View source for ECC Antwerp

{{No footnotes|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox tennis tournament
|name = ECC Antwerp
|type = defunct
|event name = European Champions' Championship (1982–1985)<br />The European Community Championship (1986–1998)
|tour = Invitational/Exhibition (1982–1991)<br />[[ATP World Series|World Series]] (1992–1994)<br />{{nowrap|[[ATP Championship Series|Championship Series]] (1996–1998)}}
|founded = 1982
|ended = 1998
|editions = 16
|location = [[Antwerp]], Belgium
|venue = [[Sportpaleis]]
|surface = [[Carpet court|Carpet]] (indoor) (1982–1996)<br />[[Hardcourt|Hard]] (indoor) (1997–1998)
|website =
}}

The '''European Community Championship''' was a men's professional [[tennis]] tournament held from 1982 until 1998 in [[Antwerp]], Belgium.  The tournament was held as a special invitational/exhibition event run outside the [[Grand Prix tennis tournaments|Grand Prix]] series and did not distribute any [[Association of Tennis Professionals|ATP]] ranking points until 1992, when the tournament became part of the [[ATP Tour]]. While an exhibition tournament, invitations were extended to players who won a tournament title in Europe during that year. The surface of the tournament was indoor carpet.

The inaugural event was held in December 1982, with a $700,000 purse on offer for 24 players. At that time, the high level (Super Series) European Grand Prix events like the [[Italian Open (tennis)|Italian Open]] or indoor tournament in [[Wembley]], London offered only $300,000 and $200,000 respectively.

It was called the '''European Champions' Championship''' and from 1986 was renamed the '''European Community Championship''' (ECC). Its nickname was the "Gold Racquet" tournament because if a player won the tournament thrice within a 5-year span, he would also receive a special trophy, a life-size, 13.2-[[Pound (mass)|pound]] gold racquet studded with 1,420 diamonds valued at $1,000,000, created by the artist Varozza. This inspired the [[Proximus Diamond Games]], a [[WTA Tour]] event held in Antwerp since 2002, to have a similar trophy system.

In 1985, [[Ivan Lendl]] won his third title within 4 years and received the $200,000 winners prize together with the Gold Racquet. In 1991, [[Boris Becker]] spoiled Lendl's quest for a $1,250,000 million prize ($250,000 prize money plus the $1,000,000 racquet) at the ECC in Antwerp by beating him in the semifinals. Had Lendl won, he would have kept the gold-and-diamond racquet trophy valued at about $1,000,000, adding to his from 1985. He was in the running for a second after victories in 1987 and 1989, but wound up with only $100,000 that year.

== Past finals==
=== Singles ===
{|class="wikitable" 
! Year
! Date Final
! Prize Money
! Champion
! Runner-up
! Score
|- 
! colspan="6" style="background:#ededed" | Special / Invitational event
|- 
| 1982
| Dec 5
|{{center| $700,000}}
| {{flagicon|TCH}} [[Ivan Lendl]]
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[John McEnroe]]
| 3–6, 7–6<sup>(7–2)</sup>, 6–3, 6–3
|-
| 1983
| Nov 20
|{{center| $750,000}}
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[John McEnroe]]
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Gene Mayer]]
| 6–4, 6–3, 6–4
|-
| 1984
| Nov 18
|{{center| $800,000}}
| {{flagicon|TCH}} [[Ivan Lendl]]
| {{flagicon|SWE}} [[Anders Järryd]]
| 6–1, 6–2, 6–2
|-
| 1985
| Nov 3
|{{center| $850,000}}
| {{flagicon|TCH}} [[Ivan Lendl]]
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[John McEnroe]]
| 1–6, 7–6<sup>(7–5)</sup>, 6–2, 6–2
|-
| 1986
| Nov 10
|{{center| $940,000}}
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[John McEnroe]]
| {{flagicon|TCH}} [[Miloslav Mečíř]]
| 6–3, 1–6, 7–6<sup>(7–5)</sup>, 5–7, 6–2
|-
| 1987
| Nov 1
|{{center| $940,000}}
| {{flagicon|TCH}} [[Ivan Lendl]]
| {{flagicon|TCH}} [[Miloslav Mečíř]]
| 5–7, 6–1, 6–4, 6–3
|-
| 1988
| Nov 6
|{{center| $940,000}}
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[John McEnroe]]
| {{flagicon|URS}} [[Andrei Chesnokov]]
| 6–1, 7–5, 6–2
|-
| 1989
| Oct 29
|{{center| $1,000,000}}
| {{flagicon|TCH}} [[Ivan Lendl]]
| {{flagicon|TCH}} [[Miloslav Mečíř]]
| 6–2, 6–2, 1–6, 6–4
|-
| 1990
| Oct 21
|{{center| $1,100,000}}
| {{flagicon|YUG}} [[Goran Ivanišević]]
| {{flagicon|FRA}} [[Henri Leconte]]
| 6–2, 7–6<sup>(8–6)</sup>, 4–6, 4–6, 6–1
|-
| 1991
| Dec 8
|{{center| $1,250,000}}
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Aaron Krickstein]]
| {{flagicon|GER}} [[Boris Becker]]
| walkover
|-
! colspan="6" style="background:#ededed" | ATP Tour
|- 
| 1992
| Nov 15
|{{center| $1,000,000}}
| {{flagicon|NED}} [[Richard Krajicek]]
| {{flagicon|AUS}} [[Mark Woodforde]]
| 6–2, 6–2
|-
| 1993
| Nov 14
|{{center| $1,100,000}}
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Pete Sampras]]
| {{flagicon|SWE}} [[Magnus Gustafsson]]
| 6–1, 6–4
|-
| 1994
| Nov 13
|{{center| $1,100,000}}
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Pete Sampras]]
| {{flagicon|SWE}} [[Magnus Larsson]]
| 7–6<sup>(7–5)</sup>, 6–4
|-style="background:#efefef"
| 1995 || colspan=5 align=center | ''Not held''
|-
| [[1996 European Community Championships|1996]]
| Feb 19
|{{center| $1,100,000}}
| {{flagicon|GER}} [[Michael Stich]]
| {{flagicon|CRO}} [[Goran Ivanišević]]
| 6–3, 6–2, 7–6<sup>(7–5)</sup>
|-
| [[1997 European Community Championships|1997]]
| Feb 23
|{{center| $1,000,000}}
| {{flagicon|SUI}} [[Marc Rosset]]
| {{flagicon|GBR}} [[Tim Henman]]
| 6–2, 7–5, 6–4
|-
| [[1998 European Community Championships|1998]]
| Feb 23
|{{center| $1,000,000}}
| {{flagicon|GBR}} [[Greg Rusedski]]
| {{flagicon|SUI}} [[Marc Rosset]]
| 7–6<sup>(7–3)</sup>, 3–6, 6–1, 6–4
|}

