Tennis Forum banner

New South Wales Championships

3K views 66 replies 1 participant last post by  Rollo 
#1 · (Edited)
New South Wales Championships/Open Tournament History
The New South Wales Championships is among the oldest surviving tournaments on the international circuit – including Grand Slam events - and in 2005 celebrated its 120th birthday. From the mid 1885 to 1922, when the National Championships ceased to be a men-only event, the NSW and Victorian Championships (which began in 1884 but ceased to exist in 1971, since when the titles have been awarded to the winner of the Australian Open) were the leading events for Australian women. In fact, their status remained sufficiently high for Adrian Quist to write in the 1973 Encyclopedia of Tennis (edited by Max Robertson, p. 201) that from “an Australian viewpoint, the Championships of New South Wales (Sydney) and Victoria (Melbourne) carry almost the same prestige as the national titles.”

Traditionally held on the grass courts at White City in Sydney, they have been interrupted just once, from 1941-44 during WWII. In 1989, the surface switched to Rebound Ace, to bring the event in line with the surface used at the Australian Open at Flinders Park and at the turn of the millennium, the tournament left White City for the NSW tennis centre at Homebush Bay, which had been constructed for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. With Kuznetsova slated to play in the 2006 tournament, from what I can see, every winner of a grand slam tournament between Wimbledon 1958 and the US Open 2005 with two exceptions Karen Hantze-Susman, the Wimbledon Champion of 1962 who never played in Australia, and 2004 Wimbledon Champion Maria Sharapova has graced the tournament, though Tracy Austin only played doubles there once.

In the years before 1958, the roll of honour of the championships contains few foreigners and it took 49 years (1934) before Britain’s Dorothy Round became the first foreign winner. She remained the only non-Australian champion until Americans Doris Hart (1948) and Maureen Connolly (1952) came along after World War II. Nevertheless, virtually all the leading Australians, Margaret Molesworth (1919, 21), Sylvia Lance-Harper (1924,28), Daphne Akhurst (1929), Esna Boyd (1923, 26, 27), Joan Hartigan (1933), Beryl Penrose-Collier (1954), Thelma Coyne-Long (1935, 38, 40, 51, 53) and Nancye Wynne Bolton (1936, 37, 39, 45, 46, 47), appear on the roll of honour.

In the late 1950s and 1960s, doubtless due to a combination of Australian domination of men’s tennis raising the prestige of the Australian circuit and the rise in popularity of women’s tennis, the number of foreign competitors on the Australian circuit slowly began to increase. The following is a brief journey through the history of the New South Wales Championships from 1955-2005. As the Australian summer spans the turn of the year, I’ve used both years to show the season and then, when known, given the month the event took place. I’ve also noted the year-end ranking of the players (Lance Tingay’s top 10 until 1974 and then those of the WTA computer) to give an idea about the strength of the field.

Many thanks are due to Chris for some of the pre-final results pre 1967 and to AndrewTas for the full roll of honour he has compiled. If anyone can fill in any of the missing SF and QF results, that’d be great.


Yearly reports originally posted by Andy T
 
See less See more
#14 ·
1959 (December)

L16 Mary Carter-Reitano d. Margaret Smith 6-3 3-6 6-4

QF: M. Bueno BRA (59 YER 1) d. Mrs Beverley Rae AUS 6-3 7-5
QF: J. Lehane AUS d. Mimi Arnold USA 4-6 7-5 6-2
QF: Mary Carter-Reitano AUS d. Margaret Hellyer AUS 6-0 6-0
QF: Beryl Penrose-Collier AUS d. Faye Muller AUS 6-3 6-4

SF: Jan Lehane beat Maria Bueno 62 46 63
SF: Mary Reitano d. Beryl Penrose-Collier 6-4 6-2

FI: Jan Lehane AUS beat Mary Carter-Reitano AUS 63 36 62,

Aussie junior upsets world #1 Bueno and defending Australian Nationals champion Reitano en route to victory. This may have been 17-year-old Margaret Smith’s début year at the tournament.
 
#15 ·
1960-1961 (January 1961)

QF Margaret Smith AUS d. Mary Bevis-Hawton AUS 6-1 6-0
QF Mary Reitano AUS d. Noelene Turner AUS 6-2 3-6 6-1
QF Lesley Turner AUS d. Lorraine Coghlan-Robinson AUS 6-4 6-4
QF Jan Lehane AUS (60 YER 8) d. Mrs. M. Pratt AUS 6-1 6-3

SF Margaret Smith d. Mary Carter-Reitano 4-6 6-2 6-2
SF Jan Lehane d. Lesley Turner 6-0 6-1

FI: Jan Lehane AUS beat Margaret Smith AUS 6-1 6-3

Lehane drops only 9 games in the last three rounds to retain the NSW crown.
 
