The tournament began in 1910 when the Western Lawn Tennis Association (a section of the United States Lawn Tennis Association now known as the USTA/Midwest) persuaded the USLTA that a National Clay Court Championship would promote the construction of more clay courts in the West. Clay courts were cheaper to install and maintain than grass courts, and the hope was that these lower costs would accelerate the growth of the game's popularity. The first National Clay Court Championships were held at the Omaha Field Club; a crowd of 5,000 watched the finals. Participation and play on clay grew as a result of the event and others, and in 1914, the event was moved to the
Cincinnati Tennis Club. It has since been played in numerous cities. Between 1970 and 1989 it was part of the
Grand Prix Tennis Tour as part of the
Grand Prix Super Series of events (1974–1977). During the stint in Indianapolis, from 1969 through 1986, the tournament was a combined men's and women's event. From 2001 to 2007, the event was held at the Houston
Westside Tennis Club. In 2007, after a few years being held on the same red clay used at the
French Open, the event switched to
Har-Tru green clay. In 2007, the
USTA sought a new venue and entertained bids from
Atlanta, Georgia;
Winston-Salem, North Carolina; and
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. But in May 2007, the USTA announced that the tournament would simply move downtown to
River Oaks Country Club in the
River Oaks neighborhood. The new venue has a stadium with seating for 3,000 with temporary seating for 500 for the second court. Its Har-Tru clay, of a maroon color, was renewed in 2005 and 2008. ==Past finals==