U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships

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The U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships is an annual tennis tournament. In 2006 the event was held from April 10-16 at the Westside Tennis Club in Houston, Texas. The tournament has been held in several different cities over the years: Indianapolis, Indiana (1969-87), Charleston, South Carolina (1988-89), Kiawah Island, South Carolina (1990), Charlotte, North Carolina (1991-93), Birmingham, Alabama (1994), Pinehurst, North Carolina (1995-96) and Orlando, Florida (1997-2000). Once again, the tournament will be moved to a new city, as this is the last year for Houston to host the championships. During many of these years, the event was held on Har-Tru, or green clay, but the tournament now is held on red clay typical of European and Latin American courts. As the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships is the last remaining ATP Tour level event held in the United States on clay, no such events are currently played on green clay. However, some lower tier tournaments (such as the Challenger event at Forest Hills) are still played on green clay. The tournament currently lacks the prestige of other clay court tournaments held prior to the French Open, particularly because the field rarely includes the top European or South American contenders for the French Open title.