1879 men's tennis season

1879 men's tennis season

William Renshaw wins first hardcourt title this year
Details
Duration	2 June – 28 December
Edition	4th
Tournaments	26 (Amateur) [1]
Categories	Important (2) National (1) Provincial/State/Regional (3) County (4) Local/other (16)
Achievements (singles)
Most tournament titles	Vere St. Leger Goold (3)
Most tournament finals	Vere St. Leger Goold (5)
← 1878 1880 →

The 1879 men's tennis season ^[2][3] was composed of the fourth annual pre-open era tennis season and incorporated 26 tournaments. The 1879 Wimbledon Championships was won by John Hartley defending champion Patrick Francis Hadow, defending champion could not participate in the Challenge Round. This year saw the inaugural ^[4] Irish Championships that in its early stages of development was considered as important that of the Wimbledon Championships the event was won by Vere St. Leger Goold who defeated in Charles David Barry in the final by Charles David Barry 8–6, 8–6. Important this year was the staging of six hard court tournaments some of which included the Dublin University Championships the East Gloucestershire Championships held in Cheltenham Great Britain,^[5] Nice Tennis Tournament in Nice, France and the first tournament to be held outside of Europe in Australia with the Victorian Championships.

The tour started in Nice, France in May and ended in Melbourne, Australia in December.

Notes 1: Challenge Round: the final round of a tournament, in which the winner of a single-elimination phase faces the previous year's champion, who plays only that one match. The challenge round was used in the early history of tennis (from 1877 through 1921),^[6] in some tournaments not all.

Notes 2:Tournaments in italics were events that were staged only once that season

Key

No events

Date	Tournament	Winner	Finalist	Semifinalist	Quarter finalist
14 - 15 May.[12]	Nice Tennis Tournament St. Philippe Rink Nice, France Hard Singles - Doubles	Henry Lyle Mulholland 6-3, 6-1	Mr. Harrison

Date	Tournament	Winner	Finalist	Semifinalist	Quarter finalist
28 April - 2 May.[13]	Earlsfort Terrace Tournament Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin, Ireland Asphalt	Vere Thomas Saint Leger Goold ?	J.C. Roberts
14 - 15 May.[14]	Bournemouth CLTC Spring Tournament Bournemouth CLTC Dean Park Cricket Ground Bournemouth, England Grass Singles - Doubles	Sir Hubert James Medlycott ?	?

Week	Tournament	Winner	Finalist	Semifinalist	Quarter finalist
16 June[15]	Irish Lawn Tennis Championships[16] [17] Dublin, Ireland Grass Singles	Vere St. Leger Goold[18] 8–6, 8–6	David Charles Barry	Henry Evelyn Toombe John Jameson Cairnes	F J Joyce J J Sherrard L McDonnell A Hodgson
30 Jun -30 Jul	Grand National Lawn Tennis Tournament[19] Hendon, London, Great Britain Grass Singles	Edgar Lubbock 6-1 6-0 8-6	Lestocq Robert Erskine

Date	Tournament	Winner	All comers' finalist	Semifinalist	Quarterfinalist
7–16 July	Wimbledon Championship[20] London, Great Britain Grass Singles	John Hartley walkover	Vere St. Leger Goold	Vere St. Leger Goold Bye Cecil Francis Parr	Charles Gilbert Heathcote C D Barry G E Tabor
		Challenge round Patrick Francis Hadow
14-15 July.[21]	Staffordshire County Cricket Club Lawn Tennis Tournament. Lichfield, Great Britain Grass Singles	Henry W. J. Gardner 6-4 6-3	E. W. Burnett	William Arthur Briscoe J.H. Lonsdale	N. Bailey J.C. Keene W.W. Jacks
14-15 July	Essex County Cricket Club Tournament[22] Knighton, Essex, Great Britain Grass Singles	Nalton Womersley 6-4 6-5	Dale Womersley

Date	Tournament	Winner	Finalist	Semifinalist	Quarter finalist
August	Scottish Championships[23] St Andrews, Great Britain Grass Singles	Leslie Balfour-Melville[24][25] def	?
27 July- 2 August.[26]	County Kildare Tournament Naas Military Barracks Naas, County Kildare, Ireland Grass -	Algernon Ambrose Michael Aylmer 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.	James G. Kennedy
29 July - 2 August.[27]	County Kildare Closed Tournament Naas Military Barracks Naas, County Kildare, Ireland Grass -	George Edward Devere Kennedy 6-4, 6-5	H. Mitchell
6 - 8 August.[28]	County Galway LTC Tournament County Galway Lawn Tennis Club Lisbeg, County Galway, Ireland Grass -	W.G. Eyre ?	W. Peebles
12 - 13 August.[29]	Armagh Lawn Tennis Tournament Archery Lawn Tennis Club Armagh, Ireland Grass Singles - Doubles	F.L. Cope ?	Robert Shaw Templer
15–16 August[30]	Dorchester Kingston Park Tournament Kingston Park CLTC Kingston Park, Kingston Maurward House, Dorchester, Dorset, England Grass Singles	Montague Hankey 6-5 6-5 6-5	Captain James J. Glascott	Captain James J. Glascott James H. Medlycott	Captain Bradford James C. Pipon
22–25 August	Waterford Tournament Waterford, Ireland Grass Singles	Vere St. Leger Goold ?	J. M. Brown	Henry Joseph Gallwey J. C. Roberts	Patrick Joseph Gallwey William Joseph Gallwey Pierce Barron-Newell

