Carlsbad tennis starts last ride

The women’s pro tennis event beginning today at the La Costa Resort will end a run of 24 years in the San Diego area, and the mood is likely to be nostalgic.

The annual Acura Classic of the WTA tour -- the last 16 at La Costa and the last seven under Acura sponsorship -- will feature its usual strong field, led by top-seeded and defending champion Maria Sharapova and Wimbledon champion Venus Williams.

The overall field includes 13 of the top 20 women players in the world, and the top threat to No. 2-ranked Sharapova and No. 16 Venus Williams is No. 3-ranked Jelena Jankovic, the Serbian who has moved quickly up the rankings this season. Justine Henin, No. 1 in the world, entered but then pulled out because of an injury.

Venus Williams, whose No. 8-ranked sister, Serena, pulled out with an injury, has not played here since 2000, when she began a run of three consecutive titles.

“I won three times in a row, then I couldn’t come back,” Venus Williams said, during a recent conference call. “I love playing in California in the summer because I’m from there.”

She also said that it will be strange, knowing that this will be the last event of its kind, at least for the foreseeable future, at La Costa and in the San Diego area.

After last year’s tournament, event owners Raquel Giscafre and Jane Stratton sold their tournament sanction back to the WTA, but with the hope that it would remain in the area and they could continue to manage it. But a combination of upcoming changes in the WTA calendar and an unwillingness on the part of major WTA power IMG, the international management firm, to create any conflict with its Bank of the West Classic -- contested at Stanford and usually a week or two before the San Diego tournament -- ended all chances of an extended run for the Acura event.

“We tried everything we could to keep it,” said Dick Colliver, American Honda executive vice president. “The hotel wanted us back. We had a four-year commitment. Acura was willing to foot the increasing sponsorship bills. But the WTA pulled the plug.”

Venus Williams called the tournament, one of 10 on the tour currently holding a Tier I status, one of the most popular.

“I know a lot of players will be sad,” she said, “because not only did we come and play great tennis, but we also got to relax, which is rare.”

The other top 20 players entered are No. 7 Anna Chakvetadze of Russia; No. 9 Nadia Petrova of Russia; No. 11 Marion Bartoli of France, a Wimbledon finalist; No. 12 Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia; No. 13 Martina Hingis of Switzerland; No. 14 Dinara Safina of Russia; No. 15 Elena Dementieva of Russia; No. 17 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland; No. 18 Shahar Peer of Israel, and No. 19 Tatiana Golovin of France.

Both The Tennis Channel and ESPN2 will carry telecasts of the final weekend, with TTC handling the day matches Friday and Saturday and the evening women’s doubles Sunday, and ESPN2 doing evening matches Friday and Saturday and the 2 p.m. singles final Sunday.

The tournament will distribute $1.34 million in prize money, with $196,900 to the singles champion.

bill.dwyre@latimes.com