1930 in tennis


The year 1930 in tennis was a complex mixture of mainly amateur tournaments composed of international, invitational, national, exhibition, team events and joined by a marginal Pro Tour encompassing only British, German, French and American Pro events.
At the end of the Pro season the champion title was awarded, which in this year was given to the US Pro Champion. Vincent Richards held the title at the end of the year. The professionals were trainers in a major part those who accepted money for coaching. There were a few occasional professional against amateur challenges as well held in team competition format. The amateur events were almost all co-educated thus the majority included a mixed title contest. American Bill Tilden debuted this year on the European riviera scene winning almost every tournament he entered and took a dozen title partnering his protégé Wilbur Coen. The women's most successful players were Elizabeth Ryan in the European international championships and Helen Wills Moody, who won the two most prestigious tournaments in Europe, the French Championships and Wimbledon. Australian Jack Crawford also left his mark on the Continental tennis scene.
The most important team cups were the Wightman Cup for women and the Davis Cup and the Mitre Cup for men. The 1930 Wightman Cup was its eighth edition and was organized by the United States Lawn Tennis Association between the teams of Great Britain and the United States. The 1930 International Lawn Tennis Challenge was its 25th edition and was organized by the International Tennis Federation. The tournament was split into the American and European zones. The winner of each sub-zone played in the Inter-Zonal Final. Twenty-four teams entered the Europe Zone, while four participated in the America Zone. The United States defeated Mexico in the America Zone, but then lost to France in the Challenge Round, giving France their fourth straight title. The final was played at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, on July 25–27.

Key

''This list includes men and women international tournaments, main national championships, professional tour events and the Davis, Mitre, Wightman Cup''

Pre-tournament season

  • In an inter-club challenge between the cities of Menton and Bordighera the former club was victorious with a match score of 10-4.
  • Helen Wills married American banker Fred Moody and announced she'd use her married name Mrs. Helen Moody in tournaments.

January

February

  • The Davis Cup draws were held on February 3 in Paris.
  • W. G. Robertson became the New Zealander junior champion. He was crowned the doubles champion as well alongside M. Ferkins who also won the New Zealand Plate.

March

June

  • Belgium beat Finland in a non-official Davis Cup match in Brussels.
  • The British amateurs defeated the British pros in the Chapel Allerton Club.
  • Hungary lost to Austria with a score of 6–2 in a non-official Davis Cup match in Szombathely.
  • On the 25th anniversary of the Deutscher Eishockey Gesellschaft Club of Prague it organized a ladies' only tennis event inviting several nations and many local clubs. Those present were the Weimar Republic, Austria, Hungary and Poland, while the Czech clubs were LTC Praha, D.E.H.G., I.C.L.F.K. and the host club among others. Altogether 16 teams and 48 women players competed.
  • Kleinlogel became the German junior champion after beating Ernst. Sander was crowned the girls' champion after eliminating Horn in the final.
  • Hamburg beat Helsinki four to one.
  • The All England Club instated a dress code for women to wear pantyhose under the skirt after Helen Jacobs appeared barelegged on the center court in the Wightman Cup.

July

August

September

  • The German pros repeated their feat from last month and beat the English pros to zero, while the English amateurs did so also in a best-of-nine match.
  • D.G. Freshwater became the English junior champion, while the girls' trophy was awarded to Phyllis Brazier.
  • Emil Ferenczy became the Hungarian junior champion, Csilla Lates won the girls' contest.
  • American Clay Court and Canadian doubles champion Frederic Mercur was suspended by the USLTA for breaching the amateur rules.

October

November

December

  • Australia announced he'd skip the 1931 Davis Cup season as a sign of support of the rejected South African initiative for the Cup to be held every second year only.
  • Two-time former Wimbledon champion Gerald Patterson's application for a renewed amateur license was rejected.
  • The Lawn Tennis Association introduced two new rules regarding timeouts during play: It became forbidden to receive extra time to get coach advises or to pause for rest.
  • Bobby Heine announced he won't compete in the Wimbledon Championships next year.
  • It was revealed that the total income of the 1930 Wimbledon Championships was £37,024.

Rankings

These are the rankings compiled and published by A Wallis Myers in September, founder of the International Lawn Tennis Club of Great Britain and a second list based upon the ranks of Pierre Gillou, president of the Fédération Française de Tennis.

Professionals

These are the pro rankings compiled and published by the American Lawn Tennis magazine in January.