The North London Hard Courts Championships was a combined men's and women's

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. ...

tennis tournament founded in 1920. The tournament was jointly held at the Gipsy Lawn Tennis Club, Stamford Hill, and the North London Hard Courts Tennis Club, Highbury London, England It ran until 1939.

History

The North London Hard Courts Championships were established in 1920. The championships were usually held in September each year. However there were two events of the women's championships in 1922 and 1923: the first in May, and the second in September. The tournament was jointly held at the Gipsy Lawn Tennis Club, Stamford Hill and North London Hard Courts Tennis Club, Highbury London, England. It ran until 193 when it was abolished. Notable winners of the men's singles title included: Athar Ali Fyzee,

Nicolae Mishu Nicolae may refer to: * Nicolae (name), a Romanian name * ''Nicolae'' (novel), a 1997 novel See also *Nicolai (disambiguation) Nicolai may refer to: *Nicolai (given name) people with the forename ''Nicolai'' *Nicolai (surname) people with the s ...

Antoine Gentien Antoine Gentien (13 June 1905 – 2 September 1968) was a French tennis player whose career lasted from 1921 to 1951. He was the son of Antoinette Gillou and the nephew of Kate Gillou. Katie was four times French (closed) singles champion. Anto ...

Major Ritchie Major Josiah George Ritchie (18 October 1870 – 28 February 1955) was a tennis player from Great Britain. Major was his first name, not a military title. He was born in Westminster, educated at Brighton College and died in Ashford. Career Ritc ...

Pat Spence Patrick Spence (11 February 1898 – 22 November 1983) was a South African tennis player. He was born in Queenstown, South Africa. He competed mainly in Great Britain and found his form in hard court tournaments. He notably won the mixed double ...

, René Lacoste,

Gordon Lowe Sir Francis Gordon Lowe, 2nd Baronet (21 June 1884 – 17 May 1972) was a British male tennis player. Lowe is best remembered for winning the Australasian Championships in 1915 (where he beat champion Horace Rice in the final). and for winni ...

, and

Henry Mayes Henry George Mayes, MBE (14 February 1880 – 1928) was a British-Canadian tennis player, military figure and businessman. He won the Queen's Club Championships in 1922, 1926 and 1927. Biography Born in Northampton, Mayes was educated at No ...

. Winners of the women's singles championship included:

Ermyntrude Harvey Ermyntrude Hilda Harvey (9 June 1895 – 4 October 1973) was a British female tennis player of the 1920s and 1930s. Between 1923 and 1938 she won 37 career singles titles on grass, clay and indoor wood courts. Career Between 1920 and 1948 she pa ...

, Dorothy Holman,

Helen Wills-Moody Helen Newington Wills (October 6, 1905 – January 1, 1998), also known by her married names Helen Wills Moody and Helen Wills Roark, was an American tennis player. She won 31 Grand Slam tournament titles (singles, doubles, and mixed doubles) d ...

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and

Sylvie Jung Henrotin Sylvie Jung Henrotin (née Jung; ;10 July 1904 – 15 December 1970) was a French tennis player who was active during the late 1920 and the 1930s. She had her best results in the doubles event, finishing runner-up in seven Grand Slam doubles an ...

Venues

The Gipsy Lawn Tennis Club was founded in 1920 at Stamford Hill, London. It consisted of seven hard (clay) and twelve grass courts. The club also staged the North London Grass Courts Championships. The North London Hard Courts Lawn Tennis Club at Sotheby Road, Highbury, was the other venue used for this event.

Additional notes

Newspaper sources list the tournament as being held in Highbury, however Mullock's Specialist Auctioneers & Valuers of London state on thei
website
that the tournament was staged continuously at the Gipsy Lawn Tennis Club Stamford Hill.

References

{{Reflist, 2 Defunct tennis tournaments in the United Kingdom Clay court tennis tournaments