Inside Tennis is reporting that Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic will be moving out of the Bay Area. The tournament is being sold to Mark Ein, who owns the Citi Open that’s held in Washington DC. With its new owner, the tournament will be held in Washington D.C.

Mark Ein is an investor and entrepreneur who has created a series of companies across many industries. He also owns the Washington Kasltes, a World Team Tennis (WTT) franchise.

That’s a big loss for the Bay Area which has staged the women’s tournament since 1971. The move leaves the region without an elite tennis tournament.

The Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic is held on the campus of San Jose State University. It’s the oldest women’s only tournament and is the first women’s tournament in the US Open series.

Over the years, the tournament has had big-name winners including Bille Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Kim Clijsters, and Serena Williams. In 2022, Russia’s Daria Kasatkina won the event beating American Shelby Rogers.

Jaume Munar and Thanasi Kokkinakis got into an argument at the net after their match at the 2023 Madrid Open. In a handshake that lasted almost two minutes, Munar expressed anger at being told to shut up. The two appeared to resolve their differences at the end and went to pick up their bags to leave the court.

In a tense match featuring two tiebreaks, Munar was seen constantly talking to his box. Kokkinakis complained to the chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani about Munar’s behavior. Munar went on to win the match in front of his home crowd.

Jaume Munar reached a peak ranking of world number 52 in 2019. He is yet to win a title. As a junior, he reached the 2014 boys’ final where he lost to Andrey Rublev.

Thanasi Kokkinakis won the 2022 Australian Open doubles title with countryman Nick Kyrgios. He has won one singles title in his career. He reached his career-high ranking of world number 69 in 2015.