US Men’s Clay Court Championships Winners

In the 97 years of the US Men’s Clay Court Championships, many a top player has come to the United States and walked away as victor. There is however one player who has been conspicuous in his absence, and that is world number 2 and the undisputed King of Clay, Spaniard, Rafael Nadal.

One can only assume that the purse is not rich enough to entice the incredibly talented young man, or that the championships coincide with another European Masters Series or ATP Tour event. In any event, the avid Houston tennis fan will feel cheated by his non-appearance.

Other greats of the game have supported the Championships. If you cast your eye down the list of US Men’s Clay Court Championships winners, names like Bjorn Borg, Arthur Ashe, Jose Luis Clerc and Thomas Enqvist will jump out at you, so too will Michael Chang and MaliVai Washington, but there are a few men who stand head and shoulders above the rest and they are Jimmy Connors, Andres Gomez and Andy Roddick.

All three have won the Championships regularly and Roddick is not finished yet. Although he had to pull out of the 2007 event due to injury, odds are that he will be back in 2008 to claim a fourth US Men’s Clay Court Championships.

Year Champion Runner-Up Year Champion Runner-Up

2007 Ivo Karlovic Mariano Zabaleta	1988 Andre Agassi Jimmy Arias
2006 Mardy Fish Jurgen Melzer	1987 Mats Wilander Kent Carlsson
2005 Andy Roddick Sebastien Grosjean	1986 Andres Gomez Thierry Tulasne
2004 Tommy Haas Andy Roddick	1985 Ivan Lendl Andres Gomez
2003 Andre Agassi Andy Roddick	1984 Andres Gomez Balazs Taroczy
2002 Andy Roddick Pete Sampras	1983 Jimmy Arias Andres Gomez
2001 Andy Roddick Hyung-Taik Lee	1982 Jose Higueras Jimmy Arias
2000 Fernando Gonzalez Nicolas Massu	1981 Jose Luis Clerc Ivan Lendl
1999 Magnus Norman Guillermo Canas	1980 Jose Luis Clerc Mel Purcell
1998 Jim Courier Michael Chang	1979 Jimmy Connors Guillermo Vilas
1997 Michael Chang Grant Stafford	1978 Jimmy Connors Jose Higueras
1996 Fernando Meligeni Mats Wilander	1977 Manuel Orantes Jimmy Connors
1995 Thomas Enqvist Javier Frana	1976 Jimmy Connors Wojtek Fibak
1994 Jason Stoltenberg Gabriel Markus	1975 Manuel Orantes Arthur Ashe
1993 Horacio de la Pena Jaime Yzaga	1974 Jimmy Conors Bjorn Borg
1992 MaliVai Washington Claudio Mezzadri	1973 Manuel Orantes Georges Goven
1991 Jaime Yzaga Jimmy Arias	1972 Bob Hewitt Jimmy Connors
1990 David Wheaton Mark Kaplan	1971 Zeljko Franulovic Cliff Richey
1989 Jay Berger Lawson Duncan	1970 Cliff Ricey Stan Smith