The Hoylake Open Championships also known as the Rothman's Hoylake Open Championships (for sponsorship reasons) was a men's and women's grass court tennis tournament founded in 1930 as the Hoylake and West Kirby Open. The event was staged annually at

Ashton Park Ashton Park is situated in Ashton-on-Ribble to the west of Preston, Lancashire, England. It has one bowling green, two play areas, with swings, roundabouts and climbing frames, several football pitches within a large, main field, and contains wi ...

West Kirby West Kirby is a resort town on the north-west corner of the Wirral Peninsula in Merseyside, England, at the mouth of the River Dee, Wales, River Dee. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Cheshire, to th ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

until 1974.

History

On 25 August 1930 the Hoylake and West Kirby Open lawn tennis tournament was established. The tournament was unique in that it was played on public tennis courts at the

. It began mainly as a local British event for the first couple of decades It then began to attract international players from the 1950s onward. The tournament continued under same the brand name until 1966. In 1967 the newspaper company the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo Ltd took over sponsorship of the event, and it was rebraded as Liverpool Daily Post and Echo Hoylake Open. In 1970 the tobacco company

Rothmans International Rothmans International plc was a British tobacco manufacturer. Its brands included Rothmans, Player's and Dunhill. Its international headquarters were in Hill Street, London and its international operations were run from Denham Place in Denham ...

took over sponsorship of the tournament. It became a major stop on 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 ...

in July just after Wimbledon until its demise in the mid-1970s. In 1960 and from 1967 the tournament was also valid as

North of England Championships The North of England Championships and later known as the Rothmans Open North of England Championships (for sponsorship reasons), was a men's and women's grass court tennis tournament founded in 1884 as the North Yorkshire Tournament. It was mainly ...

with the winners succeeding to both titles. The tournament was predominantly played on

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 ...

s except for the 1974 edition that was played on

clay court A clay court is one of the types of tennis court on which the sport of tennis, originally known as "lawn tennis", is played. Clay courts are made of crushed stone, brick, shale, or other unbound mineral aggregate depending on the tournament. ...

Finals

Mens Singles

Incomplte roll includes:

Women's singles

Incomplete roll includes.

Event names

* Hoylake and West Kirby Open (1930-1966) * Liverpool Daily Post and Echo Hoylake Open (1967-1969) * Rothman's Hoylake Open Championships (1970-1974)

Tournament records

Men's singles

* Most Men's Titles:

Gerry Oakley Gerald Oakley (born 25 July 1933) is a British former tennis player. Born in Purley, Surrey, Oakley was a tall bespectacled player, active on tour from the 1940s to 1960s. Oakley, a mixed doubles finalist at the 1949 French Championships, repr ...

Mike Sangster Mike Sangster (11 September 1940 – 30 April 1985) was a British No. 1 tennis player of the 1960s.

(3) * Most Men's Finals:

Mike Sangster Mike Sangster (11 September 1940 – 30 April 1985) was a British No. 1 tennis player of the 1960s.

(3)

Women's singles

* Most Women's Titles: Margaret O'Donnell &

Margaret Smith Court Margaret Court (''née'' Smith; born 16 July 1942), also known as Margaret Smith Court, is an Australian retired former world No. 1 tennis player and a Christian minister. Considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, her 24 maj ...

(3) * Most Women's Finals:

Georgie Woodgate Georgiana Elizabeth Cox (nee Woodgate; 6 July 1923 — 12 May 2001) was a British tennis player active from the 1940s to 1960s. Her younger sister Billie was also a tennis player. Woodgate claimed the singles title at the Welsh Championships in 1 ...

& Margaret O'Donnell &

(3)

References

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