The Los Angeles Tennis Center is a tennis facility located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. The center opened May 20, 1984, and hosted the demonstration tennis event of the 1984 Summer Olympics. The UCLA Bruins tennis teams moved to the facility in 1985 (men) and 1997 (women). The NCAA Women's Tennis Championships were held at the LATC in 1984, 1987, and 1988, and the Men's Championships took place there in 1997.

The center currently hosts the LA Tennis Open, an ATP Tour event. The main grandstand surrounds three courts, and has a capacity of 5,800 spectators. There are eight lighted, hard-surface courts at the center, which can hold 10,000 spectators. The Straus Stadium was named for Leonard Straus, the former chairman of Thrifty Drugs; the Center court was called the Times-Mirror Center Court; the drawboard was named for Johnny Carson; and the scoreboard was named Union 76 Scoreboard.

The Center has hosted the annual "Spring Sing", UCLA's student talent show. It is where the annual George and Ira Gershwin Award is presented. Winners have included Angela Lansbury (1988), Ray Charles (1991), Mel Torme (1994), Bernadette Peters (1995), Frank Sinatra (2000), Stevie Wonder (2002), k.d. lang (2003), James Taylor (2004), Burt Bacharach (2006), Quincy Jones (2007), and Lionel Richie (2008).

For many years, graduation ceremonies and celebrations were also held at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.

The Center hosted the 1997 Beach Volleyball World Championships and MTV Rock 'N Jock. Southern California Tennis Association (SCTA) has office at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.

Gallery

Image:Countrywide Main Entrance.jpg|Main Entrance to the Countrywide Classic at UCLA's L.A. Tennis Center.Image:LA Tennis Center.jpg|Straus Stadium at the L.A. Tennis Center, on the UCLA campus.Image:Grandstand Countrywide.jpg|Grandstand court at the LA Tennis Open.Image:LA Tennis Center.JPG|The LA Tennis Center

External links

• UCLA Bruins.com