Toronto Lawn Tennis Club

Last updated
The Toronto Lawn Tennis Club
Formation1876
Location
ServicesTennis, Swimming, Squash, Fitness, Dining, Kids Klub, Camps, Gym, Wellness
Acting General Manager
Andrew Thompson
Website www.torontolawn.com

The Toronto Lawn Tennis Club is a private social and athletic club in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The club is the oldest active and surviving lawn tennis club in the world. Founded in 1876, it has a long history of tennis competition. [1] It is located at 44 Price Street, in the affluent Rosedale neighbourhood of Toronto.

The club hosted the first ever National Tennis Championship of Canada and has hosted 2 Davis Cup ties. [2]

The actual courts were established at 148 Front Street in Toronto in 1874 by I.F. Hellmuth, two years before the club was formed in 1876. The club played host to a tournament in 1881 (for gentlemen's singles) that over time became the Canadian Open tennis championship, now known as the National Bank Open. [3] The location of the club moved to Rosedale in 1913. [4] The surface for the courts was red clay.

The Toronto Lawn Tennis Club also played host to the first Davis Cup tie played in Canada, in July 1921. Australia swept aside Canada 5-0, with Canadian Henri Laframboise taking the only two sets dropped by the James Anderson-led Aussies. Six years later to the month, Jack Wright and Willard Crocker led Canada to defeat Cuba 3-2 in an American Zone semi-final contest. Both Davis Cup ties were competed on red clay.

The Toronto Lawn Tennis Club frequently hosted the Canadian Open Championships between 1881 and 1975, the initial 1881 event at the Club positioning the Canadian Open as the second oldest tennis tournament in the world next to Wimbledon and older than the U.S. Open by about one month. The 1971 Canadian Open was played at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club on red clay and won by John Newcombe who defeated Ken Rosewall in the semifinal and Tom Okker in the superb final. The last Canadian Open championships played at the Club was in 1975 and won by Manuel Orantes. In 1976 the National Tennis Centre was opened in Toronto as a permanent host for the national title.

Other important tennis tournaments held at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club included the O'Keefe International Championships amateur tournament held in the late 1950s and won in 1956 by Lew Hoad over Sven Davidson (who would win the event in 1957), and the 1959 O'Keefe Professional Championships won by Pancho Gonzales, which constituted part of Jack Kramer's Ampol world championship tournament series.

The Toronto Lawn Tennis Club expanded its facilities in 1960 to include squash. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Davis Cup</span> Annual international team competition in mens tennis

The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual team sporting competition. It is described by the organisers as the "World Cup of Tennis", and the winners are referred to as the World Champions. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Great Britain and the United States. By 2023, 155 nations entered teams into the competition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Belkin</span>

Michael I. Belkin is a former Canadian No. 1 tennis player.

Robert Bédard is a former Canadian tennis player and educator. He is the most recent Canadian winner of the Canadian Open Tennis Championships.

Wilmer Lawson Allison Jr. was an American amateur tennis champion of the 1930s. Allison was both a fine singles player and, along with his frequent partner, John Van Ryn, a great doubles player. He won the 1935 U.S. Championship in singles and was ranked US No. 1 in 1934 and 1935.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosedale Field</span>

Rosedale Field was a grandstand stadium located in Rosedale Park at 20 Scholfield Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edgbaston Priory Club</span>

The Edgbaston Priory Club is a private members' tennis, squash and leisure club in Birmingham, England. The club is the host of the annual WTA Tour stop, the Rothesay Classic. The 'Ann Jones Court' stadium has a capacity of 2,500 people.

The Mount Royal Tennis Club has been the most-used venue for Canada hosting Davis Cup ties. It has been the country's most prominent grass court Davis Cup venue.

The Surrey Championships also known as the Surrey Grass Court Championships and the Surrey County Championships was a men's and women's international tennis event originally founded in 1882 as the Berrylands Club Tournament. In 1890 the former tournament's name was changed to the Surbiton Open that featured the first Surrey County Championships. The tournament was first played in Richmond then later in Surbiton, Surrey, England on outdoor grass courts. It ran for 73 editions from 1890 to 1981 and after a period of 18 years re-emerged as the Surbiton Trophy.

