Visiting the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, Rhode Island is like taking a step back into a bygone era. After the hustle and bustle of the big European events leading up to Wimbledon, the grass-court season comes to a gentle finale in small-town America.   

There’s little of the corporate feel about this tournament which you generally associate with most modern day ATP events, so much so, you almost expect the players to come out wielding wooden rackets. Even the grass courts are old school, fast paced with low, uneven bounces around the baseline, a serve-volleyer’s paradise.

The US National Championships were once held at this venue, starting back in 1881 and then the US Open, something which is hard to imagine when you compare Newport to Flushing Meadows. Since 1976 it’s been a Tour level event but it’s the annual induction into the Hall of Fame museum at the venue which arguably generates most of the publicity.

As with all the events held just before and just after Wimbledon, these championships suffer from a dearth of big names.  

The event’s most famous champions have been former US Open finalist Greg Rusedski who won three times (once at the very start of his career and twice towards the end) and two-time Grand Slam runner-up Mark Philippoussis. Many of the eventual winners have been ranked outside the world’s top 50 at the time.

To watch free live streams of the Newport Open online, simply open a free account with one of our fully licensed live streaming partners such as bet365. To access the live feed, go to bet365 > live streaming tennis.