The Polish National Championships (1921-1945)
Lawn tennis tournaments were being held in Poland, more accurately the Polish Lands, before World War One (at that time Poland was very different geographically from what it is today). In the early years the sport was played mainly by people from an upper class, if not an aristocratic background.
The earliest tournaments were played in cities such as Krakow and Lodz. This is reflected in the fact that the first Polish National Championships tournaments were held in those cities during the earliest years of its existence. The first edition took place in Krakow in September 1921, three years after the end of World War One, when the collapse of the imperial system in Europe resulted in significant territorial changes in Poland.
In the early decades of its existence the Polish National Championships, which was always an outdoor tournament, was held in a different city each year, in either August and/or September. In later years it was held earlier in the calendar, usually around early to mid-June. The surface used was always clay.
The early Polish National Championships did not feature a women’s doubles event, while the mixed doubles event became a fixed feature only from 1925. When the women’s doubles event was held for the second time, at the 1927 edition of the tournament, Jadwiga Jedrzejowska was on the winning team.
Although Poland had produced talented female players in the past, such as Wiera Richter and Wanda Dubienska, none of them possessed the talent of Jadwiga Jedrzejowska. For many years from 1929, when she first won the women’s singles title, Jadwiga Jedrzejowska would dominate the women’s events whenever she took part in the Polish National Championships tournament.
Few, if any, tennis tournament were held in Poland during World War Two, and Polish players were prohibited from taking part in the ones that did take place. The Polish National Championships were not held again until 1945. The location for the tournament in that particular year was Krakow, while the winner of the women’s singles event was, again, Jadwiga Jedrzejowska, herself a native of Krakow.
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1921 [Krakow] Wiera Richter d. Wanda Dubienska, walkover
1922 [Lodz] Wiera Richter d. Wanda Dubienska 6-1 7-5
1923 Tournament not held
1924 [Poznan] Wiera Richter d. Frl Stephan, walkover
1925 [Warsaw] Wiera Richter d. Frl Poradowska 6-4, 6-0
1926 [Lvov] Wiera Richter d. Wanda Dubienska 6-4, 6-2
1927 [Krakow] Wiera Richter d. Wanda Dubienska 6-4, 6-3
1928 [Katowice] Wanda Dubienska d. Jadwiga Jedrzejowska 8-6, 6-4
1929 [Poznan] Jadwiga Jedrzejowska d. Frl Raciborska 6-1, 6-2
1930 [Warsaw] Jadwiga Jedrzejowska d. Wanda Dubienska 6-4, 6-2
1931 [Lvov] Jadwiga Jedrzejowska d. Gertruda Volkmer 6-2, 6-1
1932 [Krakow] Jadwiga Jedrzejowska d. Wanda Dubienska 6-1, 6-4
1933 [Katowice] Jadwiga Jedrzejowska d. Wanda Dubienska 6-2, 6-2
1934 [Poznan] Jadwiga Jedrzejowska d. Gertruda Volkmer 6-4, 6-2
1935 [Warsaw] Jadwiga Jedrzejowska d. Gertruda Volkmer-Jacobsen 6-1, 6-3
1936 [Lvov] Jadwiga Jedrzejowska d. Gertruda Volkmer-Jacobsen 6-3, 11-9
1937 [Krakow] Frl Glowacka d. H. Luniewska 8-6, 7-5
1938 [Katowice] Gertruda Volkmer-Jacobsen d. Zofia Jedrzejowska 7-5, 6-2
1939 [Poznan] Jadwiga Jedrzejowska d. H. Luniewska 6-1, 6-0
1940-44 Tournament not held due to World War Two
1945 [Krakow] Jadwiga Jedrzejowska d. Zofia Jedrzejowska 6-2, 6-0
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A contribution by LKK and newmark401.
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