World Hard Court Championships

World Hard Court Championships (WHCC) was an annual major tennis tournament held from 1912 to 1923, principally in Paris, France. The venue was the clay courts of the Stade Français in Saint-Cloud, Paris, with one exception, when they were held at the Royal Leopold Club in Brussels, Belgium, in 1922.

It was open to all international amateur players from all nationalities, unlike the French Championships, which were open only to tennis players who were members of clubs in France through 1924; because of this the WHCC is sometimes considered as the proper precursor to the French Open.^[1] The French Championships were also held at a different venue at the time, the Racing Club de France, Paris.

WHCC was part of a series of world championships advanced by the International Lawn Tennis Federation as Majors, the others being the World Grass Court Championships (Wimbledon) and the World Covered Court Championships (held in a variety of countries). The US Championships was not part of this series, even though it was regarded as a significant event.

The WHCC was not played in 1924, when Paris hosted the Olympic Games and its tennis tournament, also held on clay courts, took the place of the championship. In 1925 the tournament was disbanded when French Championships opened to international competitors, with the event held alternately between the Stade Français (1925, 1927), which was the site of the WHCC, and the Racing Club de France (1926), which was the site of the previous French Championship.^[2] From 1928, the French Championships moved to Stade Roland Garros.

Anthony Wilding was the only male multiple champion in the singles event, winning the title in 1913 and 1914, while Suzanne Lenglen won the women's singles title four times (1914, 1921–23).^[3]

Champions

1913 World Hard Court Championships men's final between Anthony Wilding and André Gobert (15 June 1913)

1913 World Hard Court Championships ladies' final between Mieken Rieck and Marguerite Brocquedis (15 June 1913)

Men's Singles

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score	Venue
1912	Otto Froitzheim	Oskar Kreuzer	6–2, 7–5, 4–6, 7–5	Stade Français, Paris
1913	Anthony Wilding	André Gobert	6–3, 6–3, 1–6, 6–4	Stade Français
1914	Anthony Wilding	Ludwig von Salm-Hoogstraeten	6–0, 6–2, 6–4	Stade Français
1915–19	not held – World War I
1920	William Laurentz	André Gobert	9–7, 6–2, 3–6, 6–2	Stade Français
1921	Bill Tilden	Jean Washer	6–3, 6–3, 6–3	Stade Français
1922	Henri Cochet	Count de Gomar	6–0, 2–6, 4–6, 6–1, 6–2	Royal Leopold Club, Brussels
1923	Bill Johnston	Jean Washer	4–6, 6–2, 6–2, 4–6, 6–3	Stade Français
1924	not held – Paris Olympics tennis regarded as the world championship

^[4]

Women's Singles

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score	Venue
1912	Marguerite Brocquedis	Mieken Rieck	6–3, 0–6, 6–4	Stade Français, Paris
1913	Mieken Rieck	Marguerite Brocquedis	6–4, 3–6, 6–4	Stade Français
1914	Suzanne Lenglen	Germaine Golding	6–2, 6–1	Stade Français
1915–19	not held – World War I
1920	Edith Dorothy Holman	Francisca Subirana	6–0, 7–5	Stade Français
1921	Suzanne Lenglen	Molla Mallory	6–2, 6–3	Stade Français
1922	Suzanne Lenglen	Elizabeth Ryan	6–3, 6–2	Royal Leopold Club, Brussels
1923	Suzanne Lenglen	Kathleen McKane	6–3, 6–3	Stade Français
1924	not held – Paris Olympics tennis regarded as the world championship

^[4]

Men's Doubles

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score	Venue
1912	Otto Froitzheim Oskar Kreuzer	Charles Winslow Harold Kitson	4–6, 6–2, 6–1, 6–3	Stade Français, Paris
1913	Heinrich Kleinschroth Moritz von Bissing	Otto Froitzheim Anthony Wilding	7–5, 0–6, 6–3, 8–6	Stade Français
1914	Max Decugis Maurice Germot	Arthur Gore Algernon Kingscote	6–1, 11–9, 6–8, 6–2	Stade Français
1915–19	not held – World War I
1920	André Gobert William Laurentz	Nicolae Mişu Cecil Blackbeard	6–4, 6–2, 6–1	Stade Français
1921	André Gobert William Laurentz	Alain Gerbault Pierre Albaran	6–4, 6–2, 6–8, 6–2	Stade Français
1922	Jean Borotra Henri Cochet	Nicolae Mişu Marcel Dupont	6–8, 6–1, 6–2, 6–3	Royal Leopold Club, Brussels
1923	Jacques Brugnon Marcel Dupont	Umberto de Morpurgo Leonce Aslangul	10–12, 3–6, 6–2, 6–3, 6–4	Stade Français
1924	not held – Paris Olympics tennis regarded as the world championship

^[4]

Women's Doubles

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score	Venue
1912–13	no women's doubles held
1914	Suzanne Lenglen Elizabeth Ryan	Blanche Amblard Suzanne Amblard	6–1, 6–1	Stade Français, Paris
1915–19	not held – World War I
1920	Dorothy Holman Phyllis Satterthwaite	Germaine Golding Jeanne Vaussard	6–3, 6–1	Stade Français
1921	Germaine Golding Suzanne Lenglen	Dorothy Holman Irene Bowder Peacock	6–2, 6–2	Stade Français
1922	Suzanne Lenglen Elizabeth Ryan	Geraldine Beamish Kathleen McKane	6–0, 6–4	Royal Leopold Club, Brussels
1923	Geraldine Beamish Kathleen McKane	Germaine Golding Suzanne Lenglen	6–2, 6–3	Stade Français
1924	not held – Paris Olympics tennis regarded as the world championship

^[4]

Mixed Doubles

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score	Venue
1912	Anne de Borman Max Decugis	Mieken Rieck Heinrich Kleinschroth	6–4, 7–5	Stade Français, Paris
1913	Elizabeth Ryan Max Decugis	Germaine Golding Anthony Wilding	walkover	Stade Français
1914	Elizabeth Ryan Max Decugis	Suzanne Lenglen Ludwig von Salm-Hoogstraeten	6–3, 6–1	Stade Français
1915–19	not held – World War I
1920	Germaine Golding William Laurentz	Suzanne Amblard Max Decugis	walkover	Stade Français
1921	Suzanne Lenglen Max Decugis	Germaine Golding William Laurentz	6–3, 6–2	Stade Français
1922	Suzanne Lenglen Henri Cochet	Geraldine Beamish John Gilbert	6–4, 4–6, 6–0	Royal Leopold Club, Brussels
1923	Suzanne Lenglen Henri Cochet	Kitty McKane Godfree John Gilbert	6–2, 10–8	Stade Français
1924	not held – Paris Olympics tennis regarded as the world championship

See also

• World Covered Court Championships

References

External links

• Detailed history of World Hard Court Championships
• Detailed results of World Hard Court Championships