#16 ·
1961 (December 1961)

QF Margaret Smith AUS (61 YER 4) bt Madonna Schacht AUS 64 64
QF Robyn Ebbern AUS bt Jan Lehane AUS retired
QF Lesley Turner AUS bt Mary Reitano AUS 63 62
QF Darlene Hard USA (61 YER 2) bt Fay Toyne AUS 61 62.

SF Margaret Smith beat Robyn Ebbern 61 62 (or 86 60)
SF Darlene Hard beat Lesley Turner (86 60 according to Court’s autobiography)

FI: Margaret Smith (61 YER 4) beat Darlene Hard (61 YER 2) 62 61

Margaret Smith wins the first of 5 consecutive NSW titles, a joint record with R. Payten (1900-1904). She recalls the final match in her autobiography “The Margaret Smith Story” p65 as follows: “She attacked the ball with more zest than she had done in either of our earlier matches and I relished the chance to swap shots with her. I broke her first serve of the match to lead 2-0 and when I took the set 6-2 I again felt that I had her measure. In the second set I dropped my serve for the first time in the third game as Darlene unleashed several well-executed ground shots but after that reverse I seemed to play even better than in the first set and took it 6-1.

We shook hands in silence at the net and gathered up our racquets and handbags and walked off the court. As we walked through the familiar exit fromp the centre court and out towards the dressing room Darlene was met by several friends and I was surprised to overhear her say in rather annoyed tones: ‘Wait till I get her on my courts back in the States.’”
 
#17 ·
1962 (November)

QF Margaret Smith AUS (62 YER 1) d. Rita Bentley GBR 6-1 6-2
QF Jan Lehane AUS d Elizabeth. Starkie GBR 6-3 6-1
QF Christine Truman GBR d. Judy Tegart AUS 6-1 6-3
QF Lesley Turner AUS (62 YER 7) d. Robyn Ebbern AUS 7-5 4-6 6-4

SF Margaret Smith d. Jan Lehane 7-5 6-2
SF Lesley Turner d. Christine Truman 6-2 7-5

FI: Margaret Smith beat Lesley Turner 8-6 6-2

The touring British contingent is no match for the top Australian trio.
 
#18 ·
1963 (November)

QF Margaret Smith AUS (63 YER 1) d. Madonna Schacht AUS 6-0 6-4
QF Lesley Turner AUS (63 YER 2) d. Kaye Dening AUS 6-3 3-6 6-1
QF Judy Tegart AUS d. Helen Gourlay AUS 6-4 6-1
QF Jan Lehane AUS (63 YER 7) d. Joan Gibson AUS 6-0 6-3

SF Margaret Smith d. Lesley Turner 6-1 6-1
SF Judy Tegart d. Jan Lehane 7-5 2-6 6-1


FI: Margaret Smith beat Judy Tegart 61 63

Smith and Turner, acknowledged as the world’s top 2 in Lance Tingay’s annual rankings, meet in the semi-finals as Smith concedes a mere 10 games in the last three rounds. The last 8 are all Australians for the last time in history.
 
#19 ·
1964 (23-29 November)

QF M. Smith (64 YER 1) d. J. Gibson 6-3 6-2
QF J. Tegart d. R. Ebbern 1-6 6-4 6-1
QF B. J. Moffitt (64 YER 7) d. M. Schacht 6-4 6-2
QF L. Turner (64 YER 3) d. G. Sherriff 6-2 8-6

SF Smith d. Tegart 6-3 4-6 6-4
SF Billie Jean Moffitt-King USA beat Lesley Turner AUS 64 63

FI Margaret Smith d Billie Jean King 6-4 6-3.

Billie Jean, on her first visit down under, is the only foreigner in the last eight.
 
#21 ·
1966-67 (Nov 1966).

L16 G. Sherriff d. E. Goolagong 6-2 6-3
L16 Meryl Jones d. R. Casals (66 YER 9) 6-1 7-5

QF Lesley Turner d. Gail Sherriff 6-1 6-1
QF Elizabeth Fenton d. Meryl Jones 6-2 3-6 6-3
QF Kerry Melville (66 YER 10) d. Judy Tegart 6-2 6-3
QF Karen Krantzcke d. Françoise Durr (66 YER 8) 6-3 6-2

SF Lesley Turner d. Elizabeth Fenton 6-1 6-3
SF Kerry Melville d. Karen Krantzcke 2-6 6-3 6-4

F Lesley Turner beat Kerry Melville-Reid 68 97 63.