Henri Rochon was a Canadian Open champion and Davis Cup tennis player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Sydney Golf Club</span> Golf club in Sydney, New South Wales

Royal Sydney Golf Club is golf club in Rose Bay, New South Wales, Australia, a suburb of Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1878 men's tennis season</span> Mens tennis tour

The 1878 men's tennis season was composed of the third annual pre-open era tour. It now incorporated 15 tournaments staged in Great Britain and Ireland the Wimbledon championships was won by challenger Patrick Francis Hadow defeating the defending champion Spencer Gore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1881 men's tennis season</span>

The 1881, men's tennis season was composed of the sixth annual pre-open era tour, which now incorporates 73 tournaments staged in Australia, Canada, Great Britain and Ireland, and the United States. The 1881 Wimbledon Championships was won by William Renshaw. This year also saw the inaugural and important 1881 U.S. National Championships held at Newport Casino which Richard Sears won. This was also the year that the United States National Lawn Tennis Association, which is the world's first national tennis association, was founded. Renshaw then went on to win two other big tournaments of the year, namely, the Irish Lawn Tennis Championships and Princes Club Championships, whilst Richard Taswell Richardson won the prestigious Northern Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1882 men's tennis season</span>

The 1882 men's tennis season was composed of the seventh annual tennis season and now incorporated 72 events. The Wimbledon Championships and Irish Championships was won by William Renshaw, the U.S. National Championships was won by Richard Sears collecting his second title other big winners were Richard Taswell Richardson picking up the Northern Lawn Tennis Championships and Ernest Renshaw winning the Princes Club Championships, The title leader this season was Robert W. Braddell winning 4 tournaments from 6 finals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1883 men's tennis season</span> Mens Tennis tour (1883)

The 1883 men's tennis season was the eighth annual tennis season, consisting of 71 tournaments. The Wimbledon Championships was won by William Renshaw for the third consecutive year, while Richard Sears continued his dominance at the U.S. National Championships also winning a third successive title. Other big winners this season were Ernest Renshaw, picking up the Irish Championships, Herbert Wilberforce winning the Northern Lawn Tennis Championships in Manchester, and Herbert Lawford collecting his second and final title at the Princes Club Championships. The title leader this season was Charles Walder Grinstead winning 5 tournaments from 6 finals.

The South of Ireland Open Tennis Championship originally called the South of Ireland Championships first established in 1876 and also known as the Limerick Cup is a grass court tennis tournament that features both men's and women's competitions that is currently an official tour event of Tennis Ireland. It is held at the Limerick Lawn Tennis Club in Limerick, County Limerick, Ireland. The championships is the world's second oldest surviving tennis tournament after Wimbledon but the only event to have been staged continuously for the last 141 years.

The County Kildare Open Tennis Championship, originally known as the County Kildare Tennis Tournament (1879–1880), then County Kildare Championship, is grass court tennis tournament held initially at Naas, County Kildare, in Ireland, established on 2 August 1881.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tennis in the United States</span>

Tennis was first played in the United States in 1874. In 1881, the National Lawn Tennis Association was founded in order to organize all tennis activities in the country. The first major tennis tournament was called the US Open Championship and was also first played in 1881.

1876 Women's Tennis Season was mainly composed of national and local amateur tournaments. This year two tennis events were staged in Dublin, Ireland and Hamilton, Bermuda between April and December 1876.

Paul Arden Willey was a Canadian tennis player and winner of the Ontario Tennis Championships in 1954 and the 1956 ILTF British Columbia Lawn Tennis Championships. He represented Canada in the Davis Cup.

The Manitoba Championships also known as the Province of Manitoba Championships was a men's and women's grass court tennis tournament founded in 1885 as the Manitoba and Northwest Territories Championships It was first played at Winnipeg Lawn Tennis Club, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The championships were part of the ILTF Circuit.

References

  1. ↑ Toronto Lawn Tennis Club."Club History".https://www.torontolawn.com/history/
  2. ↑ Toronto Lawn Tennis Club. "Club History". https://www.torontolawn.com/history/
  3. ↑ Toronto Lawn Tennis Club. "Club History". https://www.torontolawn.com/history/
  4. ↑ Toronto Lawn Tennis Club. "Club History". https://www.torontolawn.com/history/
  5. ↑ Toronto Lawn Tennis Club. "Squash".https://www.torontolawn.com/squash/

Sources

43°40′50″N79°23′20″W / 43.68049°N 79.38877°W / 43.68049; -79.38877

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.