ECC Antwerp
Encyclopedia
The European Community Championship was a professional tennis
tournament held from 1982 until 1995 in Antwerp, Belgium
. The tournament was held as a special invitational/exhibition event run outside the Grand Prix
series, and not earning 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 offering a $700,000 purse for 24 players field while 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 European Champions' Championship and from 1986 was renamed to European Community Championship (ECC). Its nickname was "Gold Racquet" tournament because if a player won the tournament three times within a 5 year span, he would receive also a special trophy, a life-size, 13.2-pound
gold racquet studded with 1,420 diamonds valued at $1,000,000. The Proximus Diamond Games
, a WTA Tour event held in Antwerp since 2002, has a similar trophy system.
In 1985 Ivan Lendl
won his 3rd 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 $1.25 million prize ($250,000 prize money plus the $1 million racquet) at the ECC in Antwerp by beating him, 6-4, 7-5, in the semifinals. Had Lendl won, he would have kept the gold-and-diamond racquet trophy valued at about $1 million, 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.
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
tournament held from 1982 until 1995 in Antwerp, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. The tournament was held as a special invitational/exhibition event run outside the Grand Prix
Grand Prix tennis tournaments
The Grand Prix tennis circuit was a professional tennis tour for male players that existed from 1970 to 1989. It was the more prominent of two predecessors to the current tour for male players, the ATP Tour, the other being World Championship Tennis ....
series, and not earning any ATP
Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP was formed in 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to protect the interests of male professional tennis players. Since 1990, the association has organized the worldwide tennis tour for men and linked the title of the tour with the...
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 offering a $700,000 purse for 24 players field while the high level (Super Series) European Grand Prix
Grand Prix tennis tournaments
The Grand Prix tennis circuit was a professional tennis tour for male players that existed from 1970 to 1989. It was the more prominent of two predecessors to the current tour for male players, the ATP Tour, the other being World Championship Tennis ....
events like the Italian Open
Rome Masters
The Italian Open is an annual tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is the most prestigious red clay tennis tournament in the world after the French Open, with the men's competition being an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, and the women's...
or indoor tournament in Wembley, London offered only $300,000 and $200,000 respectively.
It was called European Champions' Championship and from 1986 was renamed to European Community Championship (ECC). Its nickname was "Gold Racquet" tournament because if a player won the tournament three times within a 5 year span, he would receive also a special trophy, a life-size, 13.2-pound
Pound (mass)
The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...
gold racquet studded with 1,420 diamonds valued at $1,000,000. The Proximus Diamond Games
Proximus Diamond Games
The Proximus Diamond Games was a professional tennis tournament held in Antwerp, Belgium. Held since 2002, the tournament takes place in the Sportpaleis, and was played at the beginning of February...
, a WTA Tour event held in Antwerp since 2002, has a similar trophy system.
In 1985 Ivan Lendl
Ivan Lendl
Ivan Lendl is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Lendl became a United States citizen. He was one of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s and remained a top competitor into the early 1990s. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis...
won his 3rd title within 4 years and received the $200,000 winners prize together with the Gold Racquet. In 1991 Boris Becker
Boris Becker
Boris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17...
spoiled Lendl's quest for a $1.25 million prize ($250,000 prize money plus the $1 million racquet) at the ECC in Antwerp by beating him, 6-4, 7-5, in the semifinals. Had Lendl won, he would have kept the gold-and-diamond racquet trophy valued at about $1 million, 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 winners and runner-ups
| ATP Tour | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Feb 23 |  Greg RusedskiGreg Rusedski Gregory "Greg" Rusedski is a British Canadian former tennis player who turned professional in 1991 and played until his retirement on 7 April 2007, at the age of 33... |
 Marc RossetMarc Rosset Marc Rosset is a former professional tennis player from Switzerland who is best remembered for winning the men's singles Gold Medal at the 1992 Olympic Games.... |
7-6(3), 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 | |
| 1997 | Feb 23 | Marc Rosset Marc Rosset Marc Rosset is a former professional tennis player from Switzerland who is best remembered for winning the men's singles Gold Medal at the 1992 Olympic Games.... |
Tim Henman Tim Henman Timothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE is a retired English professional tennis player and former British Number One. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis that suited the grass courts of Wimbledon. He was the first player from the United Kingdom since Roger Taylor in the 1970s to reach the... |
6-2, 7-5, 6-4 | |
| 1996 | Feb 19 |  Michael StichMichael Stich Michael Detlef Stich is a former professional tennis player from Germany. He is best remembered for winning the men's singles title at Wimbledon in 1991... |
 Goran IvaniševićGoran Ivaniševic Goran Ivanišević is a retired Croatian professional tennis player. He is best remembered for being the only person to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon as a wildcard. He achieved this in 2001, having previously been runner-up at the championships in 1992, 1994 and 1998. Ivanišević is famous... |
6-3, 6-2, 7-6(5) | |
| 1995 | Not Held | ||||
| 1994 | Nov 13 |  Pete SamprasPete Sampras Pete Sampras is a retired American tennis player and former world no. 1. During his 15-year tour career, he won 14 Grand Slam singles titles and became recognized as one of the greatest tennis players of all time.... |
