Sussex Championships

The Sussex Championships or Sussex County Championships was a men's and women's grass court tennis tournament that were first staged in 1889. By 1972 it was known as the Sussex Tennis Open Championships.^[1] The championships were first held in Brighton, East Sussex, England then moved to West Worthing, West Sussex, England and ran only until 1980.

The tournament is no longer a senior level international tour event, but is still staged today as a closed county tournament to British players only.^[2]

History

A Sussex County Lawn Tennis Tournament was a brief tennis tournament consisting of a spring tournament usually held in April and another held in autumn usually September.^[3] It was originally played on outdoor asphalt courts at Brighton and Hove Rink, England with the exception of the 1884 event that was played on grass courts. In 1882 the organisers staged the spring event. also played on asphalt courts, but for only two editions. there was just four editions of this event but did feature two future Wimbledon Men's singles champions the Renshaw twins it ran until 1885 then was abolished. In 1889 the event was revived as a grass court tournament called the Sussex Championships that was held at Hove County Cricket Ground.

The Sussex Championships was a very successful tournament in the years up to World War I, and was the second largest of the South of England meetings.^[4] The September tournament (otherwise called the Autumn Tournament), even when held in August, just before the South of England Championships was the main draw event on the Sussex calendar for many years.^[5] In 1911 it became a two-week competition. Many of the leading players of the day took part in the championships. Following the First World War for some unknown reason, the event failed to gain the longevity it needed to keep the success going, unlike the South of England tournament, rescheduling of the event may have been the cause of its early demise.

Following the start of the open era the Sussex Championships were revived, but this time played at a new location in West Worthing. By 1972 it was known as the Sussex Tennis Open Championships.^[6] The championships continued as a two-week tournament until 1978. The tournament continued up to 1980 when it was abolished for the final time as a senior tour level event. It was a featured county level event on the Mens Amateur Tour (1877-1912), the Women Amateur Tour (1877-1912), the ILTF Mens Amateur Tour (1913-1967) and the ILTF Women's Amateur Tour (1913-1967).

Finals

Men's singles

Incomplete Roll:^[7]

Year	Champions	Runners-up	Score
Sussex Championships (Brighton)
1889	Horace Chapman	Wilberforce Eaves	6-3, 6–3, 8–6.
1890	Wilfred Baddeley	Horace Chapman	6-4, 6–2, 2–6, 7–5.
1891	Grainger Chaytor	Wilfred Baddeley	w.o.
1892	Wilberforce Eaves	Grainger Chaytor	w.o.
1893	Wilfred Baddeley (2)	Wilberforce Eaves	6-1, 1–6, 8–6, 6-2
1894	Wilfred Baddeley (3)	Harry Sibthorpe Barlow	6-1, 6–0, 2–6, 7-5
1895	Grainger Chaytor (2)	Wilfred Baddeley	w.o.
1896	Wilfred Baddeley (4)	Grainger Chaytor	w.o.
1897	George Ball-Greene	Wilfred Baddeley	w.o.
1898	Grainger Chaytor (3)	George Ball-Greene	6-1, 6–1, 2–6, 8-6
1899	Sydney Howard Smith	Grainger Chaytor	6-4, 6–3, 6-2
1900	Sydney Howard Smith (2)	George Whiteside Hillyard	6-2, 4–6, 6–4, 6-2
1901	Sydney Howard Smith (3)	Joshua Pim	6-1, 6–3, 5–7, 6-2
1902	Sydney Howard Smith (4)	Frank Riseley	5-7, 6–4, 2–6, 6-4 ret.
1903	Robert Leroy	Wylie Grant	8-6, 6–1, 1–6, 1–6, 6-2
1904	Sydney Howard Smith (5)	Frank Riseley	6-4. 5–7. 3-3 ret.
1905	Sydney Howard Smith (6)	Frank Riseley	w.o.
1906	Arthur Gore	Major Josiah Ritchie	6-2, 6–3, 6-3
1907	George Whiteside Hillyard	Alfred Bentley	6-3, 1–6, 6-4
1908	Walter Cecil Crawley	John Frederick Stokes	6-2, 6–2, 6-3
1909	Robert Branks Powell	William Alfred Ingram	6-2, 6-2
1910	James Zimmermann	Walter Cecil Crawley	w.o.
1914/1919	Not held (due to world war one)
1920	Alfred Beamish	Monty Temple	3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1
1921	Mohammed Sleem	Cotah Ramaswami	6-4, 6-3, 6-0
1922	F. R. Leighton Crawford	Charles Tuckey	6-0, 6-1
1924	Jack Hillyard	F. R. Leighton Crawford	1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-5
↓  Open era  ↓
1970[8]	Max Franklin	Jay Royappa	9-7, 6-2
Sussex Tennis Open Championships (West Worthing)
1977	Clive Rothwell	Jasper Cooper	6-4, 6-2
1978	Willie Davies	Tony Lloyd	7-5, 6-4
1979	Chris Wells	Robert Booth	6-1, 6-0

