Tennis History

Events 1 - 100 of 247

• 1659-09-30 Peter Stuyvesant of New Netherlands forbids tennis playing during religious services (1st mention of tennis in US)
• 1793-09-29 Tennis is 1st mentioned in an English sporting magazine
• 1868-07-23 All England Lawn Tennis Club is founded as The All England Croquet Club; 1877 name changed to The All England Croquet & Lawn Tennis Club

• 1874-02-23 Major Walter Clopton Winfield patents a game called "sphairistike" (lawn tennis)
• 1874-06-22 Game of lawn tennis introduced by Welsh Major Walter Clopton Wingfield, introducing a rubber ball to bounce on grass
• 1874-07-29 Major Walter Copton Wingfield patents a portable tennis court
• 1876-02-03 Albert Spalding invests $800 to start sporting goods company, manufacturing first official baseball, tennis ball, basketball, golf ball and football
• 1881-05-21 US National Lawn Tennis Association is established in NYC, New York
• 1881-08-03 US National Lawn Tennis Association removes "National" from its name
• 1886-08-18 Carr Baker Neel & Samuel Neel win US Lawn Tennis Association doubles
• 1888-08-20 Longest US men's single tennis tournament match Palmer Presbrey defeats T S Tailer, 19-21, 8-6, 6-1, 6-4, an 80 game 1st-round contest
• 1889-08-29 1st American International professional lawn tennis contest (Newport, Rhode Island)
• 1902-08-08 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, Brooklyn, NY: Malcolm Whitman beats Reginald Doherty 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 to give US a 3-2 win over the British Isles

• 1905-11-21 1st match ever played in the Australian National Tennis Championships

• 1911-03-20 National Squash Tennis Association forms (NYC)
• 1912-01-02 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, Christchurch, NZ: Norman Brookes & Alfred Dunlop beat Americans Maurice McLoughlin & Beals Wright 6-4, 5-7, 7-5, 6-4; Australasia unassailable 3-0 lead; win 4-0
• 1912-02-09 US Tennis Association amends rule taking bye away from defending champion
• 1912-11-30 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, Melbourne, Australia: James Cecil Parke beats Rodney Heaths 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 to give British Isles 3-2 victory over defending champions Australasia
• 1914-08-15 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, NYC, New York: Norman Brookes beats American Dick Norris Williams 6-1, 6-2, 8-10, 6-3 to give Australasia unassailable 3-1 lead; win 3-2

• 1921-09-03 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, NYC, NY: Americans Watson Washburn & William Norris beat Japanese pair Ichiya Kumagae & Zenzo Shimizuto 6-2, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 for 3-0 lead; ends 5-0
• 1922-09-04 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, NYC, NY: Bill Tilden beats James Anderson 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 for unassailable 3-1 lead for US over Australasia; US retains title, ends 4-1
• 1923-09-02 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, NYC, NY: Bill Johnson beats John Hawkes 6-0, 6-2, 6-1 for unassailable 3-1 lead for US over Australia; ends 4-1; US 4th straight win
• 1924-09-12 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, Philadelphia, PA: Bill Johnston & Bill Tilden clinch US 5th straight title beating Australians Pat O'Hara Wood & Gerald Patterson 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 for 3-0 lead; ends 5-0

• 1927-09-10 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, Philadelphia, PA: Henri Cochet beats Bill Johnson 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 to clinch a 3-2 win for France and break 7 title US win streak
• 1928-06-04 French Championship Women's Tennis: Helen Wills beats England's Eileen Bennett 6-1, 6-2 for her first of 4 French singles titles
• 1928-07-12 1st televised tennis match
• 1928-07-29 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, Paris, France: Home team retains title as Henri Cochet beats American Bill Tilden 9-7, 8-6, 6-4 for 3-1 lead; ends 4-1

• 1929-07-28 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, Paris, France: Home team wins 3 straight titles as Henri Cochet beats American George Lott 6-1, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 for a 3-2 victory

