Los Angeles Tennis Center
Encyclopedia
The Los Angeles Tennis Center is a tennis
facility located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles
in Westwood, Los Angeles, California
. The center opened May 20, 1984, and hosted the demonstration tennis event
of the 1984 Summer Olympics
. The UCLA Bruins
tennis teams moved to the facility in 1985 (men) and 1997 (women). The NCAA Women's Tennis Championship
s were held at the LATC in 1984, 1987, and 1988, and the Men's Championships
took place there in 1997.
The center currently hosts the Los Angeles Open
, an ATP Tour event. The main grandstand surrounds three courts, and has a capacity of 5,800 spectators. There are eight lighted, hard-surface courts at the center, which can hold 10,000 spectators. The Straus Stadium was named for Leonard Straus, the former chairman of Thrifty Drugs
; the Center court was called the Times-Mirror Center Court; the drawboard was named for Johnny Carson
; and the scoreboard was named Union 76 Scoreboard.
The Center hosted for many years the annual "Spring Sing"
, UCLA's student talent show and the presentation of the George and Ira Gershwin Award. Winners included Angela Lansbury
(1988), Ray Charles
(1991), Mel Torme
(1994), Bernadette Peters
(1995), Frank Sinatra
(2000), Stevie Wonder
(2002), k.d. lang
(2003), James Taylor
(2004), Burt Bacharach
(2006), Quincy Jones
(2007), Lionel Richie
(2008) and Brian Wilson
(2011).
For many years, graduation ceremonies and celebrations were also held at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
The Center hosted the 1997 Beach Volleyball World Championships
, MTV Rock N' Jock, and the 2011 Coldplay
concert. Southern California Tennis Association (SCTA) has offices at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
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...
facility located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
in Westwood, Los Angeles, California
Westwood, Los Angeles, California
Westwood is a neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of the University of California, Los Angeles .-History:...
. The center opened May 20, 1984, and hosted the demonstration tennis event
Tennis at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Tennis returned to the Summer Olympic Games for the second time in 60 years at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, United States, but it was only a demonstration sport like it had been the previous time in 1968...
of the 1984 Summer Olympics
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
. The UCLA Bruins
UCLA Bruins
The UCLA Bruins are the sports teams for University of California, Los Angeles . The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pacific-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation . For football, they are in the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I...
tennis teams moved to the facility in 1985 (men) and 1997 (women). The NCAA Women's Tennis Championship
NCAA Women's Tennis Championship
The NCAA Women's Tennis Championship is the National Collegiate Athletic Association's tennis tournament to determine the Team Championships, Singles Championships, and Doubles Championships in Women's Tennis. It was started in 1982.-2009 Division tournament:...
s were held at the LATC in 1984, 1987, and 1988, and the Men's Championships
NCAA Men's Tennis Championship
The NCAA Men's Tennis Championships are held to crown a team, individual, and doubles champion in American college tennis. The first intercollegiate championship was held in 1883, 23 years before the founding of the NCAA, with Harvard's Joseph Clark taking the singles title...
took place there in 1997.
The center currently hosts the Los Angeles Open
Los Angeles Open (tennis)
The Los Angeles Open and formerly known as the Countrywide Classic, Los Angeles Tennis Open, Pacific South West Open, and other sponsored names, is an ATP World Tour 250 series tennis tournament on the ATP Tour held in Los Angeles, California, United States...
, an ATP Tour event. The main grandstand surrounds three courts, and has a capacity of 5,800 spectators. There are eight lighted, hard-surface courts at the center, which can hold 10,000 spectators. The Straus Stadium was named for Leonard Straus, the former chairman of Thrifty Drugs
Thrifty PayLess
Thrifty PayLess Holdings, Inc. was a pharmacy holding company that owned the Thrifty Drugs and PayLess Drug Stores chains in the western United States....
; the Center court was called the Times-Mirror Center Court; the drawboard was named for Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
; and the scoreboard was named Union 76 Scoreboard.
The Center hosted for many years the annual "Spring Sing"
UCLA Spring Sing
Spring Sing is UCLA's oldest and greatest musical tradition, an annual music competition held in May at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion. The competition brings together UCLA students to perform as solo artists, duets, bands, and a cappella groups in front of an audience of over 7,000 UCLA students, alumni,...
, UCLA's student talent show and the presentation of the George and Ira Gershwin Award. Winners included Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury
Angela Brigid Lansbury CBE is an English actress and singer in theatre, television and motion pictures, whose career has spanned eight decades and earned her more performance Tony Awards than any other individual , with five wins...
(1988), Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
(1991), Mel Torme
Mel Tormé
Melvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...
(1994), Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters is an American actress, singer and children's book author from Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theatre, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings...
(1995), Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
(2000), Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
(2002), k.d. lang
K.D. Lang
Kathryn Dawn Lang, OC , known by her stage name k.d. lang, is a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter and occasional actress...
(2003), James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
(2004), Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
(2006), Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
(2007), Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie
Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...
(2008) and Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
(2011).
For many years, graduation ceremonies and celebrations were also held at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
The Center hosted the 1997 Beach Volleyball World Championships
1997 Beach Volleyball World Championships
The1997 Beach Volleyball World Championships, were held from September 10 to September 13, 1997 in Los Angeles, California . It was the first official edition of this event, after ten unofficial championships between 1987 and 1996....
, MTV Rock N' Jock, and the 2011 Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
concert. Southern California Tennis Association (SCTA) has offices at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
