The Moscow International Championships was a men's and women's open international outdoor tennis tournament founded in 1956.^[1] The tournament was organised by the Tennis Federation of the USSR was played on clay courts in Moscow, Soviet Union until 1975.

The event also carried the joint denomination of USSR International Championships.^[1] The championships were part ILTF European Circuit a sub circuit of the ILTF World Circuit until 1972 then became part of the ILTF Independent Tour from 1973 until it was discontinued.^[1]

History

In the mid-1950s confrontational relations between the Western Bloc and Soviet Union eased in part the Khrushchev Thaw a policy of de-Stalinization by then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev,^[2] meant that Soviet players were free to travel to overseas international tournaments, while foreign players could take part in a limited number of tournaments within the USSR, mainly in the capital Moscow.

The two prominent international tournaments for foreign players to participate in were the Moscow International Indoor Championships or (USSR International Indoor Championships) usually late winter in February to early spring in March.^[1] The second international tennis event was Moscow International Championships usually staged in the summer at the end of July, beginning of August and was played on clay courts.^[1] Additionally two closed tournaments were also held in Moscow for Soviet players only the Moscow Indoor Championships and the Moscow Outdoor Championships.^[1]

Finals

Men's singles

(incomplete roll) (incomplete roll) summers

Year	Champions	Runners-up	Score
↓  ILTF World Circuit  ↓
1959	Istvan Gulyas	Wladyslaw Skonecki	10–8, 9–7, 6–1.[1]
1960	Istvan Gulyas (2)	Zoltán Katona[3]	6–1, 6–3, 6–1.[1]
1961[4]	Patricio Rodriguez	Toomas Lejus	0–6, 5–7, 6–3, 6–4, 6–4.[1]
1962[5]	Frank Froehling III	John Newcombe	3–6, 6–2, 6–2, 4–6, 7–5.[1]
1963	Toomas Lejus	Alexander Metreveli	8–6, 6–2, 4–6, 6–2.[1]
1964[6]	Niki Pilic	Boro Jovanovic	5–7, 5–7, 6–2, 6–4, 6–0.[1]
1965	Alexander Metreveli	Toomas Lejus	2–6, 6–3, 6–0, 11–9.[1]
1966	Alexander Metreveli (2)	Vyacheslav Egorov[7]	2–6, 6–2, 6–4, 6–1.[1]
1967	Alexander Metreveli (3)	Vyacheslav Egorov	6–1, 6–1, 6–2.[1]
1968	Toomas Lejus (2)	Sergei Likhachev	6–8, 7–5, 6–2, 8–6.[1]
↓  Open era  ↓
1969	Toomas Lejus (3)	Anatoli Volkov	2–6, 6–4, 6–3, 6–2.[1]
1970	Alexander Metreveli (4)	Wieslaw Gasiorek	6–3, 6–2, 6–2.[1]
1971	Alexander Metreveli (5)	Istvan Gulyas	6–4, 6–1, 6–4.[1]
1972	Teimuraz Kakuliya	Anatoli Volkov	6–3, 6–4
↓  ILTF Independent Tour  ↓
1973	Alexander Metreveli (6)	Jan Bedan[8]	6–3, 7–5, 6–4.[1]

Women's singles

(incomplete roll)

Year	Champions	Runners-up	Score
↓  ILTF World Circuit  ↓
1957	Suzy Kormoczy	Vera Puzejova	2–1 sets
1959	Anna Dmitrieva	Valeria Kuzmenko	6–3, 6–1
1960	Anna Dmitrieva (2)	Jirina Elgrova	6–3, 6–4
1961[9]	Vera Sukova	Anna Dmitrieva	5–7, 6–1, 6–2
1962[10]	Jan Lehane	Anna Dmitrieva	6–3, 6–3
1964[11]	Anna Dmitrieva (3)	Valeria Kuzmenko Titova	6–2, 6–2
1965	Margaret Smith	Galina Baksheeva	6–2, 6–4
1966	Ann Haydon Jones	Anna Dmitrieva	6–1, 6–3
1968	Olga Morozova	Marina Chuvirina	6–1, 6–3
↓  Open era  ↓
1969	Julie Heldman	Peaches Bartkowicz	6–3, 2–6, 6–3
1970	Olga Morozova (2)	Tiiu Kivi Parmas	6–4, 6–4
1971	A. Yeremeyeva	Maria Kull[12]	6–0, 6–3
1972	Olga Morozova (3)	Marina Kroschina	8–6, 6–2
↓  ILTF Independent Tour  ↓
1975	Olga Morozova (4)	Marina Kroshina	2–6, 7–6, 6–0

References