London Hard Court Championships

{{Infobox tennis tournament

|name =London Hard Court Championships

|type = defunct

|event name =Bio-Strath London Hard Court Championships

|tour =

|sponsor =

|founded ={{start date and age|df=yes|1919}}

|editions =

|ended ={{end date and age|df=yes|1971}}

|location=Ranelagh Gardens, Fulham, London, England

|venue=The Hurlingham Club

|surface =Clay

|website =

}}

The London Hard Court Championships {{cite web |title=WTA Tour 1971 to 2011 |url=http://www.wtatennis.com/SEWTATour-Archive%2FRankings_Stats%2Ftournamentfinals.pdf |publisher=Wayback Machine |access-date=6 December 2022 |date=1 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201085234/http://www.wtatennis.com/SEWTATour-Archive%2FRankings_Stats%2Ftournamentfinals.pdf |archive-date=2017-02-01 }} and later known as the Bio-Strath London Hard Court Championships{{cite book |last1=Association |first1=United States Lawn Tennis |title=Official Encyclopedia of Tennis |date=1972 |publisher=Harper & Row |location=New York |isbn=978-0-06-014479-1 |page=328 }} for sponsorship reasons was a clay court tennis event founded in 1919. It was held at the Hurlingham Club Ranelagh Gardens, Fulham, London, England through until 1971, when it failed find new sponsors for the following season, and the tournament ended.

History

The London Hard Court Championships were first established in September 1919. The winner of first men's singles event was Romanian player Nicolae Mishu who defeated Australia's Stanley Doust. In the first women's singles event a decision was made to divide the title and prize between Madeline Fisher O'Neill and Blanche Colston. In 1970 it was part of the Bio-Strath Circuit of tournaments as the third leg of the tour that year.{{cite book |last1=Barrett |first1=John |last2=Tingay |first2=Lance |last3=West |first3=Peter |title=World of Tennis 1971 : a BP yearbook |date=1971 |publisher=Queen Anne Press |location=London |isbn=978-0-362-00091-7 |pages=260–271 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/worldoftennis1970000unse_t8h5/page/272/mode/2up |chapter=The 1970 British Tournament Season}}

On 15 May 1971 after 52 years the final London Hard Court Championships was concluded. The final men's singles event was won by the Chilean player Jaime Fillol who defeated Britain's Gerald Battrick.{{cite news |title=Mrs. Court Keeps Title: Jaime Fillol of Chile, exploiting drop shots and spin, defeated Gerald Battrick of Britain, 7-5, 6-3, for the men's title.|work=The New York Times |date=16 May 1971 |page=6}} The final women's singles title was won by Australian Margaret Smith Court who beat France's Françoise Dürr.{{cite news |title=Mrs. Court Keeps Title: Mrs. Margaret Court of Australia overcame an upset stomach today and defeated Françoise Dürr of France, 6-0, 6-3, to retain the women's title in the Bio-Strath hard -court tennis championships at the Hurlingham Club. |work=The New York Times |date=16 May 1971|page=6}}

References

Category:Clay court tennis tournaments

Category:Defunct tennis tournaments in the United Kingdom

Category:Recurring sporting events established in 1919

Category:1919 establishments in England

Category:1971 disestablishments in England