Lesley Turner finally wins Sydney! Evonne Goolagong made her début at the NSW championships aged just 15 and beat #4 foreign seed Evelyne Terras 60 60 in round of 32 before losing to Gail Sherriff 26 36 in the last 16. In her autobiography, “Home” (p 119) Evonne quotes an account by Alan Clarkson, a reporter with the Sydney Morning Herald, of her quarter final match:

“The scores did not give a true indication of the tenseness and closeness of the match. Miss Sherriff, who has a forehand as if she was cracking her worst enemy, unleashed her power-laden shots in an effort to knock her younger opponent off the court. Miss Goolagong relished the pace and put the ball back with equal ferocity… and often out of the older girl’s reach.”
 
#22 ·
1967-68 (16-26 November 1967)

QF Judy Tegart AUS (67 YER 10) beat BJ King USA (67 YER 1) 63 79 60
QF Kathy Harter USA bt Lesley Turner AUS (67 YER 5) 64 64
QF Kerry Melville AUS (67 YER 9) bt Karen Krantzcke AUS 8-10 11-9 6-3
QF Margaret Smith-Court AUS bt Rosie Casals (67 YER 6) AUS 63 61

SF Margaret Court beat Kathy Harter 62 63
SF Judy Tegart beat Kerry Melville 46 86 86

F Judy Tegart beat Margaret Smith-Court in a walkover in the final.

There was a very strong field, containing half of the world’s top 10 plus unranked Margaret Court, playing in her first tournament in 15 months, in an event which had many surprises but no climax. Court claims in her autobiography that rain forced the postponement of the match and that she and Judy played the decider later and that she won but no record has been found of this, to my knowledge, and Tegart is credited with the win by default.
 
#23 ·
1968-69 (Jan 1969)

L16: Evonne Goolagong lost to Ann Jones 62 61.

QF Margaret Court AUS (68 YER 5) beat Lesley Turner AUS (68 YER 9) 61 61
QF Rosie Casals USA (68 YER 10) beat Karen Krantzcke AUS 62 64
QF Billie Jean King USA (68 YER 1) bt Judy Tegart AUS (68 YER 7) 63 62
QF Kerry Melville AUS beat Ann Jones GBR (68 YER 6) 57 64 86.

SF Margaret Court beat Kerry Melville 63 60
SF Rosie Casals beat Billie Jean King 63 57 75

F Margaret Court beat Rosie Casals 61 62

In a top-class field, Court shows that she is back at the top after a mediocre 1968 season. Rosie enjoys a rare win over Billie Jean but can only claim three games from Madge.
 
#24 ·
1969 -1970 (16-22 March 1970)

L16 Evonne Goolagong lost 26 36 to Françoise Durr.

QF Billie Jean King USA (69 YER 3) beat Winnie Shaw GBR 64 75
QF Virginia Wade GBR (69 YER 9) bt Françoise Durr FRA 64 63
QF Rosie Casals USA (69 YER 6) bt Wendy Gilchrist AUS 46 63 61
QF Margaret Court AUS (69 YER 1) beat Karen Krantzcke AUS 62 62

SF Billie Jean King beat Virginia Wade 63 63
SF Margaret Court beat Rosie Casals 61 64

F Billie Jean King beat Margaret Court 62 46 63

The NSW state titles were awarded jointly with the Australian Open title, played at White City. However, an open tournament with a draw of 16 sponsored by Dunlop was held on the same courts in March: This was Margaret’s first defeat (if a 1967 walkover is discounted) in the NSW in a decade. Mrs King wins the tournament on her fourth attempt.
 
#25 ·
1970-1971 (January 4-10 1971)

L16 Betty Stove beat Evonne Goolagong 64 36 75

QF Margaret Court AUS (70 YER 1) bt Brenda Kirk RSA 61 62
QF Olga Morozova USSR bt Betty Stove NL 57 63 75
QF Gail Sherriff FRA beat Kris Kemmer USA 62 75
QF Kazuko Sawamatsu JPN beat Patti Hogan USA 63 64

SF Margaret Court AUS beat Gail Sherriff FRA 64 75
SF Olga Morozova USSR bt Kazuko Sawamatsu JPN 63 64

F Margaret Court beat Olga Morozova 62 62.

Margaret Court, the only Aussie left in the quarter finals, beats overseas players in the final three rounds to clinch her penultimate Sydney title.
 
#26 ·
1971-72 (3-9 Jan 1972)

QF Barbara Hawcroft AUS beat Olga Morozova USSR 62 63
QF Evonne Goolagong AUS beat A. Coleman AUS 63 61
QF Patti Coleman AUS beat Janet Young AUS 36 62 62
QF Virginia Wade GBR beat Margaret Tesch AUS 63 63

SF Goolagong (71 YER 1) beat Patti Coleman 75 60,
SF Wade (71 YER 8) beat Hawcroft. 63 62

F Evonne Goolagong beat Virginia Wade 61 76.

Evonne reverses the final result of the previous week’s Australian Open with a straight sets win over Virginia. The major shock is Morozova’s loss to youngster Hawcroft.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top