Sugar Bowl International Championships

The Sugar Bowl International Championships was a men's and women's international tennis tournament founded in 1934.[1] The championships were held New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The event was part of the Sugar Bowl American football festival.

Sugar Bowl International Championships
Defunct tennis tournament
Founded1934; 90 years ago (1934)
Abolished1978; 46 years ago (1978)
LocationNew Orleans, Louisiana, United States

History

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In 1934 the Sugar Bowl Tennis Tournament was established that was won by Wilmer Allison. In 1935 the first Sugar Bowl football tournament was staged this tournament was then added to its "annual festival of sports".[2] The tournament operated in much the same way as the national collegiate level Intercollegiate Championships with separate adult divisions (events) for men's and women's singles, doubles and so on. In 1946 a junior tournament was included in the schedule. The tournament was open to international players and was officially part of the ILTF Circuit until 1979.

Former winners of the men's adult division singles included; Frank Parker,[1] Don McNeil,[3] Bobby Riggs,[4] Pancho Segura,[1] Ted Schroeder,[1] Gardnar Mulloy and Cliff Richey.[1] The tournament is still being staged today as the Allstate Sugar Bowl Tennis Classic which is a USTA National Tournament for juniors only.[5] The adult division ended in 1979. The tournament has been known by various names including the Sugar Bowl Invitation,[6] the Sugar Bowl Tennis Championships,[7] The tournament usually preceded the main football event.[8]

Event names

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  • Sugar Bowl Tennis Tournament (1934–49)
  • Sugar Bowl Tennis Championships (1950–1954)
  • Sugar Bowl Invitation (1955–1964)
  • Sugar Bowl Tennis Championships (1965–1967)
  • Sugar Bowl Tennis Classic (1968–1972)
  • Sugar Bowl International Championships 1973–1978)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Tournaments:Sugar Bowl". The Tennis Base. Tennismem SL. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  2. ^ Tyler, Lee (21 February 2011). "Photo Section: Sugar Bowl Classic 1956". As Tom Goes By: A Tennis Memoir. Los Angeles: SCB Distributors. ISBN 978-1-56474-750-1.
  3. ^ "Don McNeil with Robert L. "Bobby" Riggs at the Sugar Bowl tennis tournament in New Orleans Louisiana in 1941". Louisiana Digital Library. State Library of Louisiana. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  4. ^ State Library of Louisiana
  5. ^ "Allstate Sugar Bowl Tennis". Sugar Bowl. The Sugar Bowl Committee. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  6. ^ "RICHARDSON TOP SEEDED; Heads 16-Man Field for Sugar Bowl Invitation Tennis". The New York Times. New York. 25 December 1957. p. 39. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  7. ^ Dixon, Dave (15 February 2008). The Saints, The Superdome, and the Scandal: An Insider's Perspective. New Orleans: Pelican Publishing. p. 117. ISBN 978-1-4556-1156-0.
  8. ^ Festival USA. Super Bowl Classic 1973. Boston: American Revolution Bicentennial Commission. 1972. p. 1.