Newport Pro Amateur Challenge

Last updated
Newport Pro Amateur Challenge
Defunct tennis tournament
Founded1883;141 years ago (1883)
Abolished1887;137 years ago (1887)
Editions4
Location Newport, Rhode Island, United States
Venue Newport Casino
Surface Grass / outdoor

The Newport Pro Amateur Challenge was a series of one day men's tennis tournaments that pitted best professional tennis players against the best amateur tennis players for four editions in 1883, 1885 to 1887. [1] It was played at the Newport Casino, Newport, Rhode Island, United States when it was discontinued. [1]

Contents

History

Newport Pro Amateur Challenge was a series of one day men's tennis tournaments that pitted the best professional tennis players against the best amateur tennis players. It was first held on 22 August 1883 American professional Tom Pettitt and real tennis world champion defeats US Amateur champ Dick Sears. [1] In 1885 the second edition of the pro amateur challenge was held that featured 10 players, 9 amateur who competed in a round robin format, to earn the right to play against the professional player in the final play off. [2] [3]

Editions

(P) denotes professional player (A) denotes amateur player.

1883

WinnerRunner-upScore
Flag of the United States.svg Tom Pettitt (P) Flag of the United States.svg Richard Sears (A)6–4, 9–11, 6–4, 6–4. [1]

1885

WinnerRunner-upScore
Flag of the United States.svg Richard Sears [3] (A) Flag of the United States.svg Tom Pettitt [3] (P)6–2, 7–5, 6–2. [1]
Semi Finalists [2]
PlayerPlayer
Flag of the United States.svg Godfrey Brinley (A) Flag of the United States.svg Percy Knapp (A)
Round Robin [2]
#Players
1 Flag of the United States.svg Mr Foxhall (A)
2 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Henry Herbert (A)
3 Flag of the United States.svg James R. Keene (A)
4 Flag of the United States.svg R.B. Metcalfe (A)
5 Flag of the United States.svg Mr Taylor (A)
6 Flag of the United States.svg Fiske Warren (A)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Budge</span> American tennis player (1915–2000)

John Donald Budge was an American tennis player. He is most famous as the first tennis player — male or female, to win all four Grand Slam events consecutively overall. Budge was the second man to complete the career Grand Slam after Fred Perry, and remains the youngest to achieve the feat. He won ten majors, of which six were Grand Slam events and four Pro Slams, the latter achieved on three different surfaces. Budge is considered to have one of the best backhands in the history of tennis, with most observers rating it better than that of later player Ken Rosewall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Rosewall</span> Australian tennis player (born 1934)

Kenneth Robert Rosewall is an Australian former world top-ranking professional tennis player. Rosewall won 147 singles titles, including a record 15 Pro Majors and 8 Grand Slam titles for a total 23 titles at pro and amateur majors. He also won 15 Pro Majors in doubles and 9 Grand Slam doubles titles. Rosewall achieved a Pro Slam in singles in 1963 by winning the three Pro Majors in one year and he completed the Career Grand Slam in doubles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pancho Gonzales</span> American tennis player (1928–1995)

Ricardo Alonso "Pancho" González, known sometimes as Richard Gonzales, was an American tennis player. He won 15 major singles titles, including two U.S. National Singles Championships in 1948 and 1949, and 13 Professional Grand Slam titles. He also won three Tournament of Champions professional events in 1957, 1958, and 1959. He was ranked world amateur No. 1 in 1948 by Ned Potter and in 1949 by Potter and John Olliff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Kramer</span> American tennis player (1921–2009)

John Albert Kramer was an American tennis player of the 1940s and 1950s, and a pioneer promoter who helped drive the sport towards professionalism at the elite level. Kramer also ushered in the serve-and-volley era in tennis, a playing style with which he won three Grand Slam tournaments. He also led the U.S. Davis Cup tennis team to victory in the 1946 and 1947 Davis Cup finals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellsworth Vines</span> American tennis player and golfer (1911–1994)

Henry Ellsworth Vines Jr. was an American tennis champion of the 1930s, the World No. 1 player or the co-No. 1 in 1932 as an amateur, and in 1934, 1935, 1936 and 1937 as a professional. He won three Grand Slam titles, the U.S. National Championships in 1931 and 1932 and the Wimbledon Championships in 1932. Vines also was able to win Pro Slam titles on three different surfaces. He later became a professional golfer and reached the semifinals of the PGA Championship in 1951.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Tilden</span> American tennis player (1893–1953)

William Tatem Tilden II, nicknamed "Big Bill", was an American tennis player. Tilden was the world No. 1 amateur for six consecutive years, from 1920 to 1925, and was ranked as the world No. 1 professional by Ray Bowers in 1931 and 1932 and Ellsworth Vines in 1933. He won 14 Major singles titles, including 10 Grand Slam events, one World Hard Court Championships and three professional majors. He was the first American man to win Wimbledon, taking the title in 1920. He also won a joint-record seven U.S. Championships titles.

