Kevin Jefferys - Beyond SW19: Tournament Tennis in Britain since the 1880s

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2021

Pitch Publishing

A2 Yeoman Gate

Yeoman Way

Durrington

BN13 3QZ

www.pitchpublishing.co.uk

Kevin Jefferys, 2021

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A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library

Print ISBN 9781785317767

eBook ISBN 9781785319419

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SOME BOOK titles are self-explanatory. Readers are unlikely to be surprised by what they find between the covers of, say, The A-Z of London, or an A-Z of any major city. Other titles are more difficult to second-guess. Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas, for example, might leave uninitiated readers intrigued as to whats to come in the novel by American author Tom Robbins. My chosen title and sub-title fall somewhere between these two opposite extremes and so perhaps require an explanation at the outset.

Even those with only a passing interest in the sport of tennis will know that the annual summer gathering held at Wimbledon in London SW19 is special. One of Britains finest competitors of the 20th century, Bunny Austin, wrote in his memoir A Mixed Double, All players will agree there is no tournament experience to equal The Championships at Wimbledon. The vast attendance, the excitement of the crowd, the perfection of the conditions, the efficiency of the management, all combine to lift it above any other tournament or championship in the world [see p. 94]. Austins view as a player is no doubt shared by the hosts of officials, coaches, journalists, media outlets and spectators who flock to London from around the world each summer, and could be applicable to any period in Wimbledons illustrious history from the early days of the Victorian pioneers through to the modern era of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray.

But however enduring, significant and popular it is, Wimbledon does not tell the whole story of high-quality tennis played on English shores. At the start of 2020 the games domestic governing body, the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), looked forward to another year of world-class tennis around the country, having in mind tournaments such as those at Queens Club, Eastbourne, Edgbaston, Nottingham and Manchester, as well as at the highlight of the grass-court season in London SW19. The LTAs hopes for the summer were of course dashed in common with much of the nations sporting and social life by the global COVID-19 pandemic, but the underlying sentiment and reasoning stands. As this study sets out to demonstrate, international-standard tennis has long been on display Beyond SW19, at a range of locations and tournaments in addition to the revered showcase at Wimbledon.

As for the sub-title, this alludes to the scope and timescale of the books coverage. My main focus is on tennis featuring top stars of the sport played primarily, but not exclusively, at tournaments such as those referred to above. Because venues such as Queens and Eastbourne (and several less-well-known settings, the likes of Bristol and Scarborough) have also staged other forms of international competition that are included in what follows, notably numerous Davis Cup ties, a sub-title along the lines of a history of leading tournaments apart from Wimbledon would not altogether encompass the content of the main chapters. Instead, what readers will find in these pages, one hopes, is an overview, assessment and celebration of the various forms of world-class tennis played at key locations around the country from the 1880s to the present day.

FOR HELP during the course of researching and preparing my text, Id especially like to thank Dr Matt Cole, for his assistance in relation to the history of Edgbaston; David Baker at Beckenham Sports Club; and staff at the Bristol Reference Library. My debt to the writings and recollections of formers players, journalists and officials is suitably acknowledged, I hope, in the Notes at the end of the book. Id also like to express my gratitude to the many excellent websites that have aided the research process. These include:

www.beckenhamtennisclub.co.uk;

www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk;

www.eastbournetennis.com;

www.thenorthern.co.uk; www.surbiton.org;

www.tennisarchives.com;

www.thetennisbase.com; www.tennisforum.com;

and www.westhants.co.uk.

While appreciative to all those concerned for their valuable assistance, it should be added that responsibility for any errors or omissions rests with the author alone.

Im grateful once more to the support and expert guidance of Pitch Publishing in bringing the project to fruition, notably to Jane Camillin, Paul Camillin, Duncan Olner and Graham Hales. Thanks also to Andrea Dunn.

For permission to use the photographs reproduced on the cover and inside the book Id like to thank Getty Images and Alamy.

The front jacket photographs show (clockwise from the top):

Jimmy Connors with the mens singles trophy at Queens Club, 1982; Althea Gibson holding the womens singles trophy at Surbiton, 1956; Dan Evans in action at Surbiton, 2019 (when he won the mens singles); The British Hard Court Championships in progress at Bournemouth, 1969; Martina Navratilova with the trophy at Eastbourne, 1983; Dorothy Round competing at Beckenham, 1931.

The inside front cover photograph shows Andy Murray and Feliciano Lopez (nearest to camera) in action against Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram in the mens doubles final at the Queens Championships in June 2019. The inside back image is an aerial view of the South of England Championships at Devonshire Park, Eastbourne, taken in 1905.

The back jacket cover features Billie Jean King, en route to victory in the singles final at Edgbaston in 1983, and Vijay Amritraj, winner of the Bristol Open in 1986.

The running order of the images inside the book, it might be added, follows the structure of the main chapters/tournaments, rather than being arranged in, say, chronological date order.

Finally, Id like to say a big thank you, during these challenging pandemic times, to Sue, Pete, Kate, Katie and James for their ongoing love, support and inspiration.

Kevin Jefferys

February 2021

FOR A sport that originated as a genteel English garden-party pursuit and was derided by critics in its formative years as mere pat-ball lawn tennis has a surprisingly long history of keen competition. The knockout tournament, pitting players one against the other and embedding a strong culture of winning and losing, has been a staple of the game since it began and started to spread in the 1870s. This book sets out to illustrate the longevity, high quality and variety of competitive tennis that has taken place on English shores outside of Wimbledon.