Cincinnati Tennis Club
Encyclopedia
The Cincinnati Tennis Club was founded in 1880 just five years after tennis
was introduced in America, and is today one of the oldest active tennis clubs in the United States.
, and in 1878 he decided to build a court at his father's home on Highland Avenue and Oak Street in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Mt. Auburn.
After the first court was built, interest spread rapidly among enthusiastic friends of Shillito, and by 1880, Cincinnati was ready for a tennis club.
On December 3, 1880, Edmund H. Pendleton presided over a meeting held at the Burnet House in Cincinnati, the purpose being the organization of a tennis club. A constitution was drawn up and the following officers were nominated and elected: President - Jeptha Garrand; Secretary - Howard S. Winslow; and Treasurer - Albert C. Barney.
In one week, 86 players were enrolled as members, and the south wing of Music Hall
was leased for indoor play until May 1881, making Cincinnati the site of some of the earliest indoor play in America. The lease on Music Hall was renewed for an additional year, but soon thereafter the decision was made to terminate the agreement. (The story is that the roof leaked, and the club members wanted a discount on the rent because of it.) With the termination of the lease, the era of the nineteenth century indoor tennis ended in Cincinnati.
At the time one of the officers of the Club, Howard S. Winslow, lived on Oak Street and Reading Road. His father generously made available to the members if the Club (CTC) sufficient ground to lay three grass courts at the rear of his property which was adjacent to a lane. The city fathers, seeing growing tennis activity, named the lane Tennis Lane. It continues to bear that name today.
The CTC remained at that location through 1885, when it moved, with no explanation, to a new location on Arbigust Street (now called Vernon Place).
For the next 13 years the Club occupied two different locations on Vernon Place. During these years the Club grew in terms of membership and activity, and in two of the three years, 1891 and 1893, the club sponsored the Ohio State Adult Championship. Having moved twice in 13 years, the club began looking in 1898 for a more permanent address.
Among the members of CTC were John B. Keys and John Scarborough. Each owned tracts of land which they were interested in developing into a subdivision. They both hoped to do the club a favor, and at the same time enhance the value of their holdings by encouraging the club to locate on their property. John Keys offered as a gift 3 acres (12,140.6 m²) of land on Bedford Avenue adjoining the new Cincinnati Golf Club. John Scarborough offered the Club what is substantially its present location, not as a gift, but rent free for the first few years. Mr. Scarborough agreed to lay out four courts and build a club house at his own expense.
Finally in the spring of 1899, Scarborough's offer was excepted because Keys' property on Bedford was considered "too far out in the country and somewhat inaccessible".
Thirty-eight members from Vernon Place along with many new members brought the membership to 186 when the courts were opened. Some of the improvements promised in the Scarborough agreements were not completed until 1900.
In the first year at the new location there were four courts, the present courts 1, 2, 9 and 10. In 1904 three more courts were added to the upper tier, the present 6, 7 and 8. In 1925 three courts were added to the lower tier, courts 3, 4 and 5. The original club house was torn down in 1905 and replaced with the present structure in 1906.
In 1904 the Cincinnati Enquirer reported: "Such a number of noted tennis players from cities throughout the United States has been entered that the Tri-State Tournament ranks very high, being surpassed in importance only by the National Lawn Tennis Association Tournament at Newport, R.I."
Many great players, both men and women, participated in the tournament. Its list of winners reads like a "Who's Who'" of tennis - Nat Emerson
, Beals Wright
, Bill Tilden
, George Lott
, Bobby Riggs
, Frank Parker
, Bill Talbert
, Tony Trabert
, Barry MacKay
, May Sutton
, Alice Marble
, Pauline Betz
, and Dorothy Bundy, to name but a few.
This tournament eventually would grow into what is now known as the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters & Women's Open
. The tournament, now held in the Cincinnati suburb of Mason, is the oldest tournament in the nation played in its original city.
when it was first played in 1899, and was a finalist several times afterward. He was ranked No. 7 in Men's Singles by the USTA in 1908. Another nationally prominent player in the early years was Reuben A. Holden, Jr.
, who won the NCAA Singles Championship in 1910 while a student at Yale University. It was 41 years later in 1951, when Club member Tony Trabert
playing for the University of Cincinnati won the NCAA Singles title. Barry MacKay
of Dayton also won the NCAA Singles title in 1957, while at the University of Michigan.