=== Doubles ===
{| class="wikitable" 
|-
!Year
!width="200"|Winners
!width="200"|Runners-up
!width="130"|Score
|-
|1992 || {{flagicon|USA}} [[John Fitzgerald (tennis)|John Fitzgerald]]<br />{{flagicon|SWE}} [[Anders Järryd]] || {{flagicon|USA}} [[Jared Palmer]]<br />{{flagicon|USA}} [[Patrick McEnroe]] || 6–2, 6–2
|-
|1993 || {{flagicon|CAN}} [[Grant Connell]]<br />{{flagicon|USA}} [[Patrick Galbraith]] || {{flagicon|RSA}} [[Wayne Ferreira]]<br />{{flagicon|ESP}} [[Javier Sánchez (tennis)|Javier Sánchez]] || 6–3, 7–6 
|-
|1994 || {{flagicon|SWE}} [[Jan Apell]]<br />{{flagicon|SWE}} [[Jonas Björkman]] || {{flagicon|NED}} [[Hendrik Jan Davids]]<br />{{flagicon|CAN}} [[Sébastien Lareau]] || 4–6, 6–1, 6–2 
|- style="background:#efefef"
| 1995 || colspan=5 align=center | ''Not held''
|-
|[[1996 European Community Championships|1996]] || {{flagicon|SWE}} [[Jonas Björkman]]<br />{{flagicon|SWE}} [[Nicklas Kulti]] || {{flagicon|RUS}} [[Yevgeny Kafelnikov]]<br />{{flagicon|NED}} [[Menno Oosting]] || 6–4, 6–4 
|-
|[[1997 European Community Championships|1997]] || {{flagicon|RSA}} [[David Adams (tennis)|David Adams]]<br />{{flagicon|FRA}} [[Olivier Delaître]] || {{flagicon|AUS}} [[Sandon Stolle]]<br />{{flagicon|CZE}} [[Cyril Suk]] || 3–6, 6–2, 6–1 
|-
|[[1998 European Community Championships|1998]] || {{flagicon|RSA}} [[Wayne Ferreira]]<br />{{flagicon|RUS}} [[Yevgeny Kafelnikov]] || {{flagicon|ESP}} [[Tomás Carbonell]]<br />{{flagicon|ESP}} [[Francisco Roig]] || 7–5, 3–6, 6–2 
|}

==See also==
* [[European Open (tennis)|European Open]]

== References ==
*[[World of Tennis]] annuals

{{ECC Antwerp tournaments}}
{{ATP Championship Series tournaments}}
{{ATP World Series tournaments}}
{{Tennis exhibition tournaments}}

[[Category:ECC Antwerp| ]]
[[Category:Exhibition tennis tournaments]]
[[Category:Indoor tennis tournaments]]
[[Category:Defunct tennis tournaments in Belgium]]
[[Category:Carpet court tennis tournaments]]
[[Category:Hard court tennis tournaments]]
[[Category:Sports competitions in Antwerp]]