• 1932-07-31 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, Paris, France: Home team wins 6th straight title as Jean Borotra beats American Wilmer Allison 1-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 for unassailable 3-1 lead; ends 3-2
• 1933-06-05 French Championship Women's Tennis: England's Margaret Scriven is first woman from that country to win the singles title in Paris; beats Simonne Mathieu 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
• 1933-07-30 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, Paris, France: Fred Perry beats André Merlin 4-6, 8-6, 6-2, 7-5 to give Great Britain a 3-2 victory over France; ends French 6 title win streak

• 1938-09-05 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, Philadelphia, PA: US retain title as Don Budge beats Australian Adrian Quist 8-6, 6-1, 6-2 for unbeatable 3-1 lead; ends 3-2

• 1946-12-28 Davis Cup Men's Tennis, Melbourne, Australia: Jack Kramer & Ted Schroeder give US unassailable 3-0 lead; beat Australians John Bromwich & Adrian Quist 6-2, 7-5, 6-4; ends 5-0
• 1947-09-01 Davis Cup Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: USA retains title as Ted Schroeder outlasts Australian Dinny Pails 6-3, 8-6, 4-6, 9-11, 10-8 4-1 for a 3-1 lead; ends 4-1
• 1948-09-05 Davis Cup Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: 3 straight titles for US as Gardnar Mulloy & Bill Talbert beat Australians Colin Long & Bill Sidwell 8-6, 9-7, 2-6, 7-5 for unassailable 3-0 lead; ends 5-0
• 1949-08-28 Davis Cup Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: US takes trophy for third straight year with last day singles wins to Ted Schroeder and Pancho Gonzales; beat Australia, 4-1
• 1950-04-26 U of Miami ends William & Mary straight tennis match victories at 82

• 1950-08-26 Davis Cup Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Tom Brown beats Ken McGregor in 5 sets but Australia breaks US stranglehold on trophy with a dominant 4-1 victory

• 1957-07-21 1st black to win a major US tennis tournament (Althea Gibson)
• 1957-12-06 Gardnar Mulloy becomes oldest American to win a Davis Cup tennis match at age 44 years, 14 days; teams with Vic Seixas to give US a match-clinching, 3-0 lead over the Philippines in the Inter Zone 1st round in Adelaide, Australia

• 1970-07-24 International Lawn Tennis Association institutes 9 point tie break rule

• 1972-12-02 Romanian tennis star Ilie Năstase successfully defends his ATP Masters Grand Prix title with a 6–3, 6–2, 3–6, 2–6, 6–3 win over American Stan Smith in Barcelona, Spain
• 1973-03-31 American tennis star Billie Jean King ends Australian Margaret Court's 57-match winning streak 6-7, 7-6, 6-3 in semi finals of the WTA event in Indianapolis, IN
• 1973-04-30 Women's tennis groups end disputes over sanctioning tournaments
• 1973-09-20 Billie Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in battle-of-sexes tennis match
• 1973-10-23 19-year-old American tennis star Chris Evert retains her WTA Tour Championship at Boca Raton, Florida; beats Nancy Richey Gunter 6-3, 6-3 in the final
• 1973-12-01 Davis Cup Men's Tennis, Cleveland, Ohio: Rod Laver and John Newcombe beat American pair Stan Smith and Erik van Dillen 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 to give Australia an unassailable 3-0 lead, (ends 5-0); 23rd Cup title for Australia
• 1973-12-02 Davis Cup Men's Tennis, Cleveland: After clinching a famous victory the previous day, Australians Rod Laver and John Newcombe finish a 5-0 rout of the US with wins over Stan Smith and Tom Gorman
• 1973-12-08 Romanian tennis star Ilie Năstase wins his 3rd consecutive season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix title with a 6–3, 7–5, 4–6, 6–3 win over Dutchman Tom Okker in Boston, Massachusetts

• 1974-10-19 Australian tennis star Evonne Goolagong wins her first WTA Tour Championship; beats Chris Evert 6-3, 6-4 in the final at the Los Angeles Sports Arena
• 1974-12-01 South Africa is awarded the Davis Cup tennis title after India refuses to travel to South Africa for the final in protest of the South African government's apartheid policies

• 1975-04-05 American tennis #1 Chris Evert wins her 3rd WTA Tour Championship at the Los Angeles Sports Arena; beats Martina Navratilova 6-4, 6-2
• 1975-08-27 1st night match at US Tennis Open (Parun defeats Smith)
• 1975-12-07 Romanian tennis star Ilie Năstase wins his 4th season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix title with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 rout of Björn Borg of Sweden in Stockholm