Trabert was one of the most prominent players in the modern history of tennis. He played on the United States Davis Cup team and was later the captain. He was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1970. Court 2 at the tennis club has been dedicated in this honor.
Bill Talbert was ranked in the U.S. Top 10 13 times between 1941 & 1954. He won nine Grand Slam
doubles titles, and also reached the men’s doubles finals of the U.S. National Championship nine times. He also was a Davis Cup player and one of the most successful Davis Cup captains in U.S. history. He was enshrined into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1967 and was in the first class, along with his former protege Tony Trabert, enshrined into the Cincinnati Tennis Hall of Fame. After his playing career, he was Tournament Director of the US Open. Talbert and Trabert were both coached by Howard Zaeh, as well as many hundreds of others who went on to play around the world.
tie in 1952, the first ever to be played here. All this activity did much to further the interest in tennis in Cincinnati and in the Ohio Valley area.
, 27th President of the United States and later Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; Potter Stewart
, Justice of the Supreme court; Neil McElroy, Secretary of Defense in the Eisenhower Administration and President and Chairman of the Procter & Gamble
Company. Too numerous to mention are other members who have been leaders in the business community, medical, legal and teaching professions. From 1993 to 1995, member J. Howard Frazer served as president of the USTA - the first Cincinnatian ever to direct the national organization. Another member, Alvin Bunis, founded the first tennis senior tour -- the first senior tour in either tennis or golf.
by the United States Department of Interior for its leadership in the development and advancement of the sport of tennis in the Cincinnati and Ohio Valley Area.
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
was introduced in America, and is today one of the oldest active tennis clubs in the United States.
History
Stewart Shillito, the son of John Shillito, the founder of the Cincinnati department store, Shillito's, had seen tennis played while on vacation at the fashionable seaside resort of Narragansett Pier, Rhode IslandRhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
, and in 1878 he decided to build a court at his father's home on Highland Avenue and Oak Street in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Mt. Auburn.
After the first court was built, interest spread rapidly among enthusiastic friends of Shillito, and by 1880, Cincinnati was ready for a tennis club.
On December 3, 1880, Edmund H. Pendleton presided over a meeting held at the Burnet House in Cincinnati, the purpose being the organization of a tennis club. A constitution was drawn up and the following officers were nominated and elected: President - Jeptha Garrand; Secretary - Howard S. Winslow; and Treasurer - Albert C. Barney.
In one week, 86 players were enrolled as members, and the south wing of Music Hall
Music Hall (Cincinnati)
Music Hall, completed in 1878, is Cincinnati's premier classical music performance hall. It serves as the home for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Opera, May Festival Chorus, and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. In January, 1975, it was recognized as a National Historic Landmark by the...
was leased for indoor play until May 1881, making Cincinnati the site of some of the earliest indoor play in America. The lease on Music Hall was renewed for an additional year, but soon thereafter the decision was made to terminate the agreement. (The story is that the roof leaked, and the club members wanted a discount on the rent because of it.) With the termination of the lease, the era of the nineteenth century indoor tennis ended in Cincinnati.
At the time one of the officers of the Club, Howard S. Winslow, lived on Oak Street and Reading Road. His father generously made available to the members if the Club (CTC) sufficient ground to lay three grass courts at the rear of his property which was adjacent to a lane. The city fathers, seeing growing tennis activity, named the lane Tennis Lane. It continues to bear that name today.
The CTC remained at that location through 1885, when it moved, with no explanation, to a new location on Arbigust Street (now called Vernon Place).
For the next 13 years the Club occupied two different locations on Vernon Place. During these years the Club grew in terms of membership and activity, and in two of the three years, 1891 and 1893, the club sponsored the Ohio State Adult Championship. Having moved twice in 13 years, the club began looking in 1898 for a more permanent address.
Among the members of CTC were John B. Keys and John Scarborough. Each owned tracts of land which they were interested in developing into a subdivision. They both hoped to do the club a favor, and at the same time enhance the value of their holdings by encouraging the club to locate on their property. John Keys offered as a gift 3 acres (12,140.6 m²) of land on Bedford Avenue adjoining the new Cincinnati Golf Club. John Scarborough offered the Club what is substantially its present location, not as a gift, but rent free for the first few years. Mr. Scarborough agreed to lay out four courts and build a club house at his own expense.
