Tennis Ireland is the governing body for

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

for the

island of Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially named Irelanda sovereign state covering five-sixths of th ...

, with responsibilities for clubs and competitions. It was founded in 1908 and has almost 180 affiliated clubs and with approximately 80,000 players. Tennis Ireland is divided into four Branches corresponding to the four

provinces of Ireland There are four provinces of Ireland: Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster. The Irish language, Irish word for this territorial division, , meaning "fifth part", suggests that there were once five, and at times Kingdom of Meath, Meath has be ...

, with its national headquarters located on the campus of

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) () is a Third-level education in the Republic of Ireland, university based on the Northside, Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Highe ...

. Tennis Ireland governs the Ireland Davis Cup team and the Ireland Billie Jean King Cup team.

History

Tennis Ireland was formed in 1908 as the Irish Lawn Tennis Association, a federation of 14 Irish tennis clubs. It became independent of the

Lawn Tennis Association The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is the national governing body of tennis in Great Britain, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man founded in 1888. The LTA promotes all levels of lawn tennis. The organization believes tennis can provide ...

following the creation of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

in 1922.

Competitions

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...

Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...

Notable winners of the Irish Championships/Irish Open

Below is a list of Irish Championships/ Irish Open winners some of whom were also Grand Slam finalists or former World No. 1 tennis players.

Men's

* Vere St. Leger Goold – 1879 * William Renshaw – 1880, 1881, 1882 *

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 ...

– 1883, 1887, 1888 *

Herbert Lawford Herbert Fortescue Lawford (15 May 1851 – 20 April 1925) was a former World number 1 male tennis player rankings, world No. 1 tennis player from Scotland who won the Men's Singles championship at The Championships, Wimbledon, Wimbledon in 1887 ...

– 1884, 1885, 1886 * Willoughby Hamilton – 1889 * Ernest Lewis – 1890, 1891 * Joshua Pim – 1893, 1894, 1895 * Wilfred Baddeley – 1896 * Reginald Doherty – 1899, 1900, 1901 *

Laurence Doherty Hugh Laurence Doherty (8 October 1875 – 21 August 1919) was a British tennis player and the younger brother of tennis player Reginald Doherty. He was a six-time Grand Slam champion and a double Olympic Gold medalist at the Tennis at the 1900 ...

– 1902 *

James Cecil Parke James Cecil Parke (26 July 1881 – 27 February 1946) was an Irish rugby union player, tennis player, golfer, solicitor and World War I veteran. He became an Olympic silver medallist, Davis Cup champion, Wimbledon Mixed Doubles winner and Aust ...

– 1904, 1905, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913 * Frank Riseley – 1906 * Major Ritchie – 1907 *

George Lyttleton-Rogers George Lyttleton Rogers (10 July 1906 – 19 November 1962) was an Irish tennis player, promoter and coach. He won the Irish Championships title three times, (1926, 1936–1937). He was the Canadian and Argentine champion as well. He was a thr ...

– 1928, 1936, 1937 * Sidney Wood – 1932 * Dinny Pails – 1946 *

Tony Mottram Anthony John Mottram (8 June 1920 – 6 October 2016) was a British tennis player of the 1940s and 1950s. Mottram reached the quarterfinal of the 1948 Wimbledon Championships in which he lost to Gardnar Mulloy. In the doubles event he reac ...

– 1947 *

Eric Sturgess Eric William Sturgess (10 May 1920 – 14 January 2004) was a South African male tennis player and winner of six Grand Slam doubles titles. He also reached the singles final of a Grand Slam tournament three times but never won. Sturgess was ra ...

– 1948 *

Abe Segal Alan Abraham Segal (23 October 1930 – 4 April 2016) was a South African tennis player. Early life and career He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and was Jewish. During the 1950s and 1960s, he was the doubles partner of Gordon Forb ...

– 1951 * Budge Patty – 1956 * Ashley Cooper – 1957 * Neale Fraser – 1958 * Mike Davies – 1958 *

Dennis Ralston Richard Dennis Ralston (July 27, 1942 – December 6, 2020) was an American professional tennis player whose active career spanned the 1960s and 1970s. As a young player, he was coached by tennis pro Pancho Gonzales. He attended the University ...

– 1960 *

Rod Laver Rodney George Laver (born 9 August 1938) is an Australian former professional tennis player. Laver was ranked as the World number 1 ranked male tennis players, world number 1 professional player indisputably for five years from 1965 to 1969, ...

– 1962 * Bobby Wilson – 1963, 1964 *

Tony Roche Anthony Dalton Roche Order of Australia, AO Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 17 May 1945) is an Australian former professional tennis player. A native of Tarcutta, Roche played junior tennis in the New South Wales regional city of Wagga ...