• 1976-04-17 Australian tennis star Evonne Goolagong Cawley wins her second WTA Tour Championship at the Los Angeles Sports Arena; beats Chris Evert 6–3, 5–7, 6–3
• 1976-08-27 Transsexual Renee Richards barred from competing in US Tennis Open
• 1976-12-12 Spaniard Manuel Orantes beats Wojtek Fibak of Poland 5–7, 6–2, 0–6, 7–6, 6–1 to win his first and only season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix tennis title in Houston, Texas
• 1976-12-19 Davis Cup Men's Tennis, Santiago, Chile: Paolo Bertolucci & Adriano Panatta give Italy unassailable 3-0 lead; beat Patricio Cornejo & Jaime Fillol of Chile 6-3, 2-6, 9-7, 6-3; ends, 4-1
• 1977-03-27 American tennis star Chris Evert wins her 4th and final WTA Tour Championship 2–6, 6–1, 6–1 against England's Sue Barker at Madison Square Garden, NYC
• 1977-12-04 Davis Cup Men's Tennis, Sydney: John Alexander beats Adriano Panatta of Italy 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 8-6, 11-9 in a 3 hour, 54 minute classic to give Australia a 3-1 victory
• 1978-01-08 American Jimmy Connors beats Björn Borg of Sweden 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 to win his first and only season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix tennis title at Madison Square Garden, NYC

• 1978-08-29 USTA National Tennis Center opens in Flushing NY

• 1979-03-25 Czech tennis star Martina Navratilova retains her WTA Tour Championship with a 6–3, 3–6, 6–2 win over American teenager Tracey Austin in NYC
• 1980-01-12 Björn Borg of Sweden wins his first of 2 season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix tennis titles outclassing American Vitas Gerulaitis 6–2, 6–2 at Madison Square Garden, NYC

• 1980-04-16 Arthur Ashe retires from professional tennis
• 1981-01-18 Swedish tennis star Björn Borg claims his second straight ATP Masters Grand Prix title with a 6–4, 6–2, 6–2 win over Ivan Lendl at Madison Square Garden, NYC

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• 1852-02-16 Mary Ewing Outerbridge, American citizen credited with importing tennis to the US from Bermuda (1874), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1886)
• 1880-03-01 Julian Myrick, American tennis promoter (West Side Tennis Club & Forest Hills Stadium), born in Murfreesboro, North Carolina (d. 1969)
• 1898-02-27 Allison Danzig, American sports writer (Tennis Pictorial History), born in Waco, Texas (d. (1987)
• 1902-09-19 Jimmy Van Alen, American tennis official (created Simplified Scoring System), born in Newport, Rhode Island (d. 1991)
• 1918-09-04 Bill Talbert, American tennis player (9 x Grand Slam doubles titles; US Open singles 1944, 45 runner-up; International Tennis HOF), born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 1999)
• 1919-01-29 Doyle Royal, American collegiate soccer coach (NCAA C'ship 1968; University of Maryland 1946-73) and tennis coach (U of Maryland 1954-80), born in Washington, D.C. (d. 2020)
• 1923-07-31 Jimmy Evert, American tennis coach (father of Chris Evert), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2015)
• 1926-09-04 Dennis Murphy, American sports entrepreneur (co-founder American Basketball Ass'n, World Hockey Ass'n, original World Team Tennis, Roller Hockey International), born in Shanghai, China (d. 2021)
• 1926-09-11 Alfred Slote, American children's books author (Love & Tennis, Omega Station), born in Brooklyn, New York
• 1927-05-22 Glenn Bassett, American tennis coach (UCLA 1967-93; 7 x NCAA C'ships), born in Salt Lake City, Utah (d. 2020)
• 1930-12-25 Emmanuel Agassi, Iranian boxer and tennis coach (father of Andre Agassi), born in Salmas, Iran (d. 2021)
• 1931-07-31 Nick Bollettieri, American tennis coach (Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Monica Seles), born in Pelham, New York (d. 2022)
• 1939-05-09 Ion Ţiriac, Romanian tennis manager
• 1944-02-12 Charles Pasarell, Puerto Rican-American tennis player and administrator, born in San Juan, Puerto Rica
• 1953-11-13 Bob Brett, Australian tennis coach (Boris Becker, Goran Ivanišević, Marin Čilić), born in Melbourne, Australia (d. 2021)
• 1964-12-09 Josie Cichockyj, British wheelchair athlete (wheelchair racing [WR 5,000m], basketball, tennis, table tennis), born in Huddersfield, England (d. 2014)
• 1970-03-15 Diego Nargiso, tennis pro, born in Naples, Italy
• 1970-12-12 Abderrahim Ouakili, Moroccan soccer midfielder (11 caps; Mainz 05, 1860 Munich, Tennis Borussia Berlin, Karlsruher SC), born in Rabat, Morocco (d. 2023)
• 1975-03-18 Claude N'Goran, Adzope Ivory Coast, tennis pro
• 1987-10-01 Hiroki Aiba, Japanese actor and singer (The Prince Of Tennis), born in Funabashi, Chiba, Japan

