View source for London Hard Court Championships

{{Infobox tennis tournament
|name =London Hard Court Championships
|type = defunct
|event name =Bio-Strath London Hard Court Championships
|tour =
|sponsor =
|founded ={{start date and age|df=yes|1919}}
|editions =
|ended ={{end date and age|df=yes|1971}}
|location=Ranelagh Gardens, [[Fulham]], London, England
|venue=[[The Hurlingham Club]]
|surface =Clay
|website =
}}
The '''London Hard Court Championships''' <ref>{{cite web |title=WTA Tour 1971 to 2011 |url=http://www.wtatennis.com/SEWTATour-Archive%2FRankings_Stats%2Ftournamentfinals.pdf |publisher=Wayback Machine |access-date=6 December 2022 |date=1 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201085234/http://www.wtatennis.com/SEWTATour-Archive%2FRankings_Stats%2Ftournamentfinals.pdf |archive-date=2017-02-01 }}</ref> and later known as the '''Bio-Strath London Hard Court Championships'''<ref>{{cite book |last1=Association |first1=United States Lawn Tennis |title=Official Encyclopedia of Tennis |date=1972 |publisher=Harper & Row |location=New York |isbn=978-0-06-014479-1 |page=328 }}</ref> for sponsorship reasons was a [[clay court]] tennis event founded in 1919. It was held at the Hurlingham Club Ranelagh Gardens, [[Fulham]], London, England through until 1971, when it failed find new sponsors for the following season, and the tournament ended.
==History==
The London Hard Court Championships were first established in September 1919. The winner of first men's singles event was Romanian player [[Nicolae Mișu (tennis)|Nicolae Mishu]] who defeated Australia's [[Stanley Doust]]. In the first women's singles event a decision was made to divide the title and prize between  [[Madeline Fisher O'Neill]] and [[Blanche Colston]]. In 1970 it was part of the [[Bio-Strath Circuit]] of tournaments as the third leg of the tour that year.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Barrett |first1=John |last2=Tingay |first2=Lance |last3=West |first3=Peter |title=World of Tennis 1971 : a BP yearbook |date=1971 |publisher=Queen Anne Press |location=London  |isbn=978-0-362-00091-7 |pages=260–271 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/worldoftennis1970000unse_t8h5/page/272/mode/2up |chapter=The 1970 British Tournament Season}}</ref>
On 15 May 1971 after 52 years the final London Hard Court Championships was concluded. The final men's singles event was won by the Chilean player [[Jaime Fillol]] who defeated Britain's [[Gerald Battrick]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Mrs. Court Keeps Title: Jaime Fillol of Chile, exploiting drop shots and spin, defeated Gerald Battrick of Britain, 7-5, 6-3, for the men's title.|work=The New York Times |date=16 May 1971 |page=6}}</ref> The final women's singles title was won by Australian [[Margaret Smith Court]] who beat France's [[Françoise Dürr]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Mrs. Court Keeps Title: Mrs. Margaret Court of Australia overcame an upset stomach today and defeated Françoise Dürr of France, 6-0, 6-3, to retain the women's title in the Bio-Strath hard -court tennis championships at the Hurlingham Club. |work=The New York Times |date=16 May 1971|page=6}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Bio-Strath Circuit}}
[[Category:Clay court tennis tournaments]]
[[Category:Defunct tennis tournaments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Recurring sporting events established in 1919]]
[[Category:1919 establishments in England]]
[[Category:1971 disestablishments in England]]
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