In 1973, Family Circle became the first women's magazine to fully underwrite a professional sporting event, helping to catapult women's tennis into a worldwide sport. In the last 27 years, the Family Circle Cup has achieved many more "firsts":

The Family Circle Cup was the first tournament to offer $100,000 in prize money. Before women played for significantly less prize money than men. The prize money today reaches $1,080,000, exceeding some of the richest purses in men's sports. The Family Circle Cup was also the first women's tournament to be broadcast on national television.

In honor of its standard of excellence, The Family Circle Cup was the first recipient of the WTA Tour Tournament Achievement Award. It has also been a launching pad for many world-class players, including Steffi Graf,Jennifer Capriatti and Gabriela Sabatini, all of whom made career-setting first impressions at the tournament.

And finally, The Family Circle is the longest-running title sponsor of women's professional tennis. It is the first tournament with continued title sponsorship for twenty-eight consecutive years.

Don't miss this exciting event and the new world-class facility it calls home.