The Exmouth Open, originally called the Exmouth Lawn Tennis Club Tournament or simply Exmouth Tournament, was a men's and women's grass court tennis tournament founded in 1880. From 1890 the event was known as the Exmouth Open Tennis Tournament. It was hosted by the Exmouth Archery, Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club,

Exmouth, Devon Exmouth is a port town, civil parish and seaside resort situated on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe, southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the 5th most populous settlement in Devon. History ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

until 1927. It was then hosted by the newly founded Exmouth Lawn Tennis Club until it was abolished as a senior tour event in 1975.

History

The Exmouth Archery, Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club was founded in 1879. In 1880 the club hosted the first Exmouth Lawn Tennis Club Tournament for men only. In 1881 the tournament became an open event for both men and women as well. The first winner of the open men's singles was England's Ernest Maconchy (later Brigadier General), and first winner of the women's open singles was Ireland's Lilian Cole. The event was one of the earliest English tournaments that featured a women's singles event. In 1880s following 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 ...

it was part of what was known as the "Western tour" over the course of five weeks taking in the grass court events such as the Teignmouth and Shaldon Tournament at Teignmouth, the Torquay Lawn Tennis Tournament at Torquay,Lake (2014) the Bournemouth Open Tournament at

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

, and finishing off at the

South of England Championships The South of England Championships, also known as the South of England Open Championships, was an outdoor tennis event held on grass courts at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club in Eastbourne, United Kingdom from 1881 until 1973. History The ...

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

. In August 1888 a Battle of the Sexes charity tennis match was staged at the tournament, predating the modern famous match by 85 years, between

Ernest Renshaw Ernest James Renshaw (3 January 1861 – 2 September 1899) was a British tennis player who was active in the late 19th century. Together with his twin brother William Renshaw, Ernest won the men's doubles at Wimbledon five times. He also won t ...

and

Lottie Dod Charlotte Dod (24 September 1871 – 27 June 1960) was an English multi-sport athlete, best known as a tennis player. She won the Wimbledon Ladies' Singles Championship five times, the first one when she was only 15 in the summer of 1887. She ...

, Renshaw won but only just! From 1890 the event was known as the Exmouth Open Tennis Tournament. In 1968 following the start of the open era it was renamed to the Exmouth Open. The event was part of the Amateur Tour (1877–1912), the ILTF Amateur Tour (1913–1967) and the ITF Independent Tour (1968–1975). In 1970 the tournament was called the Robertson Viota Exmouth Open for sponsorship reasons. In 1971 it was known as the Bio-Strath Exmouth Open until 1972.World of Tennis 1971 : a BP year book. London: Queen Anne Press. 1971. pp. 270–271. ISBN 9780362000917. Former notable of winners the men's singles event include;

Charles Lacy Sweet Charles Lacy Sweet (1861–1892) was a British tennis player in the early years of Wimbledon. He was a semi finalist at the 1887 Wimbledon Championships – Men's singles. He was active for ten years from 1882 to 1892, and won 11 singles titles ...

Charles Walder Grinstead Charles Walder Grinstead (1 December 1860 – 16 March 1930) was an English champion tennis player. He reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon 1883. Grinstead reached the Wimbledon All Comers Final in 1884, where he beat Ernest Renshaw befo ...

Harry Grove Harry Grove (7 May 1862 – 7 February 1896) was a British tennis player in the early years of tennis. Career Grove first entered the Wimbledon men's singles in 1881, when he lost in round one. Grove reached the semis in 1887, beating Herbert ...

Ernest Wool Lewis Ernest Lewis may refer to: * Ernest Lewis (tennis) Ernest Wool Lewis (5 April 1867 – 19 April 1930) was a British lawn tennis player who was active at the end of the 19th century. He twice won the Irish Championships in 1890 and 1891, and w ...

William Renshaw William Charles Renshaw (3 January 1861 – 12 August 1904) was a British tennis player active during the late 19th century, who was ranked world No. 1. He won twelve Wimbledon titles: seven in singles and five in doubles. A right-hander, R ...

Reggie Doherty Reginald "Reggie" or "R. F." Frank Doherty (14 October 1872 – 29 December 1910) was a British tennis player and the older brother of tennis player Laurence Doherty. He was known in the tennis world as "R.F." rather than "Reggie".

Ryuki Miki was a Japanese amateur tennis player. His main success was winning the 1934 Wimbledon Championships in mixed doubles (with Dorothy Round). Sports career Ryuki Miki was born in Takamatsu. During his studies at the Kobe Higher Commercial Sch ...

Jaroslav Drobny Jaroslav (also written as Yaroslav or Jarosław in other Slavic languages) is a Czech and Slovak first name, pagan in origin. Its feminine form is Jaroslava. There are several possible origins of the name Jaroslav. It is very likely that origina ...

. Former winners of the women's singles title included;

Maud Watson Maud Edith Eleanor Watson, Order of the British Empire, MBE (9 October 1864 – 5 June 1946) was a British tennis player and the first female Wimbledon Championships, Wimbledon champion. Biography Born in Harrow, London, Harrow, Middlesex, the ...

Blanche Bingley Hillyard Blanche Bingley Hillyard (née Bingley; 3 November 1863 – 6 August 1946) was an English tennis player. She won six singles Wimbledon championships (1886, 1889, 1894, 1897, 1898, 1900) and was runner up seven times, having also competed in the ...

Phyllis Satterthwaite Phyllis Helen Satterthwaite (née Carr; 26 January 1886 – 20 January 1962) was a female tennis player from Great Britain who was active from the early 1910s until the late 1930s. Tennis career In 1911, she participated for the first time in t ...

and

Sue Barker Susan Barker (born 19 April 1956) is a British former television presenter and professional tennis player. During her playing career, Barker won 15 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including a major at the 1976 French Open. She reached a career- ...

. The final men's edition held in 1975 was won by Britain's Jonathan Smith, and the final winner of the women's singles was Czech player Jana Simonova.

Finals

Men's singles

:''Incomplete roll''

Men's doubles

:''Incomplete roll''

Women's singles

:''Incomplete roll''

Mixed doubles

:''Incomplete roll''

References

{{Reflist, 2

Sources

* Club History. Exmouth, Devon, England: Phear Park Bowling Club. * Dwight, James (1886).Lawn Tennis. Boston, Massachusetts, United States: Wright & Ditson. * Fletcher, Kelly (23 September 2020). "Book Review: Tennis for the people". New Frame. * Heathcote, John Moyer (1891). Tennis. London: Longmans, Green. * Lake, Robert J. (3 October 2014). A Social History of Tennis in Britain. Oxford: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-44557-8. * National Army Museum, Brigadier General Ernest Maconchy: Soldiers' Stories". ww1.nam.ac.uk. * Nieuwland, Alex. "Tournament – Exmouth". www.tennisarchives.com. Netherlands: Tennis Archives. * Routledge's sporting annual (1883). London: George Routledge & Sons. * The Boy's Own Annual. London: Leisure Hour Office. 1880. Grass court tennis tournaments Defunct tennis tournaments in the United Kingdom Tennis tournaments in England