Midland Counties Championships

The Midland Counties Championships [1] also known as the Midland International was a grass court tennis tournament held at Edgbaston Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club, Edgbaston, Great Britain from 1881 to 1977.

Midland Counties Championships
Defunct tennis tournament
Event name Midland Counties Championships
TourPre open era
Founded1882
Abolished1977
Editions72
LocationEdgbaston
Birmingham
Great Britain
VenueEdgbaston Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club

History

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The first unofficial championship was established in 1881 at the Edgbaston Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club, Edgbaston near Birmingham, England as part of the Edgbaston Open Tournament. In 1882 the Midland Counties Challenge Cup became a separate event and ran for seventy two editions until 1977. The event featured both men's and women's singles, doubles and mixed doubles competitions [1] and was classified as an open tournament.[2]

Finals

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Notes: Challenge round: The final round of a tournament, in which the winner of a single-elimination phase faces the previous year's champion, who plays only that one match. The challenge round was used in the early history of tennis (from 1877 through 1921) [3] in some tournaments not all.

Men's singles

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Included:[4][5] (Incomplete roll) Notes: * This edition was part of the Edgbaston Open Tournament.

Year Champion Runner-up Score
Midland Counties Challenge Cup
1881 *   Walter Chamberlain   F.S. Goodwin 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
Midland Counties Championship
1882   R. W. Smith   George Reston Brewerton 2 sets to 1
1884   Walter Chamberlain (2)   John Redfern Deykin 6-3, 2-6, 10-8, 6-1
1885   Conway J Morgan   Walter Chamberlain 6-4, 2-6, 2-6, 6-2, 9-7
1886   Frank Noon   Conway J Morgan 6-4, 6-2, 6-4
1887[6]   John Redfern Deykin   Frank Noon 6-4, 6-4, 6-2
1888[7]   Harry Scrivener   John Redfern Deykin 6-2, 6-0, 9-7
1889[8]   John Redfern Deykin (2)   Harold Weston Carlton 2-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
1890   John Redfern Deykin (3)   Henry Guy Nadin 0-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3
1891   James Baldwin   Harry S, Barlow 6-3, 7-9, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
1892   Harry S, Barlow   Tom Chaytor 6-4, 6-1
1893   George Hillyard   Henry Guy Nadin 6-3, 6-1, 6-3
1894   George Hillyard (2)   R A Bennett 6-4, 6-2, 6-1
1895   George Hillyard (3)   Sydney Howard Smith 6-4, 8-6, 4-6, 6-1
1896   Sydney Howard Smith   Charles Henry Ridding 6-3, 8-6
1897   Sydney Howard Smith (2)   George Hillyard 6-2, 6-3, 8-6
1898   Sydney Howard Smith (3)   George Hillyard 4-6, 9-7, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2
1899   Wilberforce Eaves   Ernest D Black 8-6, 6-2
1900   Sydney Howard Smith (4)   George Hillyard 6-2, 6-3, 7-5
1901   Sydney Howard Smith (5)   Wilberforce Eaves 6-3, 6-1
1902   Sydney Howard Smith (6)   Frank Riseley 6-4, 6-3, 6-4
1903   Sydney Howard Smith (7)   Josiah Ritchie 5-7, 7-5, 7-5, 6-2
1904   Sydney Howard Smith (8)   Wilberforce Eaves 6-4, 6-3, 6-2
1905   Sydney Howard Smith (9)   Norman Brookes 15-13, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
1906   John Mycroft Boucher   Wilberforce Eaves 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
