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| WTA Tour | ||
| Location | Antwerp Belgium |
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| Venue | Sportpaleis Merksem | |
| Category | Tier II | |
| Surface | Hard / Indoors | |
| Draw | 28M/32Q/16D | |
| Prize Money | $600,000 | |
| Website | Sport.be | |
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. In 2009, with the restructuring of the WTA tour and the retirement of both Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, the tournament both lost its status as part of the WTA tour, and lost a large amount of its target audience. However, an exhibition tournament was held on 2009-12-09 as the Thomas Cook Diamond Games, which Clijsters ironically played at, with a second edition planned for 2010.
The Diamond Games prides itself on offering a particularly distinctive trophy to any player that can win the singles three times in five years. In 2007, upon completing this feat, Amélie Mauresmo won a golden racquet decorated with diamonds. The racquet's value was an estimated 1 million euros. The others to come close to winning the racquet were Venus Williams in 2006; but she pulled out two days before the event, citing a persistent wrist injury, and Justine Henin who retired on in May 2008.
A new trophy was unveiled in 2008, which featured a golden racquet and a ball, and was decorated with 2008 diamonds. The conditions for winning it were the same. Its value is an estimated 1.5 million euros.
Contents |
| Year | Champion | Runner-up | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| ↓ Tier II tournament ↓ | |||
| 2002 | Venus Williams | Justine Henin | 6–3, 5–7, 6–3 |
| 2003 | Venus Williams | Kim Clijsters | 6–2, 6–4 |
| 2004 | Kim Clijsters | Silvia Farina Elia | 6–3, 6–0 |
| 2005 | Amélie Mauresmo | Venus Williams | 4–6, 7–5, 6–4 |
| 2006 | Amélie Mauresmo | Kim Clijsters | 3–6, 6–3, 6–3 |
| 2007 | Amélie Mauresmo | Kim Clijsters | 6–4, 7–6(4) |
| 2008 | Justine Henin | Karin Knapp | 6–3, 6–3 |
| 2009- | Exhibition | ||
| Year | Champions | Runners-up | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| ↓ Tier II tournament ↓ | |||
| 2002 | Magdalena Maleeva Patty Schnyder |
Nathalie Dechy Meilen Tu |
6–3, 6–7(3), 6–3 |
| 2003 | Kim Clijsters Ai Sugiyama |
Nathalie Dechy Émilie Loit |
6–2, 6–0 |
| 2004 | Cara Black Els Callens |
Myriam Casanova Eleni Daniilidou |
6–2, 6–1 |
| 2005 | Cara Black Els Callens |
Anabel Medina Dinara Safina |
3–6, 6–4, 6–4 |
| 2006 | Dinara Safina Katarina Srebotnik |
Stéphanie Foretz Michaëlla Krajicek |
6–1, 6–1 |
| 2007 | Cara Black Liezel Huber |
Elena Likhovtseva Elena Vesnina |
7–5, 4–6, 6–1 |
| 2008 | Cara Black Liezel Huber |
Květa Peschke Ai Sugiyama |
6–1, 6–3 |
| 2009- | Exhibition | ||
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