All India Hard Court Championships Explained

The All India Hard Court Championships,^[1] also known as the All India Hard Court Tennis Championships, was a combined men's and women's clay court tennis tournament founded in 1947.^[2] The championships were first played at the Madras Gymkhana Club grounds, Madras, Tamil Nadu, India. The championships ran until 1972 before it was discontinued as part of the worldwide tennis circuit.

History

Tennis was introduced to India in the 1880s by British Army and Civilian Officers.^[3] In 1947 the All India Tennis Association established a national level tournament called the All India Hard Court Championships.^[4] In 1947, 1955 and 1959 this tournament was held in conjunction with the Western India Championships. The championships were staged until 1972 when they were discontinued as part of the worldwide tennis circuit.

Locations

The championships were staged mainly in Madras, but also throughout India in different locations such as; Amaravati, Bombay, Hyderabad and Trivandrum.

Past finals

Men's singles

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score
1947	Narendra Nath[5]	Khan-Iftikhar Ahmed	6-4, 6-4, 6-3
1948[6]	Lennart Bergelin	Torsten Johansson	5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
1949[7]	G. Vasant	P. L. Narayanarao	6-3, 6-2, 6-2
1950	Philippe Washer[8]	Raymundo Deyro	6-3, 6-4, 6-2
1951		Fred Kovaleski	6-1, 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
1952		Atsushi Miyagi	4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
1954		Ramanathan Krishnan	6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
1955	Ramanathan Krishnan[9]	Jack Arkinstall	6-2, 0-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
1956		Bob Perry	6-4, 6-4, 6-4
1957	Arcot Uday Kumar	Govindji Vasant	1-6, 5-7, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2
1958		Ulf Schmidt	2-6, 7-5, 5-7, 7-5, 8-6
1959	Ramanathan Krishnan[10]	Giuseppe Merlo	6-4, 6-3, 6-4
1960		Ulf Schmidt	6-2, 6-3, 6-2
1962[11]		Krishnan led 19-17 Title shared
1965		Jaidip Mukerjea	6-3, 10-8, 7-5
1966		Nicky Kalogeropoulos	7-5, 4-6, 6-8, 6-4, 6-1
1968[12]	Alex Metreveli	Ion Țiriac	11-9, 6-3, 6-2
1969		Premjit Lall	4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5
1970		Alex Metreveli	3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-0
1971		Gaurav Misra	2-6, 6-3, 7-5, 10-12, 6-4
1972		Jaidip Mukerjea	w/o

Notes and References

1. Book: Robertson . Max . The Encyclopedia of Tennis . 1974 . Viking Press . New York . 978-0-670-29408-4 . 264 . en.
2. Web site: History . aitatennis . All India Tennis Association . 11 January 2023 . New Delhi, India.
3. All India Tennis Association
4. News: Ranganathan . Shilu . Memories of Madras  - Field days . 12 January 2023 . The Hindu . The Hindu Group . 20 July 2010 . Chennai, Tamil Nadu . en-IN.
5. Web site: Western India Championships 1947 (inc. All India Hard Courts). Tennis Archives. 9 November 2024.
6. News: 13 January 1948. Bergelin Wins Singles Title. The Indian Express. 10 November 2024.
7. News: 19 January 1949. Vasant Secures Singles Title. The Indian Express. 10 November 2024.
8. Web site: All India Hard Courts. Tennis Archives. 9 November 2024.
9. Web site: Western India Championships 1955 (inc. All India Hard Courts). Tennis Archives. 9 November 2024.
10. Web site: Western India Championships 1959 (inc. All India Hard Courts). Tennis Archives. 9 November 2024.
11. News: May 1962. Results. World Tennis. 9 November 2024.
12. News: 23 January 1968. Metreveli Triumphs. St. Petersburg Times. 10 November 2024.