The Manchester Open previously known as the Northern Lawn Tennis Championships, the Northern Championships, the Northern Tennis Tournament and the Manchester Trophy was a

grass court A grass court is one of the four different types of tennis court on which the sport of tennis, originally known as "lawn tennis", is played. Grass courts are made of grasses in different compositions depending on the tournament. Although grass ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball c ...

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

on the

ATP Tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organisa ...

held at the Northern Lawn Tennis Club, in the

Didsbury Didsbury is a suburban area of Manchester, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 26,788. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, there are ...

suburb of

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, Great Britain. The tournament had been held annually from 1880 to 2009. Prior to the creation of the

International Lawn Tennis Federation The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations. As of 2016, there a ...

and the establishment of its world championship events in 1913 it was considered by players and historians one of the four most important tennis tournaments to win. the others being Wimbledon, the U.S. National championships and the

Irish Championships Irish Open may refer to: * Irish Open (golf), a golf tournament on the European Tour ** Irish Senior Open, a golf tournament on the European Seniors Tour ** Ladies Irish Open, a golf tournament on the Ladies European Tour *Irish Open (darts) The ...

. Between 1970 and 1989 it was part of the men's

Grand Prix tennis tour The Grand Prix tennis circuit was a professional tennis tour for male players that existed from 1970 to 1989. The Grand Prix and World Championship Tennis (WCT) were the two predecessors to the current tour for male players, the ATP Tour, with t ...

History

The first edition in July 1880 was held at the Broughton Cricket Club while the Kersal Cricket Ground staged the 1881 event. The 1882 edition was the first one to be held in Liverpool and saw the addition of the women's singles event, won by May Langrishe, as well as the women's and mixed doubles events. Prior to the creation of the

. From its inception until 1927 the location of the tournament alternated between Manchester and Liverpool. Between 1970 and 1989 it was part of the men's

Grand Prix Tennis Tour The Grand Prix tennis circuit was a professional tennis tour for male players that existed from 1970 to 1989. The Grand Prix and World Championship Tennis (WCT) were the two predecessors to the current tour for male players, the ATP Tour, with t ...

known throughout the 1980s as the Greater Manchester Grass Court Tennis Championships. In 1990 it became an

event as part of the

ATP International Series The ATP International Series (known from 1990 to 1997 as the ATP World Series) was a series of professional tennis tournaments held internationally as part of the ATP Tour from 2000 to 2008. The series was renamed ATP Tour 250 in 2009. Interna ...

until 1994. In 1995 the tournament was moved to

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

and continued as an

ATP World Series The ATP International Series (known from 1990 to 1997 as the ATP World Series) was a series of professional tennis tournaments held internationally as part of the ATP Tour from 2000 to 2008. The series was renamed ATP Tour 250 The ATP 250 to ...

event. The current Manchester Trophy Challenger is part of the

ATP Challenger Tour The ATP Challenger Tour, known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series, is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. The Challenger Tour events are the second-highest tier of tennis competition, behind the ATP ...

; throughout its history the event has been won by a number of

Wimbledon champions The following is a list of Wimbledon champions in tennis: Champions Senior Wheelchair Junior ‡ = a player who won both the junior and senior title.† = a player who won the junior title and reached the senior final. See also ;Lists o ...

such as

Pete Sampras Petros "Pete" Sampras ( el, Πέτρος Σάμπρας; born August 12, 1971) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. His professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating longtime rival Andre ...

, who won his first grass court title there. The tournament ended in 2009.

Past finals

Men's singles

Men's doubles

Notes

External links

http://www.lta.org.uk/Manchester LTA Northern Lawn Tennis Club
Accessed 17/09/2011.
The Northern Lawn Tennis Club Manchester
Accessed 17/09/2011.
Championship Roll of Honour
Accessed 8/11/2011. {{ATP World Series tournaments Tennis tournaments in England Grass court tennis tournaments ATP Tour Sport in Manchester Recurring sporting events established in 1989 Defunct tennis tournaments in the United Kingdom