijing, and the men's moving to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. After the 2005 edition, the tournament moved once more to a new country, in India, taking place in the city of Mumbai first, in 2006 and 2007, and then moving again to Bangalore for the 2008 edition. The first event to be held in the new location, though, was cancelled due to security fears, and the first Bangalore Open consequently postponed to the next season. In 2009 a new tournament in Asia was created to replace it, the Malaysian Open, located on Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Past finals
Singles LocationYearChampionsRunners-upScoreBengaluru2008–09 Not heldMumbai 2007 Richard Gasquet Olivier Rochus 6–3, 6–4 2006 Dmitry Tursunov Tomáš Berdych 6–3, 4–6, 7–6(7–5)Ho Chi Minh City 2005 Jonas Björkman Radek Štěpánek 6–3, 7–6(7–4)Shanghai 2004 Guillermo Cañas Lars Burgsmüller 6–1, 6–0 2003 Mark Philippoussis Jiří Novák 6–2, 6–12002 Not held 2001 Rainer Schüttler Michel Kratochvil 6–3, 6–4 2000 Magnus Norman Sjeng Schalken 6–4, 4–6, 6–3 1999 Magnus Norman Marcelo Ríos 2–6, 6–3, 7–5 1998 Michael Chang Goran Ivanišević 4–6, 6–1, 6–2 1997 Ján Krošlák Alexander Volkov 6–2, 7–6(7–2) 1996 Andrei Olhovskiy Mark Knowles 7–6(7–5), 6–2
Doubles LocationYearChampionsRunners-upScoreBangalore2008–09 Not heldMumbai2007 Robert Lindstedt Jarkko Nieminen Rohan Bopanna Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi 7–6(7–3), 7–6(7–5)2006 Mario Ančić Mahesh Bhupathi Rohan Bopanna Mustafa Ghouse 6–4, 6–7(6–8), 10–8Ho Chi Minh City 2005 Lars Burgsmüller Philipp Kohlschreiber Ashley Fisher Robert Lindstedt 5–6(3–7), 6–4, 6–2 Shanghai 2004 Jared Palmer Pavel Vízner Rick Leach Brian MacPhie 4–6, 7–6(7–4), 7–6(13–11) 2003 Wayne Arthurs Paul Hanley Zeng Shaoxuan Zhu Benqiang 6–2, 6–42002 Not held 2001 Byron Black Thomas Shimada John-Laffnie de Jager Robbie Koenig 6–2, 3–6, 7–5 2000 Paul Haarhuis Sjeng Schalken Petr Pála Pavel Vízner 6–2, 3–6, 6–4 1999 Sébastien Lareau Daniel Nestor Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde 7–5, 6–3 1998 Mahesh Bhupathi Leander Paes Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde 6–4, 6–7, 7–6 1997 Max Mirnyi Kevin Ullyett Tomas Nydahl Stefano Pescosolido 7–6, 6–7, 7–5 1996 Mark Knowles Roger Smith Jim Grabb Michael Tebbutt 4–6, 6–2, 7–6
Notes
References
External links Official website