 Magnus LarssonMagnus Larsson Per Henrik Magnus Larsson is a former professional tennis player from Sweden.Larsson turned professional in 1989 and won his first top-level singles title at Florence in 1990. His first doubles title was also won in Florence, in 1991.Some of the most significant highlights of Larsson's career came... |
7-6(5), 6-4 | |
| 1993 | Nov 14 | Pete Sampras Pete Sampras Pete Sampras is a retired American tennis player and former world no. 1. During his 15-year tour career, he won 14 Grand Slam singles titles and became recognized as one of the greatest tennis players of all time.... |
Magnus Gustafsson Magnus Gustafsson Magnus Nils Gustafsson is a former professional tennis player from Sweden.Gustafsson won 14 top-level singles titles during his career, reaching a career-high singles ranking of World No. 10 in 1991. He was also part of the Swedish team which won the Davis Cup in 1998... |
6-1, 6-4 | |
| 1992 | Nov 15 |  Richard KrajicekRichard Krajicek Richard Peter Stanislav Krajicek is a Dutch former professional tennis player. In 1996 he won the men's singles title at Wimbledon, the only Dutch player to have done so. In the quarterfinals of that tournament he defeated Pete Sampras. This was Sampras' only singles defeat at Wimbledon between... |
 Mark WoodfordeMark Woodforde Mark Woodforde is a former professional tennis player from Australia. He is best known as one half of "The Woodies", a doubles partnership with Todd Woodbridge.... |
6-2, 6-2 | |
| Special / Invitational event | |||||
| 1991 | Dec 8 | Aaron Krickstein Aaron Krickstein Aaron Krickstein , nicknamed "Marathon Man", is a former American professional tennis player, who competed on the ATP Tour from 1983 to 1996. Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, he currently competes on the Outback Champions Series Over-30 tour.Krickstein reached his career high ATP ranking of World No.... |
Boris Becker Boris Becker Boris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17... |
walkover | |
| 1990 | Oct 21 |  Goran IvaniševićGoran Ivaniševic Goran Ivanišević is a retired Croatian professional tennis player. He is best remembered for being the only person to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon as a wildcard. He achieved this in 2001, having previously been runner-up at the championships in 1992, 1994 and 1998. Ivanišević is famous... |
 Henri LeconteHenri Leconte Henri Leconte is a former French professional tennis player. He reached the men's singles final at the French Open in 1988, won the French Open men's doubles title in 1984, and helped France win the Davis Cup in 1991.-Biography and career:... |
6-2, 7-6(6), 4-6, 4-6, 6-1 | |
| 1989 | Oct 29 |  Ivan LendlIvan Lendl Ivan Lendl is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Lendl became a United States citizen. He was one of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s and remained a top competitor into the early 1990s. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis... |
Miloslav Mečíř Miloslav Mecír Miloslav Mečíř is a former professional tennis player from Slovakia. He won the men's singles gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games where he represented Czechoslovakia and played in two Grand Slam singles finals... |
6-2, 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 | |
| 1988 | Nov 6 | John McEnroe John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title... |
 Andrei ChesnokovAndrei Chesnokov Andrei Eduardovich Chesnokov is a former professional tennis player from Russia.Chesnokov's highest singles ranking was World No. 9 in 1991. The biggest tournament victories of his career came at the Monte Carlo Open in 1990, and at the Canadian Open in 1991 .Chesnokov's best performance at a... |
6-1, 7-5, 6-2 | |
| 1987 | Nov 1 | Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Lendl became a United States citizen. He was one of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s and remained a top competitor into the early 1990s. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis... |
Miloslav Mečíř Miloslav Mecír Miloslav Mečíř is a former professional tennis player from Slovakia. He won the men's singles gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games where he represented Czechoslovakia and played in two Grand Slam singles finals... |
5-7, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 | |
| 1986 | Nov 10 | John McEnroe John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title... |
Miloslav Mečíř Miloslav Mecír Miloslav Mečíř is a former professional tennis player from Slovakia. He won the men's singles gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games where he represented Czechoslovakia and played in two Grand Slam singles finals... |
6-3, 1-6, 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-2 | |
| 1985 | Nov 3 | Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Lendl became a United States citizen. He was one of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s and remained a top competitor into the early 1990s. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis... |
John McEnroe John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title... |
1-6, 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-2 | |
| 1984 | Nov 18 | Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Lendl became a United States citizen. He was one of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s and remained a top competitor into the early 1990s. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis... |
Anders Järryd Anders Järryd Anders Per Järryd is a former professional tennis player from Sweden. During his career he won eight Grand Slam doubles titles , reached the World No. 1 doubles ranking, and achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 5.Järryd was born in Lidköping, Västra Götaland... |
6-1, 6-2, 6-2 | |
| 1983 | Nov 20 | John McEnroe John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title... |
Gene Mayer Gene Mayer Gene Mayer is a former tennis player from the United States who won fourteen singles titles during his career.Mayer was born in Flushing, Queens, New York. He grew up in Wayne, New Jersey, and played tennis at Wayne Valley High School, where he went unbeaten in his two years on the tennis team... |
6-4, 6-3, 6-4 | |
| 1982 | Dec 5 | Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Lendl became a United States citizen. He was one of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s and remained a top competitor into the early 1990s. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis... |
John McEnroe John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title... |
3-6, 7-6, 6-3, 6-3 | |