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The Cincinnati Masters is an annual Tennis event held in the Cincinnati suburb of Mason , Ohio , USA . The event started on September 18, 1899 and is today the oldest tennis tournament in the United States played in its original city. The men's event is one of nine ATP Masters Series tournaments on the Association Of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour. The women's event is the only Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event held in the American Midwest . Currently it is a Tier III Event on the WTA Tour, but in 2009 it will be upgraded to one of only 20 "premier" events on the WTA Tour. The men's and women's events are currently played in separate weeks during the July-August period. The competition is played on outdoor Hardcourt s. Because of its sponsorship by the Western & Southern Financial Group , the official names of the men's and women's tournament are the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and the '''Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open'''. HISTORY The tournament was started in 1899 as the Cincinnati Open (it would be later known by several other names, including the '''Tri-State Tennis Tournament'''), and would eventually grow into the tournament now held in Mason. The original tournament was held at the Avondale Athletic Club, and would later be moved to several various locations due to changes in tournament management and surfaces. The first tournament in 1899 was played on Clay Court s, and the event was mostly played on clay until 1979 when it switched permanently to hardcourts. In 1903 , the tournament was moved to the Cincinnati Tennis Club , where it was primarily held until 1972 , when it moved to the Queen City Raquet Club in Sharonville, Ohio . In 1974 , the tournament was nearly dropped completely from the tennis calendar but moved at the last moment to the Cincinnati Convention Center, where it was played indoors and, for the first time since 1919, without a women's draw. In 1975 , the tournament moved to the Old Coney amusement park on the Ohio River , and the tournament began to gain momentum again. In 1979 the tournament moved to Mason where a permanent stadium was to be built and the surface was changed from Har-Tru clay to hardcourt (DecoTurf II.). Later two other permanent stadiums were constructed, making the Cincinnati Masters the only tennis tournament outside the four Grand Slam events with three stadium courts – Center Court, Grandstand Court and Court 3. The women's competition was reinstated in 1988 for one year, and then again in 2004 when the organizers, with the help of the Octagon sports agency, bought a tour tournament previously held in Croatia and moved it to Cincinnati. Since 1975, the tournament has been guided by Paul M. Flory, current tournament chairman and former executive with the Procter & Gamble Company. During his tenure, the tournament has enriched its considerable heritage, while donating millions of dollars to charity. (Its three charities are Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center , The Charles M. Barrett Cancer Center at University Hospital, and the Cincinnati chapter of the National Junior Tennis League.) Among his many accolades, Flory has been honored with the ATP's Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award and enhrinement in the USTA/Midwest Hall of Fame and the Cincinnati Tennis Hall of Fame. Flory began his involvement with the tournament in the late 1960s, and to this day he remains a volunteer: he's never accepted a salary or other compensation. VENUE The tournament is played at the Lindner Family Tennis Center , located at 5460 Courseview Drive in Mason, Ohio. It features three tennis stadiums, and is the only venue outside of the Grand Slams with more than two permanent stadiums. Center Court, first built in 1981 and expanded over the years, has a capacity of 10,500. Grandstand Court (Stadium 2), built in 1995, has a capacity of 5,000. Court #3 (Stadium 3), built in 1997, has a capacity of 2,000. The venue has a total of 10 courts. PAST RESULTS Men's Singles finals Women's Singles finals Open Era Men's Doubles champions Open Era Women's Doubles champions RECORDS NOTE 1 The 1979 men's competition was a non-Grand Prix event not bringing any ATP ranking points although named "ATP Championships", run as a rival event to US Pro Championships in Boston. EXTERNAL LINKS
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