1907   John Mycroft Boucher (2)   James Cecil Parke 6-2, 8-10, 6-3, 9-7
1908   John Mycroft Boucher (3)   James Cecil Parke 6-2, 6-3, 6-2
1909   Stanley Doust   James Cecil Parke 6-2, 6-0
1910   James Cecil Parke   Stanley Doust 9-7, 6-3, 6-2
1911   Arthur Lowe   James Cecil Parke 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 [5]
1912   Stanley Doust (2)   Charles L Wilmslow 6-4, 6-0, 6-1
1913   Stanley Doust (3)   Erik Larsen 6-1, 6-3
1914   Alfred Beamish   William L Clements 6-1, 9-7, 2-6, 6-0
1915/1918 men's event not held due to World War I
1919   Stanley Doust   Pat O'Hara Wood 6-4, 6-4
1920   Bill Tilden   Chales L Wilmslow 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
1921   Brian Norton   Frank Lorymer Riseley 8-6, 6-0, 6-0
1922   Gordon Francis Lowe   N M Greeg 6-2 6-2 6-2
1923   Hassan Ali Fyzee   Donald Greig 6-2 6-4
1924   Jack M Hillyard   Gordon Crole-Rees 6-4, 7-5, 6-4
1925   John Brian Gilbert   Hector Fisher 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
1926   Hector Fisher   Jack M Hillyard 6-1, 9-7, 5-7, 6-1
1927   Bunny Austin   Keats Lester 6-1, 6-3
1928   Mohammed Sleem   Keats Lester 4-6, 6-1, 6-0, 6-0
1929   William Henry Powell   Jack Lysaght 6-1, 6-2
1930   Keats Lester   Ryuki Miki 6-3, 6-3
1931   Jiro Satoh   Herman David 7-5, 6-4
1932   John Olliff   Antoine Gentien 1-6, 6-4, 2-0, retired.
1933   Ryuki Miki   Keats Lester 6-4, 6-2
1934   Keats Lester (2)   Antoine Gentien 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
1935   Vivian McGrath   Walter Musgrove 8-6, 6-2
1936   Cam Malfroy   Alan Stedman WEA
1937   Kho Sin-Kie   Herman David 6-4, 6-3
1938   Franjo Punčec   Kho Sin-Kie 6-3, 2-6, 7-5
1939   Donald Butler   Herman David 3-3, unfinished
1940/1945 men's event not held due to World War II
1946   Kho Sin-Kie   Enrique Morea 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
1947   Constantin Tănăsescu   Jack Crawford 6-1, 8-6, 3-6, 1-6, 6-3
1948   Felicisimo Ampon   Raymundo Deyro 6-2, 6-3
1949   Tony Mottram   Ricardo Balbiers 6-3, 9-7
1950   Jaroslav Drobný   Koon-Hong Ip 6-2, 6-2
1951   Don Candy   Naresh Kumar 6-4, 6-2
1952   Owen Gordon Williams   Trevor Fancutt 6-4, 6-2
1953   William Russell Seymour   Tony Mottram 8-6, 7-5
1954   Jaroslav Drobný (2)   Roger Becker 6-0, 6-3
1955   Jaroslav Drobný (3)   Arthur Larsen 7-5, 4-6, 6-4
1956   Trevor Fancutt   Mike Davies 7-5, 6-3, 6-4
1957   Budge Patty   Luis Ayala 7-5, 3-6, 6-1
1959   K F Buswell   Robert M Powell 7-5, 8-6
1960   Bobby Wilson   Ivo Ribeiro 6-0, 6-2
1962   Roger Becker   Ian Crookenden 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
1963   Roy Emerson   Rafael Osuna 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
1964   Fred Stolle   Billy Knight 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
1965   Billy Knight   Bobby Wilson 7-5, 6-3
1966[9]   Roy W. Dixon   Keith Bland 6-2, 6-3
1967[10]   Roy W. Dixon (2)   Keith Bland 6-4, 4-6, 7-5
1968   Roy W. Dixon (3)   Peter Breed 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
↓  Open era  ↓
Bio-Strath Edgbaston
1970 [11]   Andrew Pattison   Peter Doerner 6-4, 6-4
Midland Counties Championship
1973   Roy W. Dixon (4)   Martin Ladbrooke 7-6, 6-2
1974   Peter R. Breed   Alan G. Purnell 7-6, 6-4
1975   Hugh Thomson   Ricardo Ycaza 7-6, 6-3
1976   Peter Pierson   Nimish Desai 6-2, 6-4
1977   Sochio Kato   Mike Newberry 6-0, 6-4

Women's singles

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(Incomplete roll)