– 1965, 1970 *

Tom Okker Thomas Samuel Okker (born 22 February 1944), nicknamed "the Flying Dutchman", is a Dutch former tennis player who was active from the mid-1960s until 1980. He won the 1973 French Open Doubles, the 1976 US Open Doubles, and two gold medals at the ...

– 1968 *

Bob Hewitt Robert Anthony John Hewitt (born 12 January 1940) is a former professional tennis player from Australia. In 1967, after marrying a South African, he became a South African citizen. He has won 15 major titles and a career Grand Slam in both men' ...

– 1969, 1972 *

Cliff Drysdale Eric Clifford Drysdale (born 26 May 1941) is a South African former tennis player. After a career as a highly ranked professional player in the 1960s and early 1970s, he became a tennis announcer. Life and career Born Eric Clifford 'Cliff' Dry ...

– 1971 *

Sherwood Stewart Sherwood Stewart (born June 6, 1946) is a former professional tennis player who was active in the 1970s and 1980s. Stewart was ranked as high as No. 60 in the world in singles on the ATP Rankings on December 31, 1978, and No. 4 in doubles on J ...

– 1974 *

Bob Carmichael Bob "Nails" Carmichael (4 July 1940 – 18 November 2003) was an Australian tennis player and coach. As a player, Carmichael won one singles title and 12 doubles titles, and achieved a top-ten ranking in 1970. Partnering Allan Stone, he reac ...

– 1978 * Paul Kronk – 1979 *

Greg Rusedski Gregory Rusedski (born 6 September 1973) is a Canadian-British former professional tennis player. He was the British No. 1 in 1997, 1999 and 2006, and reached the ATP Tour, ATP ranking of world No. 4 for periods from 6 October 1997 to 12 October ...

– 1993, 1994, 1996

Ladies

May Langrishe Mary Isabella "May" Langrishe (31 December 1864 – 24 January 1939) was an Irish tennis player. In the most important tennis tournaments of the late 19th century she won the singles title at the presitigous Irish Championships held at the Fitz ...

- 1879, 1883, 1886 *

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 ...

- 1884, 1885 *

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 ...

- 1887 * Louisa Martin - 1889-1892, 1896, 1899-1900, 1902-1903 * Blanche Bingley Hillyard - 1888, 1894, 1897 * Charlotte Cooper - 1895, 1898 * Muriel Robb - 1901 * Elizabeth Ryan - 1919-1921, 1923 *

Jadwiga Jędrzejowska Jadwiga "Jed" Jędrzejowska (; 15 October 1912 – 28 February 1980) was a Polish tennis player who had her main achievements during the second half of the 1930s. Because her name was difficult to pronounce for many people who did not speak Polis ...

- 1932 * Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling - 1934 * Helen Wills Moody - 1938 *

Alice Marble Alice Irene Marble (September 28, 1913 – December 13, 1990) was an American tennis player who won 18 Grand Slam championships between 1936 and 1940: five in singles, six in women's doubles, and seven in mixed doubles. She was ranked world No. ...

- 1939 * Louise Brough - 1946 *

Maureen Connolly Maureen Catherine Connolly-Brinker (née Connolly; September 17, 1934 – June 21, 1969), known as "Little Mo", was an American tennis player, the winner of nine major singles titles in the early 1950s. In 1953, she became the first woman to win ...

- 1952, 1954 *

Angela Mortimer Florence Angela Margaret Mortimer Barrett, Order of the British Empire, MBE (née Mortimer; born 21 April 1932) is a British former world No. 1 tennis player. Mortimer won three Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam singles titles: the 1955 French Cham ...

- 1953 * Ann Haydon Jones - 1961 *

Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943), also known as BJK, is an American former World number 1 ranked female tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in w ...

- 1963, 1969 *

Maria Bueno Maria Esther Andion Bueno (11 October 1939 – 8 June 2018) was a Brazilian professional tennis player. During her 11-year career in the 1950s and 1960s, she won 19 Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles (seven in women's singles, 11 in w ...

- 1964, 1965 *

Margaret Court Margaret Court (''née'' Smith; born 16 July 1942), also known as Margaret Smith Court, is an Australian former world number 1 tennis player and a Christian minister. Her 24 women's singles major titles and total of 64 major titles (includi ...

- 1966, 1968, 1971, 1973 *

Virginia Wade Sarah Virginia Wade (born 10 July 1945) is a British former professional tennis player. She won three major tennis singles championships and four major doubles championships, and is the only British woman in history to have won titles at all fo ...

- 1970 *

Evonne Goolagong Cawley Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley (née Goolagong; born 31 July 1951) is an Australian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis ...