Finally in the spring of 1899, Scarborough's offer was excepted because Keys' property on Bedford was considered "too far out in the country and somewhat inaccessible".
Thirty-eight members from Vernon Place along with many new members brought the membership to 186 when the courts were opened. Some of the improvements promised in the Scarborough agreements were not completed until 1900.
In the first year at the new location there were four courts, the present courts 1, 2, 9 and 10. In 1904 three more courts were added to the upper tier, the present 6, 7 and 8. In 1925 three courts were added to the lower tier, courts 3, 4 and 5. The original club house was torn down in 1905 and replaced with the present structure in 1906.
The Tri-State Tournament
Between the years of 1903 and 1968, and with the exception of about 10 years, the Club hosted the popular and well-known tournament known as the Tri-State Tennis Tournament. This event attracted many of the best male and female players from around the country and the world, and the tournament was always one of the major events on the major tennis schedule during the Pre-Open Era.In 1904 the Cincinnati Enquirer reported: "Such a number of noted tennis players from cities throughout the United States has been entered that the Tri-State Tournament ranks very high, being surpassed in importance only by the National Lawn Tennis Association Tournament at Newport, R.I."
Many great players, both men and women, participated in the tournament. Its list of winners reads like a "Who's Who'" of tennis - Nat Emerson
Nat Emerson
Nathaniel C. Emerson was a top-ranked American amateur tennis player in the early 20th Century. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio in October, 1874 to Henry & Edith Emerson, he moved to Yakima, Washington by 1911, where he owned an apple orchard. Later he lived in Memphis, Tennessee.He was ranked in the...
, Beals Wright
Beals Wright
Beals Coleman Wright , was an American male tennis player.Beals was born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, the son of Cincinnati Red Stockings great George Wright and nephew of Cincinnati Red Stockings team founder Harry Wright...
, Bill Tilden
Bill Tilden
William Tatem Tilden II , nicknamed "Big Bill," is often considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time. An American tennis player who was the World No. 1 player for seven years, he won 14 Majors including ten Grand Slams and four Pro Slams. Bill Tilden dominated the world of...
, George Lott
George Lott
George Martin Lott was an American tennis player and tennis coach who was born in Springfield, Illinois, United States. Lott is mostly remembered as being one of the greatest doubles players of all time. He won the U.S. title five times with three different partners: John Hennessey in 1928; John...
, Bobby Riggs
Bobby Riggs
Robert Larimore "Bobby" Riggs was a 1930s–40s tennis player who was the World No. 1 or the co-World No. 1 player for three years, first as an amateur in 1941, then as a professional in 1946 and 1947...
, Frank Parker
Frank Parker
----Frank "Frankie" Andrew Parker was an American male tennis player. He was coached by Mercer Beasley....
, Bill Talbert
Bill Talbert
William Franklin "Billy" Talbert was an American tennis player and administrator.He was ranked in the U.S. Top 10 13 times between 1941 & 1954. He won nine Grand Slam doubles titles, and also reached the men’s doubles finals of the U.S. National Championship nine times. mainly with favorite...
, Tony Trabert
Tony Trabert
Marion Anthony Trabert is a retired American tennis champion and long-time tennis author, TV commentator, instructor, and motivational speaker...
, Barry MacKay
Barry MacKay
Barry MacKay is a former American tennis player and tournament director and a current tennis broadcaster. While competing in college for the University of Michigan, he won the singles title at the 1957 NCAA Men's Tennis Championship to clinch the team title for Michigan. He was also a finalist...
, May Sutton
May Sutton
May Godfrey Sutton was a tennis champion and the first American to win the singles title at Wimbledon.-Biography:...
, Alice Marble
Alice Marble
Alice Marble was a World No. 1 American tennis player who won 18 Grand Slam championships : 5 in Singles, 6 in Women's Doubles, and 7 in Mixed Doubles.-Early life:Born in the small town of Beckwourth, Plumas County, California, Marble moved with her family at the age of...
, Pauline Betz
Pauline Betz
Pauline May Betz Addie was an American professional tennis player.She won five Grand Slam singles titles and was the runner-up on three other occasions. Jack Kramer has called her the second best female tennis player he ever saw, behind Helen Wills Moody.-Early life:Betz attended Los Angeles High...