Frank Kovacs was an American amateur and professional tennis player in the mid-20th century. He won the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships singles title in 1941. He won the World Professional Championships tournament in 1945 in San Francisco. Kovacs was successful on clay and won the Great Lakes Professional Clay Court Championships near Chicago in 1946, defeating Riggs in the final, and five U.S. Professional Clay Court Championships from 1948 to 1953. Kovacs won U.S. Professional Championships or International Professional Championships at Cleveland in 1951. He also won the U.S. Professional Challenge Tour in 1947 against Bobby Riggs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Pettitt</span> English real tennis player

Tom Pettitt was the real tennis world champion from 1885 to 1890.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Sears (tennis)</span> American tennis player

Richard Dudley Sears was an American tennis player, who won the US National Championships singles in its first seven years, from 1881 to 1887, and the doubles for six years from 1882 to 1887, after which he retired from tennis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Dwight</span> American tennis player

James Dwight was an American tennis player who was known as the "Founding Father of American Tennis".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of tennis</span>

The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England, now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sport with more complex rules.

The Massachusetts Open is the Massachusetts state open golf tournament. The brothers Donald Ross and Alex Ross had much success early in the tournament's history, winning the first eight events between them. In the mid-1910s, the Massachusetts Golf Association opened the event to golfers outside the state. The tournament evolved into an event of national significance as legendary golfers like Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, and Byron Nelson won during the era. In the 1940s, the event evolved into more of a local affair though many of the top pros from Massachusetts played. In the late 20th and early 21st century, PGA Tour pros from the state like Paul Harney, Dana Quigley, and Geoffrey Sisk won the event several times times each.

List of champions of the 1885 U.S. National Championships. The tournament was held from August 18 to August 22 on the outdoor grass courts at the Newport Casino in Newport, Rhode Island. It was the 5th U.S. National Championships and the second Grand Slam tournament of the year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Longwood Cricket Club</span>

Longwood Cricket Club is a tennis and former cricket club based in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. It is the site of the first Davis Cup competition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Riggs</span> American tennis player (1918–1995)

Robert Larimore Riggs was an American tennis champion who was the world No. 1 amateur in 1939 and world No. 1 professional in 1946 and 1947. He played his first professional tennis match on December 26, 1941.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Godfrey Brinley</span> American tennis player, Educator and Priest

Godfrey Malbone Brinley was a tennis player from the United States, born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey.

Four-time defending champion Richard Sears defeated Godfrey M. Brinley in the challenge round, 6–3, 4–6, 6–0, 6–3 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 1885 U.S. National Championships. It was Sears' fifth title at the U.S. championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reilly Opelka</span> American tennis player

Reilly Opelka is an American professional tennis player. At 6 feet 11 inches tall, he is tied for the tallest-ever ATP-ranked player, and can produce serves that measure over 140 mph. He has been ranked as high as world No. 17 in singles by the ATP, which he achieved on February 28, 2022, and in doubles as world No. 89 on August 2, 2021. He has won four ATP singles titles and one doubles title. He is a junior Wimbledon champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1885 men's tennis season</span> Tennis tour consisting of 101 tournaments

The 1885 men's tennis season was the tenth annual tennis tour, consisting of 119 tournaments it began at the beginning of the year on 1 January New York City, United States and ended 11 November in Singapore, British Malaya.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Tournaments: Newport Pro Amateur Challenge" . The Tennis Base. Madrid, Spain: Tennismem SL. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 "LAWN TENNIS AT NEWPORT: Sears Defeats Brinley In a Brilliantly Contested Game". The Boston Globe . Boston. Massachusetts: newspapers.com. 22 Aug 1885. p. 4. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 "TENNIS AT NEWPORT". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut: newspapers.com. 22 Aug 1885. p. 3. Retrieved 20 June 2024.