New South Wales Hard Court Championships
The New South Wales Hard Court Championships was a men's and women's open tennis tournament founded in 1915, and first held at Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia. It was first organised by the Dubbo District Tennis Association in conjunction with the New South Wales Lawn Tennis Association and was played on clay courts. It was staged as part of ILTF Australasia Circuit a sub circuit of the ILTF World Circuit until 1972, then became part of the ILTF Independent Tour until 1984 and finally part of the Tennis Australia Circuit till 1988 when it was discontinued as a senior event.
History
The tournament was founded in on 26 June 1915 and was held in Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia. The event was first organised by the Dubbo District Tennis Association in conjunction with the New South Wales Lawn Tennis Association. The first men's singles champion was Clarence Todd who defeated Noel Heath in straight sets. The first winner of the women's championship was a Miss Elliott. In 1922 the LTAA was split up into two separate tennis for Australia and New Zealand at which the newly formed Lawn Tennis Association of Australasia had oversight of this event. In 1924 as tennis was continuing to thrive in Australia a New South Wales Hardcourt Tennis Association was founded, it then became responsible for organising the championships.It was staged as part of ILTF Australasia Circuit a sub circuit of the ILTF World Circuit until 1972 when it became part of the ILTF Independent Tour until 1984 and finally the Tennis Australia Circuit until 1988 when it was part of the Australia Satellite Circuit then was discontinued. The final known winner of the men's singles championship was Brett Andrews, and the final winner of the women's event was Sally McCann who defeated Kristine Radford. The tournament was staged in Dubbo the most times throughout its run with thirty five editions played there. It was also staged in other towns and cities in New South Wales including Armidale, Bathurst, Cootamundra, Cowra, Gloucester, Goulburn, Grafton, Grenfell, Gunnedah, Newcastle, Orange, Parkes, Quirindi, Sydney, Tamworth, Wagga Wagga, Wollongong and Young.
Tournament statistics
Men's singles
- Most titles: Jack Crawford
- Most finals: Jack Crawford
- Most consecutive titles: Vivian McGrath & Jack Crawford & Bob Hewitt & Tony Roche & Colin Dibley & Kim Warwick
- Most consecutive finals: Tony Roche
Women's singles
- Most titles: Evonne Goolagong
- Most finals: Evonne Goolagong
- Most consecutive titles: Evonne Goolagong
- Most consecutive finals: Evonne Goolagong