The first U.S. National Lawn Tennis Championship was played in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1881 on the now legendary grass courts at the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum. That tournament evolved into the US Open. The Hall of Fame Open remains the only professional tournament played on grass in North America. Hall of Fame Open Tickets. As the last tournament of the season played on grass the Hall of Fame Open is already unique in its own right, however, when you combine the excellent play on the courts with the induction of some of the sports biggest legends into the International Tennis Hall of Fame the event gets even better. The tournament annually attracts some of the tennis world's biggest talents to go up against one another head to head on the court and is a tournament that has been won by many of the biggest stars of the sport several times over the years. While the tournament attracts many of the most beloved superstars in all of tennis, it also attracts several of the best young up-and-coming athletes in the world, and a good deal of the enjoyment of the tournament comes from seeing which young future superstars will leave impressions at the Hall of Fame Open this year. This year's Hall of Fame Open will take place at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island from Saturday, July 11th through Sunday, July 19th and will surely attract all of the biggest tennis fans from all over the country to be a part of this special event. You can choose to attend certain days of the tournament or the whole thing, but however, you decide to enjoy the Hall of Fame Open you are sure to have an unforgettable time. Past champions of the Hall of Fame Open read like a who's who of the tennis world as the event annually draws some of the biggest names in all of tennis. Previous winners include Lleyton Hewitt, Fabrice Santoro, John Isner, Mardy, Fish, Kevin Anderson, Greg Rusedski, Mark Philippoussis, John Kriek, Nicholas Mahut, and many more. It is clear that all of the biggest names in tennis take part in the Hall of Fame Open as they are attracted to the action at one of the best tennis facilities in the world and the enthusiasm of the plethora of fans who find their way to the tournament each summer. The Hall of Fame Open is held the week after Wimbledon so some of the sport's stars are still recovering from the previous week and end up passing on the Hall of Fame Open, leaving room for up-and-coming stars to really shine. As a result, the Hall of Fame Open has often been the place where many future superstars feel like they really started to make their mark on the pro tennis world and began an upward trajectory that could eventually lead to them coming back to this spectacular event as inductees in the International Tennis Hall of Fame. In 1972 Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale formed the Association of Tennis Professionals in an effort to look out for the interests of male tennis players all over the world. For nearly twenty-five years ATP has organized the professional tennis world tour for men (the women's tour is organized by WTA, the Women's Tennis Association) and stands as the official governing body of the sport. There are several events that are part of the tour and all serve to help decide which player deserves the top ranking in the world. The BNP Paribas brings together some of the top men's tennis players in the world according to the ATP as well as some of the top women according to WTA. Although some of the biggest stars in the sport end up skipping the Hall of Fame Open, that never takes anything away from the week-long tournament and celebration of the sport. As exciting as the tournament is, providing the chance to see which young athletes emerge from the tournament appearing ready to take the tennis world by storm, half of the fun is seeing the tennis legends return for the International Tennis Hall of Fame induction ceremony. For some of the younger tennis fans in attendance, these are players whose names they have heard for years but perhaps never had the chance to see in person because they were too young when the athletes were in peak form. Between the athletes on the court and the ones being inducted, there is no better collection of tennis stars on the planet than at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championship.