The Highland Championships (informally called the Scottish Highland Championships) was a men's and women's

grass court A grass court is one of the four different types of tennis court on which the sport of tennis, originally known as "lawn tennis", is played. Grass courts are made of grasses in different compositions depending on the tournament. Although grass c ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

tournament first established in 1896 as part of the Atholl Hydropathic Open Lawn Tennis Tournament. Also known as the Bell's Highland Championships for sponsorship reasons (1974–1981). The championships were first held at the Athole Hydropathic tennis courts,

Pitlochry Pitlochry (; gd, Baile Chloichridh or ) is a town in the Perth and Kinross council area of Scotland, lying on the River Tummel. It is historically in the county of Perthshire, and has a population of 2,776, according to the 2011 census.Scotla ...

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

, Scotland. The tournament was staged annually as part of the

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 ...

until 1981.

History

In 1878, the Atholl Hydropathic was opened. In August 1896, the hotel established its first lawn tennis event, the Atholl Hydropathic Open Lawn Tennis Tournament of which the Highland Lawn Tennis Championship Trophy was played for as part of the gentleman's singles programme. It was part of the Scottish Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) circuit from inception. In 1913, the venue's name was changed to the Athol Palace Hotel. The championships were temporarily suspended during both the first and second world wars. It continued to be held annually as part of the official international

from 1913. At the 1930 championships 149 players entered the tournament for play. In 1974, the Scottish whisky company Arthur Bell & Sons Ltd. decided to sponsor the event under the brand name the Bell's Highland Championships. That year, 14-year-old Judith Erskine (future mother of grand slam champion

Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...

) won all three titles of the Bell's Junior Championship of the Highlands. It ran until 1981, when it ceased to part of the international worldwide tennis circuit. The tournament continues to be staged at the same venue today, now known as the Highland Tennis Championships, or Tennis Championships of the Highlands. The tournament is currently administered by Tennis Scotland.

Venue

In 1874, the Perthshire architect,

Andrew Heiton Andrew Heiton (3 April 1823 – 3 March 1894) was a Scottish architect.Andrew Heiton
- ...

was commissioned to design a Scottish baronial-style hydropathic establishment, with accommodation. In 1878, the building was officially opened and named the Athole Hydropathic.Atholl Palace Hotel In 1913, its name was changed to The Atholl Palace Hotel.

Finals

Men's singles

(incomplete roll)

Women's singles

(incomplete roll)

Event names

* Highland Lawn Tennis Championship Trophy (1896–1900) * Highland Lawn Tennis Championships (1901–1913) * Highland Championships (1914–1973) * Bell's Highland Championships (1974–1981)

References

{{Reflist Grass court tennis tournaments Defunct tennis tournaments in the United Kingdom Tennis tournaments in Scotland