Irish Open (tennis)

Irish Championships
Irish Open
Defunct tennis tournament
Event nameIrish Open
TourILTF Grand Prix Circuit
(1970–74) men
ILTF Independent Circuit
(1970, 74-83) women
WTA Tour
(1971–73) women
Founded1879; 145 years ago (1879)
Abolished1983; 41 years ago (1983)
Editions94
LocationDublin, Ireland
VenueFitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club
Fitzwilliam Square
SurfaceHard, Grass, Clay

The Irish Open and originally known as the Irish Championships or Irish Lawn Tennis Championships,[1] and for sponsorship reasons also known as Carroll's Irish Open Championships was a men's and women's tennis tournament held at the Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin, Ireland. Before the creation of the International Lawn Tennis Federation and the establishment of its world championship events in 1913, it was considered by players and historians one of the four most important tennis tournaments to win.[2][3][4] the others being Wimbledon, the U.S. National championships and the Northern Championships. The men's event was part of the pre-open era tour from inception until 1967. It was then part of the open era non-aligned independent tour (1968–69). From 1970 to 1974, it was an event on the Grand Prix tennis circuit. The women's event was on the same tours as the men except for when it became part of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour from 1971 to 1973. The men's edition was played until 1979, and the women's ended in 1983 when they both ceased to part of the top level world tennis circuit.

  1. ^ Garcia, Gabriel. "Tournament – Irish Championships – Irish Open". The Tennis Base. Madrid: Tennismem SL. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  2. ^ Robertson, Max (1974). The Encyclopedia of Tennis. London: Allen & Unwin. pp. 266, 267. ISBN 9780047960420.
  3. ^ Myers, A. Wallis (1903). Lawn Tennis at Home and Abroad. New York: Charles Scribner and Sons. p. 55.
  4. ^ Lake, Robert J. (2014). A Social History of Tennis in Britain. Routledge. p. 49. ISBN 9781134445578.