Avon Futures of Southwest Florida

Avon Futures of Southwest Florida
Defunct tennis tournament
Event name	Barnett Bank Classic of Ft. Myers (1974-75) Futures of Ft. Myers (1976) Avon Futures of Southwest Florida (1977-82)
Tour	Virginia Slims Mini-Circuit (1974-75) Avon Futures Circuit
Founded	1974
Abolished	1982
Location	Fort Myers, Florida, United States
Venue	Lochmoor Country Club (1974-80) Fort Myers Racquet Club (1981-82)
Category	Futures
Surface	Clay / outdoor (1974-1980) Hard / indoor (1981-1982)
Draw	32 (S)
Prize money	$3,000 (1974) $40,000 (1982)

The Avon Futures of Southwest Florida was a USLTA/WTA affiliated clay court then later indoor hard court tennis tournament founded in 1974 as the Barnett Bank Classic of Ft. Myers. It was first played at the Lochmoor Country Club, in Fort Myers, Florida, United States, . The event ran annually until 1982 when it was last played at the Fort Myers Racquet Club then was discontinued.

History

This event began in 1974 as part of the Virginia Slims Mini-Circuit a forerunner to the Avon Futures Circuit. It was announced that it would part of a five satellite tournament held in Florida at Ocala, Fort Myers, Winter Haven, Pensacola and Seebring.

The circuit offered prize money of $3,000 per tournament provided by Barnett Bank of Florida with the USLTA providing players are ranked outside the world top 32, the winners of each event then qualify to enter an event on the main Virginia Slims Circuit.32,

The tournament was played on outdoor clay courts until 1980, then switched to indoor hard courts for the duration of its run till 1982 when it was discontinued when prize money had climbed to $40,000.

Past finals

Singles

Year	Winner	Runner-up	Score
1974	Kate Latham	Janet Haas	6–3, 4–6, 6–4
1975	Donna Ganz	Marina Kroshina	6–4, 6–2
1976	Kathy May	Ann Kiyomura	5–7, 6–3, 6–1
1977	Linky Boshoff	Zenda Liess	6–4, 6–4
1978	Renée Richards	Laura duPont	6–1, 6–7, 6–4
1979	Regina Maršíková	Janet Newberry	6–4, 6–2
1980	Jeanne Duvall	Felicia Raschiatore	6–4, 3–6, 6–3
1981	Ann Kiyomura	Kathleen Cummings	6–3, 6–2
1982	Lee Duk-hee	Yvonne Vermaak	6–0, 6–3

Doubles

Year	Winners	Runners-up	Score
1974	Miroslava Kozeluhova Renata Tomanova	Sally Greer Naoko Sato	7–5, 6–7, 7–6
1975	Natasha Chmyreva Marina Kroshina	Lesley Blachford Michèle Gurdal	6–2, 6–2
1976	Rayni Fox Betsy Nagelsen	Sue Mehmedbasich Marita Redondo	6–2, 6–2
1977	Linky Boshoff Ilana Kloss	Lele Forood Candy Reynolds	6–2, 6–3
1978	Pam Whytcross Chris O'Neil	Ann Kiyomura Renée Richards	6–3, 6–1
1979	Diane Desfor Barbara Hallquist	Marjorie Blackwood Kym Ruddell	6–4, 6–4
1980	Diane Desfor Barbara Hallquist	Carrie Meyer Sabina Simmonds	6–3, 6–1
1981	Rene Blount Dianne Morrison	Renée Richards Joyce Portman	6–1, 6–3
1982	Marjorie Blackwood Susan Leo	Pat Medrado Cláudia Monteiro	2–6, 6–1, 6–2