, and Dorothy Bundy, to name but a few.
This tournament eventually would grow into what is now known as the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters & Women's Open
Cincinnati Masters
The Cincinnati Open is an annual outdoor hardcourts tennis event held in the Cincinnati suburb of Mason, Ohio, USA. The event started on September 18, 1899 and is the oldest tennis tournament in the United States played in its original city., Between...
. The tournament, now held in the Cincinnati suburb of Mason, is the oldest tournament in the nation played in its original city.
Nat Emerson and Tony Trabert
The Club has had a number of nationally ranked players, the first being Nat Emerson who won the Tri-State TournamentCincinnati Masters
The Cincinnati Open is an annual outdoor hardcourts tennis event held in the Cincinnati suburb of Mason, Ohio, USA. The event started on September 18, 1899 and is the oldest tennis tournament in the United States played in its original city., Between...
when it was first played in 1899, and was a finalist several times afterward. He was ranked No. 7 in Men's Singles by the USTA in 1908. Another nationally prominent player in the early years was Reuben A. Holden, Jr.
Reuben A. Holden, Jr.
Reuben Andrus Holden III , was a tennis player during the early part of the 20th Century.-Career:...
, who won the NCAA Singles Championship in 1910 while a student at Yale University. It was 41 years later in 1951, when Club member Tony Trabert
Tony Trabert
Marion Anthony Trabert is a retired American tennis champion and long-time tennis author, TV commentator, instructor, and motivational speaker...
playing for the University of Cincinnati won the NCAA Singles title. Barry MacKay
Barry MacKay
Barry MacKay is a former American tennis player and tournament director and a current tennis broadcaster. While competing in college for the University of Michigan, he won the singles title at the 1957 NCAA Men's Tennis Championship to clinch the team title for Michigan. He was also a finalist...
of Dayton also won the NCAA Singles title in 1957, while at the University of Michigan.
Trabert was one of the most prominent players in the modern history of tennis. He played on the United States Davis Cup team and was later the captain. He was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1970. Court 2 at the tennis club has been dedicated in this honor.
Bill Talbert was ranked in the U.S. Top 10 13 times between 1941 & 1954. He won nine Grand Slam
Grand Slam (tennis)
The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...
doubles titles, and also reached the men’s doubles finals of the U.S. National Championship nine times. He also was a Davis Cup player and one of the most successful Davis Cup captains in U.S. history. He was enshrined into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1967 and was in the first class, along with his former protege Tony Trabert, enshrined into the Cincinnati Tennis Hall of Fame. After his playing career, he was Tournament Director of the US Open. Talbert and Trabert were both coached by Howard Zaeh, as well as many hundreds of others who went on to play around the world.
Davis Cup
Throughout this long period the Club continued to bring world class players and teams to Cincinnati, including a Davis CupDavis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
tie in 1952, the first ever to be played here. All this activity did much to further the interest in tennis in Cincinnati and in the Ohio Valley area.
Prominent Members
In addition to a number of outstanding players, CTC has had distinguished and prominent citizens in its membership. To name a few, William Howard TaftWilliam Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
, 27th President of the United States and later Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; Potter Stewart
Potter Stewart
Potter Stewart was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. During his tenure, he made, among other areas, major contributions to criminal justice reform, civil rights, access to the courts, and Fourth Amendment jurisprudence.-Education:Stewart was born in Jackson, Michigan,...
, Justice of the Supreme court; Neil McElroy, Secretary of Defense in the Eisenhower Administration and President and Chairman of the Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
Company. Too numerous to mention are other members who have been leaders in the business community, medical, legal and teaching professions. From 1993 to 1995, member J. Howard Frazer served as president of the USTA - the first Cincinnatian ever to direct the national organization. Another member, Alvin Bunis, founded the first tennis senior tour -- the first senior tour in either tennis or golf.
National Register of Historic Places
CTC has occupied its present site at Dexter and Wold Avenues since 1899, and on March 29, 1983 it was listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
by the United States Department of Interior for its leadership in the development and advancement of the sport of tennis in the Cincinnati and Ohio Valley Area.
National Father Son Clay Court Championships
Since 1974, the club has played host to the United States Tennis Association's National Father & Son Clay Court Championships.External links
- Map links: 39°8′3"N 84°28′9"W