The Eastern Clay Court Championships was a combined men's and women's international tennis tournament on clay courts founded in 1927 by the Eastern Lawn Tennis Association of the USLTA. The championships were held in various locations in the New York City area, U.S. until 1971.

History

The Eastern Clay Court Championships were founded in 1927 under the aegis of the Eastern Lawn Tennis Association (the New York City regional chapter of the USLTA). That same year of 1927, the Eastern Lawn Tennis Association also inaugurated the Eastern Grass Court Championships, usually played in August. The list of champions and runners-up for the two tournaments contained many names common to both events. The Eastern Clay Court tournaments were usually played in late June and early July, often conflicting with the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...

schedule for player participation and news coverage. The early editions were played in New York City at the Jackson Heights Tennis Club, Queens N.Y.. The Eastern Clay Court Championships were later held in different locations in the New York City area including such venues as the

Westchester Country Club Westchester Country Club is a private country club located in Harrison, New York. Founded in 1922 as a destination for sportsmen, it was known to professional golfers and spectators for more than four decades as the home of the Westchester Cla ...

(currently HarTru clay courts) in the early 1950s. The Westchester Country Club had also hosted the Eastern Grass Court Championships tennis tournament from 1927 until 1945. In the 1954-1969 period the location was the Oritani Field Club in Hackensack, N.J. The Hackensack clay court traditions are currently being revived. "The tennis club will feature eight indoor and six outdoor courts featuring new maintenance-free red clay court technology imported from Germany, according to a press release." The final venue in the early 1970s was in Port Washington, New York City. The title was won by such champions as Herbert Bowman,

Gregory Mangin Gregory Sylvester Mangin (November 1, 1907 – October 27, 1979) was an American tennis player and Wall Street broker. He won four U.S. National Indoor Championships, U.S. Indoor singles titles in the 1930s. Early life and education Mangin was ...

Berkeley Bell Richard Berkeley Bell (November 8, 1907 – June 15, 1967) was an American male tennis player who ranked No. 7 among the U.S. amateurs in 1934. He twice reached the final of the men's doubles competition at the U.S. National Championships (now ...

, J. Gilbert Hall,

Bobby Riggs Robert Larimore Riggs (February 25, 1918 – October 25, 1995) 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 ...

Pancho Segura Francisco Olegario Segura Cano (June 20, 1921 – November 18, 2017), better known as Pancho "Segoo" Segura, was a leading tennis player of the 1940s and 1950s, both as an amateur and as a professional. He was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, ...

, Frank Parker (who won the title four times),

Bill Talbert William Franklin Talbert (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 1999) was an American tennis player and administrator. Tennis career He was ranked in the U.S. top 10 from 1941 to 1954, and he was ranked World No. 3 in 1949 by John Olliff of ''The D ...

Dick Savitt Richard Savitt (March 4, 1927 – January 6, 2023) was an American tennis player. In 1951, at the age of 24, he won both the Australian and Wimbledon men's singles championships. Savitt was mostly ranked world No. 2 the same year behind fellow ...

Sidney Schwartz Sidney Schwartz (May 28, 1929 – February 19, 2017) was an American tennis player who competed in the mid-20th century. He reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. National Championships in 1950 at Forest Hills, New York, on grass, losing to Dic ...

, Eddie Moylan, J. Allen Morris, Ron Holmberg, Robert Bédard,

Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player. He won three Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, Grand Slam titles in singles and two in doubles. Ashe was the first Black player selected ...

Frank Froehling Frank Arthur Froehling III (May 19, 1942 – January 23, 2020) was an American tennis player. During his college career at Trinity University Froehling recorded 46–5 in singles matches and won nine singles titles. He was runner-up at U.S. ...

, and

Antonio Palafox Antonio Palafox (born 28 April 1936) is a Mexican male former tennis player. He and compatriot Rafael Osuna won the doubles at the U.S. Open in 1962 and at Wimbledon in 1963. He is remembered along with Rafael Osuna, Francisco "Pancho" Cont ...

. Other notable players who participated without winning the singles title but finishing as runner-up included

Julius Seligson Julius "Julie" Seligson (December 22, 1909, in New York City – October 13, 1987) was an American tennis player in the early part of the 20th century. Seligson was ranked as high as # 8 in USTA Singles in 1928. In 1928 he won the NCAA Men's Ten ...

, Frank Bowden, Clifford Sutter, Sidney Wood, Don McNeill (runner-up in both 1937 and 1950),

Frank Shields Francis Xavier Alexander Shields Sr. (November 18, 1909 – August 19, 1975) was an American amateur tennis player of the 1920s and 1930s, and an actor known for '' Hoosier Schoolboy'' (1937). He was ranked world No. 2 in 1931, and U.S. No. 1 i ...

Frank Kovacs Frank Kovacs (December 4, 1919 – February 1990) 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 Champions ...

Ted Schroeder Frederick Rudolph "Ted" Schroeder (July 20, 1921 – May 26, 2006) was an American tennis player who won the two most prestigious amateur tennis titles, Wimbledon and the U.S. National. He was the No. 1-ranked American amateur player in 1942 ...

Gene Mako Constantine "Gene" Mako ( ; January 24, 1916 – June 14, 2013) was an American tennis player and art gallery owner. He was born in Budapest, Hungary. He won four Grand Slam doubles titles in the 1930s. Mako was inducted into the International T ...

Gardnar Mulloy Gardnar Putnam "Gar" Mulloy (November 22, 1913 – November 14, 2016) was a U.S. No. 1 tennis player primarily known for playing in doubles matches with partner Billy Talbert. He was born in Washington, D.C., and centenarian, turned 100 in Novem ...

Tony Vincent Tony Vincent is an American actor, songwriter, and singer based in New York City and Nashville. Early career Vincent was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His professional career began while attending Belmont University in Nashville, Tennesse ...

, and

Gene Scott William Eugene Scott (August 14, 1929 – February 21, 2005) was an American minister and teacher who served for almost 50 years as a pastor and broadcaster in Los Angeles, California. He pastored the Faith Center and Wescott Christian Center ...

all of whom were strong clay court players. Frank Parker holds the record for most titles (4). The 1969 champion,

Peter Fishbach Peter Fishbach (born August 29, 1947) is an American former professional tennis player. Biography Fishbach was born and raised in New York City. He attended Great Neck North High School. In 1963, 1964, and 1965 he was the New York State Public ...

, was the son of the 1938 runner-up, Joe Fishbach.

Pauline Betz Pauline May Betz Addie (née Betz, August 6, 1919 – May 31, 2011) was an American professional tennis player. She won five Grand Slam singles titles and was the runner-up on three other occasions. Jack Kramer called her the second best femal ...

History

Finals

Men's singles

Women's singles

See also

References