66th Ralph O'Connor Rice Invitational
The George R. Brown Tennis Center, which began hosting the event in 2015, only exists thanks to his family’s lead gift, but true to his humble nature, the facility bears not his name, but that of his father-in-law from whom he developed a deep love for the sport. In 2019 Rice University celebrated Ralph’s life after a women’s match vs. his alma mater (Johns Hopkins) and at that time, the street outside the venue was formally acknowledged as O’Connor Way, and the rebranding of the tournament was also announced.
The tournament began as a singles and doubles championship draw at the Glencrest Country Club in Houston. Rice’s Art Foust, who had teamed with Ronnie Fisher to win the SWC Doubles title in 1958 and would do so again in 1959, upset the top-seeded Fisher to claim the inaugural Rice Invite singles crown. The following year, The Frank D. Guernsey Jr. and Wilber E. Hess Challenge Cup (right) was introduced to celebrate the winning team and individuals and Chuck McKinley of Trinity led the Tigers to the first of their 13 Rice Invitational team titles by capturing the singles crown.
Three years later, McKinley won the men’s singles at Wimbledon and went on to team with Dennis Ralston to win three US Open doubles titles. He was inducted into the ITA Men’s Hall of Fame, the first of seven Rice Invitational singles winners who would go on to be inducted into the Hall (Antonio Palafox, Corpus Christi; Mike Estep and Harold Solomon, Rice; Dick Stockton, Trinity; Mike DePalmer & Paul Annacone, Tennessee).
The singles competition was phased out in 1989 in place of the current dual format. Rice has won 18 of the last 31 team titles but saw their run of 10 consecutive team titles end in 2018 as Wichita State took home the team title.
Past Champions
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| Rice Houston, Texas Roster | Schedule | Stats In the Rice Invitational: 74-23 (since 1989) Team titles: 24 (last 2024) At GRBTC: 86-37 (7-13 vs. ranked teams) |
Charlotte Charlotte, North Carolina Roster | Schedule | Stats In the Rice Invitational: (0-0) Team titles: 0 vs. Rice: 2-5 / At GRBTC: 0-0 |
UTSA San Antonio, Texas Roster | Schedule | Stats In the Rice Invitational: (0-0) Team titles: 0 vs. Rice: 6-21 / At GRBTC: 2-3 |
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Friday, April 4
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Rice |
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Charlotte | 11 AM | ||||
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Saturday, April 5
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Charlotte |
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UTSA | 11 AM | ||||
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Sunday, April 6
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Rice |
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UTSA | 11 AM | ||||