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most significant development in the tournament's history occurred in 1989 when the WTA upgraded
the tournament to a primary event, which meant commitments from top ten players, an increase
to $200,000 in prize money and additional computer ranking points for players.
Great American Bank, a local institution, stepped forward as the
tournament's new title sponsor and the event was known as the Great
American Bank Tennis Classic.
The promoters, Jane Stratton and Raquel Giscafre, hit the jackpot
when Steffi Graf, the world's number one player, agreed to play
in the tournament.
The upgraded tournament proved to be a turning point for the promoters
who realized their dream of bringing women's professional tennis
at its highest level to San Diego.
Excitement was in the air when Graf took to the court for her first
round match. Traffic backed up at the entrance to the San Diego
Tennis & Racquet Club as thousands of fans turned out to see the
player who had won tennis' Grand Slam the year before.
The top-seeded Graf showed why she was the number one player in
the world as she convincingly defeated Rene Simpson (6-0, 6-0),
Betsy Nagelsen (6-1, 6-1), Claudia Kohde-Kilsch (6-0, 6-0) and Bettina
Bunge (6-1, 6-2) to reach the final.
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A determined Zina Garrison, the number two seed, awaited Graf in the final
and nearly pulled off an upset before losing 6-4, 7-5 in 96 minutes before a sold out crowd
of 4,400.
In the first set, Garrison had double break point in the eighth game and triple-break point
in the 10th. Both times, Graf came back to hold serve.
Garrison jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set and Graf cried out, "What the hell is
going on with me?"
But Graf did not panic and once again she showed why she was the best player on the planet
as she staged a rally and won the tournament.
The victory was worth $40,000 for Graf, who attended a Rod Stewart concert and went deep-sea
fishing during her stay in San Diego. Garrison, who broke Graf's serve six times, received
$18,000.
Following the match, Graf said, "Everyone really welcomed me here. They did everything they
could for me. You have such a great city. There's no reason not to come back."
In the doubles final, Elise Burgin and Rosalyn Fairbank defeated Robin White and Gretchen
Magers 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
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