Midland Counties Championships
Tennis tournament
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.
History
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
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
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
(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
^ a b Myers, A. Wallis (1903). "Edgabston" . Lawn Tennis at Home and Abroad . New York, USA: Scribner's sons. pp. 66–68.
^ Cole, Matt. "At The Heart of the Game: The History of Edgbaston Priory Club" (PDF) . edgbastonpriory.com . Edgbaston Priory Club. Retrieved 10 August 2016 .
^ "Abolition of Challenge Rounds" . EVENING POST . 20 March 1922. Retrieved 29 July 2018 – via Papers Past.
^ Nieuwland, Alex (2017). "Tournament – Midland Counties Championships" . www.tennisarchives.com . Friesland, Netherlands: Tennis Archives. Retrieved 30 July 2018 .
^ a b Morris, James; Hegedus, Tomas (2013). "1877 to 2012 Finals Results" . www.stevegtennis.com . stevegtennis. Retrieved 30 July 2018 .
^ "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 .
^ Sheffield Independent (1890) p.6.
^ Sheffield Independent (1890) p.6.
^ "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 .
^ "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 .
^ Barrett, John (1971) World of Tennis 1971 : a BP yearbook pp.260-271
Sources
"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
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.
External links