The U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships is the only clay courts tournament of the United States. It is an ATP 250 event that is currently played in Houston. The tournament’s first edition took place in 1910, making it one of the oldest tennis tournaments.
The tournament features a knockout draw in both singles and doubles. In singles, a total of 32 slots till up the draw, three of which are wildcard entrants whereas four are qualifiers. In doubles, the wildcard entrants are no more than two.
Matches are played as best of three sets. In singles, when a decider is played, the match is decided by the conventional scoring system. If the set score is 6-6, then a tiebreak decides the match. The first to win seven points with a difference of two is declared the winner. In doubles, a deciding set is played as a tiebreak. The first to reach ten points with a difference of two is declared the winner.
The tournament offers 250 points to its champions. The runner-up in singles gets 165 points, whereas their doubles counterparts get 150 points. A total of $742,350 is available as prize money, with the winner getting $100,635.
The most successful player at the tournament is Bill Tilden, who won seven singles titles. However, Tilden’s record was made before the Open Era. In the Open Era (after 1968), Jimmy Connors has won the most singles titles, with four to his name. In doubles, the Bryan brothers (Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan) have won a record five titles at the tournament.
