World Hard Court Championships were an annual major tennis tournament sanctioned by the International Lawn Tennis Federation, held from 1912 to 1923. It was principally held in Paris, on clay courts of the Stade Français in the Paris suburb of Saint-Cloud, with one exception when they were held at the Royal Leopold Club in Brussels, Belgium, in 1922.^[1]

The name of the event referred to its venues that were surfaced with clay, which at the time was customarily transcribed as "hard court" in English. It was open to all international amateur players from all nationalities, unlike the French Championships, which were open only to tennis players who were members of clubs in France through 1924; because of this the World Hard Court Championships is sometimes considered as the proper precursor to the French Open.^[2] The French Championships were also held at a different venue at the time, the Racing Club de France, Paris.

At an annual general meeting held on 16 March 1923 in Paris, France the International Lawn Tennis Federation issued the ‘Rules of Tennis’ that were adopted with public effect on 1 January 1924. The United States became an affiliated member of the International Lawn Tennis Federation. The World Championship title was also dropped at this meeting and a new category of Official Championship was created for events in Great Britain, France, USA and Australia – today’s Grand Slam events. The World Hard Court Championships tournament was then disbanded by the International Lawn Tennis Federation.^[3]

The World Hard Court Championships was not played in 1924, when Paris hosted the Olympic Games and its tennis tournament, also held on clay courts, took the place of the championship. In 1925 the French Championships opened to international competitors for the first time, with the event held alternately between the Stade Français (1925, 1927), which was the site of the World Hard Court Championships, and the Racing Club de France (1926), which was the site of the previous French Championship.^[4] From 1928, the French Championships moved to Stade Roland Garros.

Anthony Wilding was the only male multiple champion in the singles event, winning the title in 1913 and 1914, while Suzanne Lenglen won the women's singles title four times (1914, 1921–23).^[5]

Champions

1913 World Hard Court Championships men's final between Anthony Wilding and André Gobert (15 June 1913)

1913 World Hard Court Championships ladies' final between Mieken Rieck and Marguerite Brocquedis (15 June 1913)

Men's singles

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score
1912	Otto Froitzheim	Oscar Kreuzer	6–2, 7–5, 4–6, 7–5
1913	Anthony Wilding	André Gobert	6–3, 6–3, 1–6, 6–4
1914	Anthony Wilding	Ludwig von Salm-Hoogstraeten	6–0, 6–2, 6–4
1915	No competition (due to World War I)
1916
1917
1918
1920	William Laurentz	André Gobert	9–7, 6–2, 3–6, 6–2
1921	Bill Tilden	Jean Washer	6–3, 6–3, 6–3
1922	Henri Cochet	Manuel de Gomar	6–0, 2–6, 4–6, 6–1, 6–2
1923	Bill Johnston	Jean Washer	4–6, 6–2, 6–2, 4–6, 6–3
1924	No competition (Paris Olympics held instead)

Women's singles

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score
1912	Marguerite Broquedis	Mieken Rieck	6–3, 0–6, 6–4
1913	Mieken Rieck	Marguerite Broquedis	6–4, 3–6, 6–4
1914	Suzanne Lenglen	Germaine Golding	6–2, 6–1
1915	No competition (due to World War I)
1916
1917
1918
1920	Dorothy Holman	Francisca Subirana	6–0, 7–5
1921	Suzanne Lenglen	Molla Mallory	6–2, 6–3
1922	Suzanne Lenglen	Elizabeth Ryan	6–3, 6–2
1923	Suzanne Lenglen	Kitty McKane	6–3, 6–3
1924	No competition (Paris Olympics held instead)

Men's doubles

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score
1912	Otto Froitzheim Oscar Kreuzer	Harold Kitson Charles Winslow	4–6, 6–2, 6–1, 6–3
1913	Moritz von Bissing Heinrich Kleinschroth	Otto Froitzheim Anthony Wilding	7–5, 0–6, 6–3, 8–6
1914	Max Decugis Maurice Germot	Arthur Gore Algernon Kingscote	6–1, 11–9, 6–8, 6–2
1915	No competition (due to World War I)
1916
1917
1918
1920	André Gobert William Laurentz	Cecil Blackbeard Nicolae Mişu	6–4, 6–2, 6–1
1921	André Gobert William Laurentz	Pierre Albarran Alain Gerbault	6–4, 6–2, 6–8, 6–2
1922	Jean Borotra Henri Cochet	Marcel Dupont Nicolae Mişu	6–8, 6–1, 6–2, 6–3
1923	Jacques Brugnon Marcel Dupont	Léonce Aslangul Uberto de Morpurgo	10–12, 3–6, 6–2, 6–3, 6–4
1924	No competition (Paris Olympics held instead)

Women's doubles

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score
1912	No women's doubles held
1913
1914	Suzanne Lenglen Elizabeth Ryan	Blanche Amblard Suzanne Amblard	6–0, 6–0
1915	No competition (due to World War I)
1916
1917
1918
1920	Dorothy Holman Phyllis Satterthwaite	Germaine Golding Jeanne Vaussard	6–3, 6–1
1921	Germaine Golding Suzanne Lenglen	Dorothy Holman Irene Peacock	6–2, 6–2
1922	Suzanne Lenglen Elizabeth Ryan	Winifred Beamish Kitty McKane	6–0, 6–4
1923	Winifred Beamish Kitty McKane	Germaine Golding Suzanne Lenglen	6–2, 6–3
1924	No competition (Paris Olympics held instead)

Mixed doubles

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score
1912	Max Decugis Anne de Borman	Heinrich Kleinschroth Mieken Rieck	6–4, 7–5
1913	Max Decugis Elizabeth Ryan	Anthony Wilding Germaine Golding	walkover
1914	Max Decugis Elizabeth Ryan	Ludwig von Salm-Hoogstraeten Suzanne Lenglen	6–3, 6–1
1915	No competition (due to World War I)
1916
1917
1918
1920	William Laurentz Germaine Golding	Max Decugis Suzanne Amblard	walkover
1921	Max Decugis Suzanne Lenglen	William Laurentz Germaine Golding	6–3, 6–2
1922	Henri Cochet Suzanne Lenglen	Brian Gilbert Geraldine Beamish	6–4, 4–6, 6–0
1923	Henri Cochet Suzanne Lenglen	Brian Gilbert Kitty McKane	6–2, 10–8
1924	No competition (Paris Olympics held instead)

See also

• World Covered Court Championships

References

External links

• Detailed history of World Hard Court Championships at the Wayback Machine (archived 2016-11-11)
• Detailed results of World Hard Court Championships at the Wayback Machine (archived 2016-03-04)