Year Champion Runner-up Score
Midland Counties Championships
1881   Maud Watson   Lilian Watson ?
1882   Constance Langley Smith   Miss Heaton 6-2, 6-1
1883   Miss Hutton   L. Sanders 6-5 ,8-6
1884   Edith Noon   Miss Richardson 6-3, 8-6, 6-3
1885   Margaret Bracewell   Mary Steedman 6-3, 6-2
1886   Blanche Bingley   Lilian Watson 6-0, 6-2
1887   Margaret Bracewell (2)   Florence Mardall 6-0, 4-6, 7-5
1888   Margaret Bracewell (3)   Florence Mardall 7-5, 6-1
1889 event not held
1890   L. Johnstone   Ethel Taylor Valentin 6-2, 5-6, 6-4
1891   Alice Simpson Pickering   Mrs Wills 6-1, 6-3
1892   Edith Longhurst   Winifred Longhurst divided prizes
1893   D. Morgan   Blanche Bingley Hillyard 12-10, retd.
1894 women's event handicap only
1895   Winifred Longhurst   C. Jones 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
1896   Bertha Steedman   Katherine Grey 6-4, 6-2
1897   Ruth Dyas   Alice Simpson Pickering 8-6, 3-6, 6-3
1898   Blanche Bingley Hillyard   Maude Garfit 6-3, 6-1
1899   Charlotte Cooper   Ruth Dyas Durlacher 3-6, 6-4, 8-6
1900   Muriel Robb   Constance Hill 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
1901   Ruth Dyas Durlacher (2)   Maude Garfit 6-4, 6-4
1902   Winifred Longhurst (2)   Muriel Robb 7-5, 7-5
1903   Ethel Thomson   Gertrude Provis Houselander 6-4, 6-2
1904   Connie Wilson   Blanche Bingley Hillyard 6-3, 6-3
1905   Connie Wilson (2)   Dorothea Douglass 7-5, 6-4
1906   Connie Wilson (3)   Alice Greene 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
1907   Charlotte Cooper Sterry   Alice Greene 6-3 ,9-7
1908   Charlotte Cooper Sterry (2)   Edith Boucher 6-3, 6-0
1909   Helen Aitchison   Agnes Tuckey 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
1910   Dora Boothby   Helen Aitchison 7-5, 7-5
1911   Edith Hannam  Dora Boothby 6-4, 2-6, 7-5
1912   Edith Hannam (2)   Ethel Thomson Larcombe 2-6, 6-4, 7-5
1913   Edith Hannam (3)   Elizabeth Ryan 6-4, 6-0
1914   Winifred McNair   Helen Aitchison 4-6, 6-3, 9-7
1915/1918 women's event not held due to World War I
1919   Ethel Thomson Larcombe   Winifred McNair 4-6, 6-2, 7-5
1920   Dorothy Shepherd   Lesley Cadle 8-6, 7-5
1921   Geraldine Beamish   Dorothy Shepherd 8-6, 6-2
1922   Geraldine Beamish (2)   M. Fergus 6-1, 6-1
1923   Jessie Russell Colegate   Dorothy Shepherd Barron 10-8, 2-6, 6-4
1924   Elizabeth Ryan   Phyllis Satterthwaite 6-2, 6-4
1925   Phyllis Satterthwaite   Gwen Sterry 6-1, 6-0
1926   Ermyntrude Harvey   Joan Fry 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
1927   Jessie Russell Colegate (2)   Mary McIlquham 6-2, 6-1
1928   Naomi Trentham   Gwen Sterry 3-6, 9-7, 9-7
1929   Dorothy Round   Joan Fry 6-1, 6-4
1930   Naomi Trentham (2)   Mary McIlquham 6-1, 1-6, 7-5
1931   Lolette Payot   Mary Heeley 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
1932   Marie-Louise Horn   Freda James 6-2, 6-3
1933   Olga Webb   Marie-Louise Horn 6-4, 6-4
1934   Countess Gabriela Szapary   E. Woodhall 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
1935   Jadwiga Jędrzejowska   Anita Lizana 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
1936   Jadwiga Jędrzejowska (2)   Irmgard Rost 6-3 6-3
1937   Mary Heeley   Anita Lizana 0-6, 6-4, 6-3
1938   Mary Hardwick   Simonne Mathieu 7-5, 6-1
1939   Freda James Hammersley   Simonne Mathieu divided prizes
1940/1945 women's event not held due to World War II
1946   Joan Curry   Jadwiga Jędrzejowska 7-5 6-3
1947   Joan Curry (2)   Elsie Hamilton Phillips 6-3, 6-0
1948   Barbara Knapp   Dorothy Round Little 7-5, 6-0
1949   Mary Terán de Weiss   Joy Gannon 9-7, 6-3
1950   Nancy Chaffee   Rita Jarvis Anderson 6-0, 6-2
1951   Doris Hart   Shirley Fry 4-6, 6-2, 7-5
1952   Doris Hart (2)   Shirley Fry 7-5, 3-6, 9-7
1953   Heather Nicholls Brewer   Billie Woodgate 6-4, 6-1
1954   Heather Nicholls Brewer (2)   Joan Curry 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
1955   Hazel Redick-Smith   Beryl Penrose 11-9, 2-6, 11-9
1956   Angela Mortimer   Jenny Staley Hoad 6-2, 4-6, 6-0
1957   Angela Mortimer (2)   Maria Helena Amorim 6-1, 6-1
1958 women's event cancelled
1959   Hazel Cheadle   Miss Bishop 6-4, 8-6
1960   Angela Mortimer (3)   Margaret Hellyer 6-0, 6-1
1961   Barbara Knapp   Jennifer Gail Morris 6-0, 6-3
1962   Rita Bentley   Ann Haydon divided title
1963   Renée Schuurman   Ann Haydon Jones 8-6, 6-4
1964   Jan Lehane   Ann Haydon Jones 7-5, 6-1
1965   Margaret Smith   Virginia Wade 6-3, 4-6, 7-5
1968   Sue Tutt   Hazel Cheadle 6-4, 6-3
↓  Open era  ↓
1969   Janice MacFarlane   Kate Tillin 6-2, 6-4
Bio-Strath Edgbaston
1970   Sandra Walsham   Beatriz Araujo 1-6, 7-5, 6-1
Midland Counties Championships
1973   Hazel Cheadle   Mrs P. Reynolds 3-6, 6-2, 7-5
1974   C. Aitken   Hazel Cheadle 7-6, 6-3
1975   Ann Haydon Jones   Inge Korsten 6-0, 6-1
1976   Inge Korsten   Janice Wainwright 4-6, 6-1, 6-3
1977   Ann Haydon Jones (2)   Corinne Molesworth 6-4, 6-4
For the successor women's event see Edgbaston Cup

