The European Community Championship was a men's professional tennis tournament held from 1982 until 1998 in Antwerp, Belgium. The tournament was held as a special invitational/exhibition event run outside the Grand Prix series and did not distribute any ATP ranking points until 1992, when the tournament became part of the ATP Tour. While an exhibition tournament, invitations were extended to players who won a tournament title in Europe during that year. The surface of the tournament was indoor carpet.
The inaugural event was held in December 1982, with a $700,000 purse on offer for 24 players. At that time, the high level (Super Series) European Grand Prix events like the Italian Open or indoor tournament in Wembley, London offered only $300,000 and $200,000 respectively.
It was called the European Champions' Championship and from 1986 was renamed the European Community Championship (ECC). Its nickname was the "Gold Racquet" tournament because if a player won the tournament thrice within a 5-year span, he would also receive a special trophy, a life-size, 13.2-pound gold racquet studded with 1,420 diamonds valued at $1,000,000, created by the artist Varozza. This inspired the Proximus Diamond Games, a WTA Tour event held in Antwerp since 2002, to have a similar trophy system.
In 1985, Ivan Lendl won his third title within 4 years and received the $200,000 winners prize together with the Gold Racquet. In 1991, Boris Becker spoiled Lendl's quest for a $1,250,000 million prize ($250,000 prize money plus the $1,000,000 racquet) at the ECC in Antwerp by beating him in the semifinals. Had Lendl won, he would have kept the gold-and-diamond racquet trophy valued at about $1,000,000, adding to his from 1985. He was in the running for a second after victories in 1987 and 1989, but wound up with only $100,000 that year.
Past finals Singles Year Date Final Prize money Champion Runner-up Score Special / Invitational event 1982 Dec 5 Ivan Lendl John McEnroe 3–6, 7–6(7–2), 6–3, 6–3 1983 Nov 20 John McEnroe Gene Mayer 6–4, 6–3, 6–4 1984 Nov 18 Ivan Lendl Anders Järryd 6–1, 6–2, 6–2 1985 Nov 3 Ivan Lendl John McEnroe 1–6, 7–6(7–5), 6–2, 6–2 1986 Nov 10 John McEnroe Miloslav Mečíř 6–3, 1–6, 7–6(7–5), 5–7, 6–2 1987 Nov 1 Ivan Lendl Miloslav Mečíř 5–7, 6–1, 6–4, 6–3 1988 Nov 6 John McEnroe Andrei Chesnokov 6–1, 7–5, 6–2 1989 Oct 29 Ivan Lendl Miloslav Mečíř 6–2, 6–2, 1–6, 6–4 1990 Oct 21 Goran Ivanišević Henri Leconte 6–2, 7–6(8–6), 4–6, 4–6, 6–1 1991 Dec 8 Aaron Krickstein Boris Becker walkover ATP Tour 1992 Nov 15 Richard Krajicek Mark Woodforde 6–2, 6–2 1993 Nov 14 Pete Sampras Magnus Gustafsson 6–1, 6–4 1994 Nov 13 Pete Sampras Magnus Larsson 7–6(7–5), 6–4 1995 Not held 1996 Feb 19 Michael Stich Goran Ivanišević 6–3, 6–2, 7–6(7–5) 1997 Feb 23 Marc Rosset Tim Henman 6–2, 7–5, 6–4 1998 Feb 23 Greg Rusedski Marc Rosset 7–6(7–3), 3–6, 6–1, 6–4
Doubles YearWinnersRunners-upScore1992 John Fitzgerald Anders Järryd Jared Palmer Patrick McEnroe 6–2, 6–21993 Grant Connell Patrick Galbraith Wayne Ferreira Javier Sánchez 6–3, 7–6 1994 Jan Apell Jonas Björkman Hendrik Jan Davids Sébastien Lareau 4–6, 6–1, 6–2 1995 Not held1996 Jonas Björkman Nicklas Kulti Yevgeny Kafelnikov Menno Oosting 6–4, 6–4 1997 David Adams Olivier Delaître Sandon Stolle Cyril Suk 3–6, 6–2, 6–1 1998 Wayne Ferreira Yevgeny Kafelnikov Tomás Carbonell Francisco Roig 7–5, 3–6, 6–2
See also European Open
References World of Tennis annuals