The Zurich Open was a WTA Tour affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, formerly held every winter in Zurich, Switzerland. It was classified on the WTA Tour as a Tier I tournament from 1993 until 2007. In its final year, 2008, it was downgraded to a Tier II event.
The Open was held at the Hallenstadion, a multifunctional sports arena. It takes 150 specialist workers and 300 tonnes of material to prepare the Hallenstadion into the Zurich Open tennis venue. The event has two tennis courts available for tournament play.
Past champions of the tournament include former world number ones Steffi Graf Lindsay Davenport, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams, Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova. Swiss champions included Hingis, Manuela Maleeva-Fragnière (formerly of Bulgaria), and Patty Schnyder.
In 2012, it is set to return as a round-robin exhibition tournament, where former players play rising U18 players.
Read more about Zurich Open: Name History, Records
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—Joan Rivers (b. 1935)