Southern Championships

The Southern Championships[1] also known as the Southern States Championships or Southern Sectional Championships was a men's and women's grass court then later clay tournament staged annually at various locations from 1885 until 1978.[2] The tournament is still being held today as the USTA Southern Championships.[3]

Southern Championships
Defunct tennis tournament
TourILTF Circuit (1913-1978)
Founded1885 (1885)
Abolished1978 (1978)
LocationVarious
SurfaceClay/Grass

History

In 1882 the Delaware Field Club in Willmington, Delaware, United States was founded, and officially incorporated in 1885.[4] On 1 October 1885 the first Southern Championships were inaugurated at the venue, and the first men's champion was Charles Belmont Davis who later became an author.

A women's championship event was added to the schedule in 1901 and was held at the Bachelors Lawn Tennis Club, Washington D.C. which was won by Marion Jones In 1978 the final championships were played at Greenville, South Carolina that were then part of the official USTA southern circuit.[5] The final men's champion was won by the Paraguayan player Francisco Gonzalez,[6] the final ladies champion was Zenda Liess.[7] The tournament was still being held in 1999 where it was known as the Southern Adult Clay Court Open.[8]

Locations

The championships have been played in the following cities; Atlanta, Georgia, Birmingham, Alabama, Jackson, Mississippi, Louisville, Kentucky, Memphis, Tennessee, New Orleans, Louisiana. Raleigh, North Carolina and Washington D.C., Wilmington, Delaware

References
  1. Whittersley, Joseph T. (1895). "Sectional Championships: Southern Championships". Wright & Ditson Officially Adopted Lawn Tennis Guide. Boston: Wright & Ditson Publishing. p. 65.
  2. "Southern Tennis 99 Official Publication of the Southern Section" (PDF). www.southerntennis.com/. USTA Southern. p. 83. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  3. "Southern Championships – USTA Southern sectional championships". southernchampionships. USTA Southern. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  4. Gelbert, Doug (1995). The Great Delaware Sports Book. Doggin' Massachusetts, United States: Cruden Bay Books. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-9644427-0-2.
  5. World Tennis. New York: CBS Publications. 1978. p. 80.
  6. World Tennis (1978)
  7. World Tennis (1978)
  8. USTA Southern
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