References

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  1. ^ a b Myers, A. Wallis (1903). "Edgabston". Lawn Tennis at Home and Abroad. New York, USA: Scribner's sons. pp. 66–68.
  2. ^ Cole, Matt. "At The Heart of the Game: The History of Edgbaston Priory Club" (PDF). edgbastonpriory.com. Edgbaston Priory Club. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  3. ^ "Abolition of Challenge Rounds". EVENING POST. 20 March 1922. Retrieved 29 July 2018 – via Papers Past.
  4. ^ Nieuwland, Alex (2017). "Tournament – Midland Counties Championships". www.tennisarchives.com. Friesland, Netherlands: Tennis Archives. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  5. ^ a b Morris, James; Hegedus, Tomas (2013). "1877 to 2012 Finals Results". www.stevegtennis.com. stevegtennis. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  6. ^ "LAWN TENNIS NOTES: J. R. Deykin became the holder of the Midland Counties Championship for the third time and the second year in succession". Sheffield Independent. Yorkshire, England: British Newspaper Archive. 3 July 1890. p. 6. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  7. ^ Sheffield Independent (1890) p.6.
  8. ^ Sheffield Independent (1890) p.6.
  9. ^ "TENNIS FINAL: The Warwickshire tennis champion. Roy Dixon, will meet his county colleague, Keith Bland, in a repeat of last year's men's singles fnal he won last year in the Midland Counties championships at Edgbaston today". Coventry Evening Telegraph. Warwickshire, England: British Newspaper Archive. 15 July 1967. p. 39. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  10. ^ "LAWN TENNIS: Two Midland events for Roy Dixon: Roy Dixon (Warwickshirel won two events in the Midland Counties championships at Edfbaston. In the men's singles final he beat his county colleague Keith Bland 6-4, 4-6, 7-5". Birmingham Daily Post. Warwickshire, England: British Newspaper Archive. p. 21. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  11. ^ Barrett, John (1971) World of Tennis 1971 : a BP yearbook pp.260-271

Sources

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  • "Abolition of Challenge Rounds". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. EVENING POST, VOLUME CIII, ISSUE 65, 20 MARCH 1922.
  • Cole, Matt. (2012) "At The Heart of the Game: The History of Edgbaston Priory Club" (PDF). edgbastonpriory.com. Edgbaston Priory Club.
  • Myers, A. Wallis (1903). "Edgabston". Lawn Tennis at Home and Abroad. New York, USA: Scribner's sons.
  • Nieuwland, Alex (2017). "Tournament – Midland Counties Championships". www.tennisarchives.com. Friesland, Netherlands: Tennis Archives.

Further reading

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  • Ayre's Lawn Tennis Almanack And Tournament Guide, 1908 to 1938, A. Wallis Myers.
  • British Lawn Tennis and Squash Magazine, 1948 to 1967, British Lawn Tennis Ltd, UK.
  • Dunlop Lawn Tennis Almanack And Tournament Guide, G. P. Hughes, 1939 to 1958, Dunlop Sports Co. Ltd, UK
  • Lawn tennis and Badminton Magazine, 1906 to 1973, UK.
  • Lowe's Lawn Tennis Annuals and Compendia, Lowe, Sir F. Gordon, Eyre & Spottiswoode
  • Spalding's Lawn Tennis Annuals from 1885 to 1922, American Sports Pub. Co, USA.
  • The World of Tennis Annuals, Barrett John, 1970 to 2001.
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