Date	Tournament	Winner	Finalist	Semifinalist	Quarter finalist
2 September.[31][32]	Teifiside LTC Championship Teifiside Lawn Tennis Club Newcastle Emlyn, Wales Grass Singles - Doubles	Gwyn Saunders Davies ?	Frank Miles
3–9 September	South of Ireland Championships[33][34] Limerick, Ireland Grass Singles	Joseph Fritz James Heffernan Considine 6–4, 6–3	Henry Evelyn Tombe	Joseph Fritz James Heffernan Considine[35] T. J. Johnston	Major Richard de Ros Rose W. Ryan Charles R B Heaton-Armstrong
		Henry Evelyn Tombe Mrs. R B Heaton-Armstrong 6-3, 6-5, 6-2	Mr. Baker Miss Annie Rice
2 - 5 September.[36]	Yare LTC Tournament Yare Lawn Tennis Club Fritton, Great Yarmouth Surface ? Singles - Doubles	Percy Lucas ?	Julian Marshall
23 September.[37]	North of Ireland Championships Ormeau Cricket Ground Belfast, Northern Ireland Grass Singles - Doubles	Captain Short 6-5, 4-6, 6-3	M. Short

Date	Tournament	Winner	Finalist	Semifinalist	Quarter finalist
30 September - 4 October.[38]	Bournemouth CLTC Autumn Tournament Bournemouth CLTC Dean Park Cricket Ground Bournemouth, England Grass Singles - Doubles	Edmond Bennet Brackenbury ?	Sir Hubert James Medlycott
7–11 October.	East Gloucestershire Championships Cheltenham, Great Britain Hard (Asphalt) Singles	William Renshaw 6-4 6-3 5-6 6-4	Vere St. Leger Goold	William H J Gardner	E. W. Burnett E. Manning Mr. Arnold
20–23 October.[39]	Dublin University Championships Singles - Doubles	Henry James Daly ?	Ernest Edward Knox	Charles William O’Hara Mease Henry James Daly	Charles William O’Hara Mease Thomas Haines Abrahall G.H. Bailey

No events

Date	Tournament	Winner	Finalist	Semifinalist	Quarter finalist
22–28 December	Victorian Championships[40] Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Hard (Asphalt) Singles	A. F. Robinson[41] 2-1 (sets)	H. M. Strachan	| E. McKenzie W. Officer  ?

Note: Important tournaments in bold

• Vere St. Leger Goold—Irish Championships, Dublin (Earlsfort), Waterford—(3)
• Henry James Daley—Dublin—(1)
• A. F. Robinson—Melbourne—(1)
• Algernon Ambrose Michael Aylmer—Naas (1st)—(1)
• Captain Short—Belfast—(1)
• Dale Womersley—Knighton—(1)
• Edgar Lubbock—Hendon—(1)
• Edmond Bennet Brackenbury—Bournemouth(Oct)—(1)
• F.L. Cope—Armagh—(1)
• George Edward Devere Kennedy—Naas (2nd)—(1)
• Gwyn Saunders Davies—Newcastle Emlyn—(1)
• Henry W. J. Gardner—Stafford—(1)
• Henry Lyle Mulholland—Nice—(1)
• John Hartley—Wimbledon Championships—(1)
• Joseph F. J. H. Considine—Limerick—(1)
• Leslie Balfour-Melville—St Andrews—(1)
• Montague Hankey—Dorchester—(1)
• Percy Lucas—Great Yarmouth—(1)
• William Renshaw—Cheltenham—(1)
• Sir Hubert James Medlycott—Bournemouth (May)—(1)
• W.G. Eyre—Lisbeg—(1)

Source: The Concise History of Tennis

Karoly Mazak World Rankings for 1879 [43]
#	Player
1	John Hartley (ENG)
2	Vere St. Leger Goold (Ireland)
3	Cecil Parr (GBR)
4	William Renshaw (ENG)
5	George Tabor (GBR)
6	Edgar Lubbock (GBR)
7	Lestocq Robert Erskine (SCO)
8	Herbert Lawford (SCO)

• 1879 tennis season
• 1879 in sports

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• http://www.tennisarchives.com/
• https://thetennisbase.com/1879 Season