The Ojai Celebrates 108th Annual Event
Pete Sampras is one of many of tennis' greats who played The Ojai as an amateur. Photo: Getty Sports
OjaiTourney.org
For Active.com
After 108 years, much remains the same with the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament.
Surrounded by rugged mountains and nestled among picturesque orange groves, the tiny southern California community of Ojai throws open its doors annually for this community-wide event.
Innkeepers, restaurateurs, gallery owners and shopkeepers welcome the influx of tennis fans and tourists for the largest amateur tennis tournament in the United States, which happens the last full weekend in April.
"Everybody associated with this tournament is a volunteer; we own no tennis courts and have no paid employees," said public relations chair Sam Eaton. "However, there is a fascination with the tournament, and many junior players pass up other events which offer points to play at Ojai."
The non-profit Ojai Valley Tennis Club produces The Ojai by the concerted efforts of over 600 volunteers. The 150 required tennis courts are made available by local schools, clubs and private residents.
Volunteers prepare the courts at the various venues, manage tournament desks and media headquarters, maintain score keeping, and serve complimentary fresh orange juice to players and spectators--a tradition that has continued since the early 1930s.
On Thursday night, the Tennis Club conducts a barbeque open to the public, with tennis celebrity guest appearances and prizes from local and national sponsors.
"The first year of my involvement was 1962, as a ball boy," said Eaton. "I was able to work matches featuring Billie Jean King (then Moffett) and Arthur Ashe. Many others have been involved longer than I have, and we all do it for the same reason: It's a wonderful event."
The Ojai was founded by NCAA doubles champion William L. Thacher to promote amateur tennis in California.
Visiting his brother in southern California, William Thacher became enchanted with the Ojai Valley and decided to stay and help his brother with the town school. In 1892, the first tennis court in the Valley was built on the school grounds. The first tennis tournament in Ojai was held on that court in 1893.
In 1895 Thacher formed a club devoted to tennis, the beginning of the Ojai Valley Tennis Club. The club quickly began to sponsor competition, and in 1896 the Ojai Valley Tennis Club challenged the Ventura Tennis Club, sewing the seeds of the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament.
In 1899, the tournament adopted the single elimination format and offered multiple categories of play, adding interscholastic singles and doubles matches to the growing tournament. Attendance was almost 700 over the weekend of the finals, and the town held a reception and dance for the players. Many consider this the first Ojai.
As the tournament grew, its reputation for hospitality spread, drawing players from all over the West. Complimentary orange juice, a product of the Valley, was first offered to players and spectators in the early 1930s, and continues today. Players traveling to the Valley often stay with local residents, who open their homes to some of the brightest young stars in tennis. In the afternoon, local women volunteer to serve tea from silver urns in china cups, continuing a tradition dating back to 1904.
This combination of genteel hospitality and community spirit has played host to many of the great tennis players of this century. Tennis pros who have competed in The Ojai include: Bill Tilden, Tony Trabert, Bobby Riggs, Jack Kramer, Arthur Ashe, Billy Jean King, Pancho Gonzales, Alex Olmedo, Stan Smith, Jimmy Connors, Michael Chang, Lindsay Davenport, Pete Sampras and 2003 French Open champions Mike and Bob Bryan.
The Wall of Champions at the grandstand in Libbey Park names 85 players who competed at Ojai, then continued with their careers to win one or more of the major Grand Slams.
The Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament is the home of the annual Pac-10 mens, womens and doubles individual championship matches. Libbey Park, in the heart of Ojai, is the venue for the finals of all divisions of The Ojai, including Div. III West Regionals, Community and Independent Colleges, Junior and CIF events and the Open.