The Gulf State Championships was a men's and women's tennis tournament founded in 1892 as the Gulf Coast Championships. It was first played at the Tampa Bay Lawn Tennis Club, Tampa Bay Hotel,

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1892. In 1968 the final edition was played at

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

, after which when it was downgraded from the main worldwide

ILTF Circuit The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the Sports governing body, governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve List of national tennis ass ...

History

In 1892 the first Gulf Coast Championships (also known as the Tampa Bay Championships) were held in at the Tampa Bay Lawn Tennis Club, Tampa Bay Hotel,

and was played on outdoor hard cement courts. The first winner of the men's singles title was Albert Empie Wright, he defeated a former top 4 ranked English tennis player,

Charles Walder Grinstead Charles Walder Grinstead (1 December 1860 – 16 March 1930) was an English champion tennis player. He reached the quarter finals at Wimbledon 1883. Grinstead reached the Wimbledon All Comers Final in 1884, where he beat Ernest Renshaw befo ...

in the final, who was touring America at this time. The first gulf tournament ran until 1894 when it was discontinued. In 1901 the tournament was revived under the new name the Gulf State Championships held at the New Orleans Lawn Tennis Club,

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. The tournament continued to be held there until 1914.Aiello In 1968 the tournament was downgraded from the main worldwide

and became a USLTA regional event.

Finals

Men's singles

(incomplete roll)

Women's singles

(incomplete roll)

References

{{Reflist, 2 Defunct tennis tournaments in the United States Grass court tennis tournaments Hard court tennis tournaments