Colonial National Invitational (tennis)

Colonial National Invitation
Defunct tennis tournament
TourWCT (1971–1973)
Founded1962
Abolished1973
Editions12
LocationFort Worth, Texas, U.S.
VenueColonial Country Club
SurfaceHard / outdoor

The Colonial National Invitation was a men's tennis tournament played at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas from 1962 to 1973.[1][2][3][4] The club hired Tut Bartzen as a tennis pro and made him responsible for hosting the tournament.[5][6] The inaugural edition in 1962 was an amateur-only event.[7] In 1967 it became a professional tournament, which meant that amateurs could not compete. The total prize money for the tournament that year was $15,000 and the first-prize, won by Rod Laver, was $1,700.[1] The following year, 1968, a women's professional event was added which was won by Ann Haydon Jones.[1] The tournament was part of the WCT Tour from 1971 to 1973 and was held on outdoor hard courts.[8]

  1. ^ a b c "Laver, Newcombe head FW Tourney". The Denton Record-Chronicle. August 6, 1972. p. 25 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "McKinley slices Ham to win Colonial tennis". No. St. Petersburg Times. AP. September 16, 1963. p. 2C.
  3. ^ "Osuna winner at Colonial". Corsicana Daily Sun. AP. September 21, 1964. p. 23 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Ashe Smacks Stolle Hard For Colonial". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. AP. September 20, 1965. p. 18.
  5. ^ Lisa Jordan Kilborn (January 7, 2011). "King Tut". Tennis.com.
  6. ^ "Bernard "Tut" Bartzen". Texas Tennis Museum and Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2015-10-23. Retrieved 2015-08-05.
  7. ^ "Tennis – Top Field in Fort Worth". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. AP. September 13, 1962. p. 25.
  8. ^ "Newcombe Captures Colonial Tournament". Sarasota Journal. UPI. August 21, 1972. p. 3C.