London Hard Court Championships

The London Hard Court Championships ^[1] and later known as the Bio-Strath London Hard Court Championships^[2] 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.

London Hard Court Championships
Defunct tennis tournament
Event name	Bio-Strath London Hard Court Championships
Founded	1919; 105 years ago (1919)
Abolished	1971; 53 years ago (1971)
Location	Ranelagh Gardens, Fulham, London, England
Venue	The Hurlingham Club
Surface	Clay

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.^[3]

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.^[4] The final women's singles title was won by Australian Margaret Smith Court who beat France's Françoise Dürr.^[5]

References

1. "WTA Tour 1971 to 2011" (PDF). Wayback Machine. 1 February 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-01. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
2. Association, United States Lawn Tennis (1972). Official Encyclopedia of Tennis. New York: Harper & Row. p. 328. ISBN 978-0-06-014479-1.
3. Barrett, John; Tingay, Lance; West, Peter (1971). "The 1970 British Tournament Season". World of Tennis 1971 : a BP yearbook. London: Queen Anne Press. pp. 260–271. ISBN 978-0-362-00091-7.
4. "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". The New York Times. 16 May 1971. p. 6.
5. "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". The New York Times. 16 May 1971. p. 6.