• 2005-07-21 Tennis star player Lleyton Hewitt (24) weds "Home and Away" TV actress Bec Cartwright (22) at the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia
• 2005-12-03 NBC correspondent Hoda Kotb (41) weds New Orleans tennis coach Burzis Kanga in the Dominican Republic

• 2009-06-12 Tennis ace Boris Becker (41) weds model Sharlely Kerssenberg in St Moritz, Switzerland; separate in 2018
• 2011-02-16 Indian tennis ace Mahesh Bhupati (36) weds Bollywood actress and former Miss Universe (2000) Lara Dutta (32) at Bandra, Mumbai

• 1886-05-03 Mary Ewing Outerbridge, American citizen credited with importing tennis to the US from Bermuda (1874), dies of illness at 34
• 1969-01-04 Julian Myrick, American tennis promoter (West Side Tennis Club & Forest Hills Stadium), dies at 88
• 1987-01-27 Allison Danzig, American sports writer (tennis specialist), dies at 88
• 1991-01-20 Bill Riordon, American tennis promotor (Jimmy Connors), dies
• 1991-07-03 Jimmy Van Alen, American tennis official (created Simplified Scoring System), dies at 88
• 1992-12-10 Dan Maskell, English tennis commentator (b. 1908)
• 1995-04-23 John Stennis, American politician (Sen-D-MS), dies at 93
• 1995-11-23 Frank Hammond, American umpire, world's 1st professional tennis umpire, dies of ALS at 66
• 1999-02-28 Bill Talbert, American tennis player (9 x Grand Slam doubles titles; US Open singles 1944, 45 runner-up; International Tennis HOF), dies at 80
• 2014-12-02 Josie Cichockyj, British wheelchair athlete (wheelchair racing [WR 5,000m], basketball, tennis, table tennis), dies from cancer at 49
• 2015-08-21 Jimmy Evert, American tennis coach (father of Chris Evert), dies at 91
• 2020-08-18 Glenn Bassett, American tennis coach (UCLA 1967-93; 7 x NCAA C'ships), dies at 93
• 2020-09-29 Doyle Royal, American collegiate soccer coach (NCAA C'ship 1968; University of Maryland 1946-73) and tennis coach (U of Maryland 1954-80), dies at 101
• 2021-01-05 Bob Brett, Australian tennis coach (Boris Becker, Goran Ivanišević, Marin Čilić), dies from cancer at 67
• 2021-07-15 Dennis Murphy, American sports entrepreneur (co-founder American Basketball Ass'n, World Hockey Ass'n, original World Team Tennis, Roller Hockey International), dies at 94
• 2021-09-24 Emmanuel Agassi, Iranian boxer and tennis coach (father of Andre Agassi), dies at 90
• 2022-12-04 Nick Bollettieri, American tennis coach (Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Monica Seles), dies at 91
• 2023-12-18 Abderrahim Ouakili, Moroccan soccer midfielder (11 caps; Mainz 05, 1860 Munich, Tennis Borussia Berlin, Karlsruher SC), dies at 53

• Agnieszka Radwańska
• Monica Seles
• Pat Cash
• Serena Williams
• Stan Smith
• Stefan Edberg