Surrey Hard Court Championships | |
---|---|
Defunct tennis tournament | |
Event name | Rothmans Surrey Hard Court Championships |
Tour | ILTF World Circuit (1924-1967) |
Sponsor | Rothmans (1968-1977) |
Founded | 1914 |
Abolished | 1979 |
Location | Guildford Roehampton Sutton |
Surface | outdoor (clay) |
The Surrey Hard Court Championships [1] later known as the Rothmans Surrey Hard Court Championships (for sponsorship reasons) was a men's and women's clay court tennis tournament founded in 1919 and hosted by the Roehampton Club, Roehampton, Surrey, Great Britain. It was also staged later at Sutton then finally Guildford and ran until 1979.
The Surrey Hard Court Championships were first staged in 1914 at the Roehampton Club. [2] [3] It continued to host the tournament until 1939. Following World War II it was then held at the Sutton Tennis & Squash Club, Sutton until 1950.
From 1951 through until 1979 when the championships ended the event was held either at Guildford, Roehampton or Sutton. However the men's and women's events were not always held at the same location each year. Between 1970 and 1976 the event was known as the Rothmans Surrey Hard Court Championships for sponsorship reasons. [4] [5]
Former notable of winners of the men's singles event include; Gerald Patterson (1919), Pat Spence, (1925), Yoshiro Ota [6] (1929), Daniel Prenn (1935), Norcross Tilney [7] (1936), Eric Sturgess, (1948), Kurt Nielsen (1954), Bob Howe (1956, 1962), Robert Bédard (1957), Dick Crealy (1969) and Kim Warwick (1972). [8] The women's singles seemed to attract more notable players, former winners included; Dorothy Holman (1914), Elizabeth Ryan (1919–1921), Kay Stammers (1932–1934, 1936), Christine Truman (1957), Margaret Smith Court (1970), Evonne Goolagong (1971–1972), [9] [10] and Dianne Fromholtz (1976). [11]
Patrick Spence was a South African tennis player. He was born in Queenstown, South Africa. He competed mainly in Great Britain and found his form in hard court tournaments. He notably won the mixed doubles championships at Wimbledon in 1928 with Elizabeth Ryan and at the French Open in 1931 with Betty Nuthall. He also competed at the 1924 Summer Olympics. He was active from 1922 to 1936 and won 14 career singles titles on grass and clay courts outdoors, as well as indoor wood courts.
Ernest George Meers was an English tennis player, organist and gum merchant.
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