- 1972

Irish Major Tournament Champions

Below is a list of Irish grand slam, Davis Cup, and Olympic champions. In total an Irish player has won a singles grand slam on eight occasions, a doubles grand slam on five occasions and a mixed doubles grand slam on four occasions. Irish players have won six Olympic medals in tennis. Eight Irish individuals have either won a grand slam event or an Olympic medal in tennis. All of these victories occurred prior to Ireland's secession from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

; as such these individuals competed under the

flag of the United Kingdom The national flag of the United Kingdom is the Union Jack, also known as the Union Flag. The design of the Union Jack dates back to the Act of Union 1801, which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland (previously in pe ...

rather than the

Flag of Ireland The national flag of Republic of Ireland, Ireland (), frequently referred to in Ireland as 'the tricolour' () and elsewhere as the Irish tricolour, is a vertical Tricolour (flag), tricolour of green (at the Flag terminology#Description of sta ...

List of Irish Grand Slam Men's Singles Champions

Wimbledon

* Willoughby Hamilton –

1890 Events January * January 1 – The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony in the Horn of Africa. * January 2 – Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer in the White House. * January 11 – 1890 British Ultimatum: The Uni ...

* Joshua Pim – 1893,

1894 Events January * January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire. * January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United States. * Ja ...

Harold Mahony Harold Segerson Mahony (13 February 1867 – 27 June 1905) was a Scottish-born Irish tennis player who is best known for winning the singles title at the Wimbledon Championships in 1896. His career lasted from 1888 until his death in 1905. Maho ...

–

1896 Events January * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports Wilhelm Röntgen's dis ...

Australian Open

–

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

List of Irish Grand Slam Men's Doubles Champions

Wimbledon

* Joshua Pim –

, 1893 * Frank Stoker –

, 1893 *

–

List of Irish Grand Slam Women's Singles Champions

Wimbledon

* Lena Rice –

US Open

* Mabel Cahill –

1891 Events January * January 1 ** A strike of 500 Hungarian steel workers occurs; 3,000 men are out of work as a consequence. **Germany takes formal possession of its new African territories. * January 4 – The Earl of Zetland issues a ...

1892 In Samoa, this was the only leap year spanned to 367 days as July 4 repeated. This means that the International Date Line was drawn from the east of the country to go west. Events January * January 1 – Ellis Island begins processing imm ...

List of Irish Grand Slam Women's Doubles Champions

US Open

* Mabel Cahill –

List of Irish Mixed Doubles Champions

Wimbledon

–

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as the First World War, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip ...

US Open

* Mabel Cahill – 1890,

List of Irish Davis Cup Champions

–

List of Irish Olympic Medalists

* John Boland – Gold: 1896 Men's Singles*, 1896 Men's Doubles* *

– Silver: 1900 Men's Singles*, 1900 Mixed doubles*
Bronze: 1900 Men's Doubles* *

– Silver: 1908 Men's Outdoor doubles* *Participants competed for the British Isles

Irish Champions of Major professional tennis tournaments before the Open Era

Before the advent of the Open era of tennis competitions in April 1968, only amateurs were allowed to compete in established tournaments, including the four majors. However, many top tennis players turned professional to play legally for prize money in the years before the open era. There were also major pro events, where the world's top professional male players often played. These tournaments held with a certain tradition and longevity. According to Ellsworth Vines, "the Wembley tournament in London..., the U.S. professional championship, and to some extent the tournament in Paris were the major professional tournaments prior to 1968."''Tennis Myth and Method'' (1978), Ellsworth Vines and Gene Vier (), page 43 Below is a list of Irish Champions at these events.

Men's Doubles Champions

French Pro Championship

* Albert Burke –

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

Clubs

* Claremont Railway Tennis Club * Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club

References

External links

Tennis Ireland 1908-2008

Tennis Ireland

Fed Cup Current Rankings

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

1908 establishments in Ireland

{{Tennis-stub

History

Competitions

Notable winners of the Irish Championships/Irish Open

Men's

Ladies

Irish Major Tournament Champions

List of Irish Grand Slam Men's Singles Champions

Wimbledon

Australian Open

List of Irish Grand Slam Men's Doubles Champions

Wimbledon

List of Irish Grand Slam Women's Singles Champions

Wimbledon

US Open

List of Irish Grand Slam Women's Doubles Champions

US Open

List of Irish Mixed Doubles Champions

Wimbledon

US Open

List of Irish Davis Cup Champions

List of Irish Olympic Medalists

Irish Champions of Major professional tennis tournaments before the Open Era

Men's Doubles Champions

French Pro Championship

Clubs

See also

References

External links