Women's singles

Incomplete Roll:

Year	Champions	Runners-up	Score
Sussex Championships (Brighton)
1889	May Langrishe	Beatrice Langrishe	6-3, 6-3, 8-6
1890	May Langrishe (2)	Maud Shackle	6-4, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5
1891	Maud Shackle	May Langrishe	6-4, 5-7, 6-2
1892	Maud Shackle (2)	Bertha Steedman	6-0, 8-6
1893	Blanche Bingley Hillyard	Maud Shackle	6-1, 6-4
1894	Blanche Bingley Hillyard (2)	Maud Shackle	6-3, 6-0
1895	Blanche Bingley Hillyard (3)	Helen Jackson	6-2, 6-2
1896	Blanche Bingley Hillyard (4)	Charlotte Cooper	3-6, 6-4, 6-1
1897	Charlotte Cooper	Blanche Bingley Hillyard	7-5, 7-5
1898	Edith Austin	Charlotte Cooper	6-3, 6-2
1899	Charlotte Cooper (2)	Edith Austin	6-4, 6-4
1900	Blanche Bingley Hillyard (5)	Hilda Lane	6-3, 6-3
1901	Charlotte Cooper Sterry (3)	Blanche Bingley Hillyard	6-4, 6-2
1902	Charlotte Cooper Sterry (4)	Dorothea Douglass	6-2, 6-8, 6-3
1903	Alice Greene	Dorothea Douglass	2-6, 8-6, 6-2
1904	Dorothea Douglass	Charlotte Cooper Sterry	6-3, 6-3
1905	Winifred Longhurst	Connie Wilson	divided the prizes
1906	Charlotte Cooper Sterry (5)	Violet Pinckney	6-0, 6-0
1907	Charlotte Cooper Sterry (6)	Ruth Winch	6-0, 6-1
1908	Charlotte Cooper Sterry (7)	Edith Boucher	9-7, 6-4
1909	Dora Boothby	Hilda Lane	6-1, 6-2
1910	Ethel Thomson Larcombe	Dora Boothby	9-7. 6-4
1911	Dora Boothby	Agnes Daniell Tuckey	4-6, 6-3, 6-4
1912	Dora Boothby (2)	Annie Wix Cobb	6-4, 6-2
1913	Dora Boothby (3)	Minnie Dillon	6-2, 4-6, 6-4
1914/1919	Not held (due to world war one)
1920	Elizabeth Ryan	Dorothy Holman	6-2, 2-6 6-2
1921	Dorothy Holman	Louise Bull	8-6, 6-2
1922	Dorothy Holman (2)	Agnes Daniell Tuckey	w.o.
1923	Elizabeth Ryan (2)	Christine Tyrrell	6-2, 6-0
1924	Dorothy Holman (3)	Phoebe Holcroft	6-4, 3–6, 6-3
1925	Phoebe Holcroft Watson	Joyce Brown	6-2, 6-1
1926	Phoebe Holcroft Watson (2)	Joyce Brown	6-1, 6-1
↓  Open era  ↓
1970[9]	Jenny Chamberlain	H.B. Chamberlain	6-2, 6-3
Sussex Tennis Open Championships (West Worthing)
1977	Annette Coe	Debra Parker	6-4, 6-4
1978	Debra Stewart	Annette Coe	2-6, 6–2, 6-1
1979	Michele Tyler	Lesley Charles	1-6, 6–2, 7-5
1980	Lesley Charles	Elizabeth Jones	6-4, 6-2

References

Sources

• Lewis, Ralph Henry (1972). Scene in Sussex: a fresh look at the county,. London: Research Pub. ISBN 9780705000154.
• Myers, Arthur Wallis (1903). Lawn Tennis at Home and Abroad. London: Scribner's sons.
• Nieuwland, Alex. "Tournament – Sussex Championships". www.tennisarchives.com. Netherlands: Tennis Archives.
• Sussex County Championships Archives. Tennis Sussex. Tennis Sussex. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
• Teague, Bryan (20 November 2016). "History of the Club". sussexcountycroquetclub.org.uk. Sussex County Croquet Club.