World Hard Court Championships, frequently considered as the precursor to the French Open was held from 1912 till 1924 Summer Olympics

1924 Summer Olympics

The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France...

 in Paris, France. The venue, was the clay courts of the Stade Français in Saint-Cloud

Saint-Cloud

Saint-Cloud is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.Like other communes of the Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine or Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of the wealthiest cities in France, ranked 22nd out of the 36500 in...

, with one exception, namely 1922, when they were held at the Royal Leopold Club in Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

, Belgium. This tournament was open to all international amateur tennis players and was part of a series of three world championships being pushed by the ILTF

International Tennis Federation

The International Tennis Federation is the governing body of world tennis, made up of 205 national tennis associations.It was established as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by 12 national associations meeting at a conference in Paris, France on 1 March 1913...

 at the time, the other two being the World Grass Court Championships at Wimbledon and the World Covered Court Championships

World Covered Court Championships

The World Covered Court Championships were part of a series of three world championships sanctioned from 1913–1923 by the International Lawn Tennis Federation . The tournament was played indoors on wood floors, and its venue changed from year to year among several countries...

 held in a variety of countries.

The WHCC was open to all nationalities unlike the French Championships which were open only to tennis players who were licensed in France through 1924. The French Championships were also held at a different venue at the time, the Racing Club de France, Paris).

The WHCC was not played in 1924, when Paris hosted the Olympic Games, with the tennis event being held in the Colombes district on the outskirts of the city. In 1925 the tournament was disbanded when the French Championships  opened itself to international competitors with the event held on a clay surface alternately between the Stade Français (1925, 1927) and the Racing Club de France (1926). From 1928, the French Championships have been held at Roland Garros stadium.

Men's Singles

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score	Venue
1912	Otto Froitzheim Otto Froitzheim Otto Froitzheim was a German tennis player. At the 1908 Summer Olympics he won a silver medal in the men's singles tournament....	Oskar Kreuzer	6-2, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5	Stade Français, Paris
1913	Anthony Wilding	Andre Gobert André Gobert André Henri Gobert was a male tennis player from France.He was born and died in Paris.-Career:...	6-3, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4	Stade Français
1914	Anthony Wilding	Count Salm	6-0, 6-2, 6-4	Stade Français
1915	not held - World War I
1916	not held - World War I
1917	not held - World War I
1918	not held - World War I
1919	not held - World War I
1920	William Laurentz William Laurentz William Laurentz was a French tennis player of the early 20th century, born in Paris, died in 1922.Laurentz notably won the mixed doubles at the French Championships in 1912 and 1913...	Andre Gobert André Gobert André Henri Gobert was a male tennis player from France.He was born and died in Paris.-Career:...	9-7, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2	Stade Français
1921	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...	Jean Washer	6-3, 6-3, 6-3	Stade Français
1922	Henri Cochet Henri Cochet Henri Jean Cochet was a champion tennis player, one of the famous "Four Musketeers" from France who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s....	Count de Gomar	6-0, 2-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2	Royal Leopold Club, Brussels Brussels Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union... , Belgium
1923	Bill Johnston	Jean Washer	4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3	Stade Français
1924	not held - Olympics 1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France...

Women's Singles

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score	Venue
1912	Marguerite Brocquedis	Mieken Rieck	6–3, 0–6, 6–4	Stade Français, Paris
1913	Mieken Rieck	Marguerite Brocquedis	6–4, 3–6, 6–4	Stade Français
1914	Suzanne Lenglen Suzanne Lenglen Suzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen was a French tennis player who won 31 Championship titles between 1914 and 1926...	Germaine Golding Germaine Golding Germaine Golding was a Franco-British inter-war tennis player.Golding reached three consecutive French Open finals, from 1921 to 1923, and lost on each occasion to Suzanne Lenglen...	6–2, 6–1	Stade Français
1915–1919	not held - World War I
1920	Edith Dorothy Holman Dorothy Holman Edith Dorothy Holman was a British tennis player who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics.Holman was born in Kilburn, London. In 1920 she won the silver medal in the singles event as well as in the doubles competition with her partner Geraldine Beamish...	Francisca Subirana	6–0, 7–5	Stade Français
1921	Suzanne Lenglen Suzanne Lenglen Suzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen was a French tennis player who won 31 Championship titles between 1914 and 1926...	Molla Mallory Molla Mallory Anna Margarethe "Molla" Bjurstedt Mallory was a Norwegian-born American tennis player.-Tennis career:...	6–2, 6–3	Stade Français
1922	Suzanne Lenglen Suzanne Lenglen Suzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen was a French tennis player who won 31 Championship titles between 1914 and 1926...	Elizabeth Ryan Elizabeth Ryan Elizabeth Montague Ryan was an American tennis player who was born in Anaheim, California but lived most of her life in the United Kingdom. Ryan won 30 Grand Slam titles. Nineteen of those titles were in women's doubles and mixed doubles at Wimbledon, an all-time record for those two events...	6–3, 6–2	Royal Leopold Club, Brussels Brussels Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union... , Belgium
1923	Suzanne Lenglen Suzanne Lenglen Suzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen was a French tennis player who won 31 Championship titles between 1914 and 1926...	Kathleen McKane Kathleen McKane Godfree Kathleen "Kitty" McKane Godfree was a British female tennis and badminton player....	6–3, 6–3	Stade Français

Men's Doubles

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score	Venue
1912	Otto Froitzheim Otto Froitzheim Otto Froitzheim was a German tennis player. At the 1908 Summer Olympics he won a silver medal in the men's singles tournament....   Kreuzer			Stade Français, Paris
1913	Heinrich Kleinschroth   Baron von Bissing			Stade Français
1914	Max Decugis Max Décugis Maxime "Max" Omer Decugis was a male tennis player from France who holds the French Championships/French Open record of winning the tournament eight times and his three Olympic medals at the 1900 Summer Olympics and the 1920 Summer Olympics...   Maurice Germot Maurice Germot Maurice Germot was a French tennis player and Olympic champion. He received a gold medal in double at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm....			Stade Français
1915–1919	not held - World War I
1920	André Gobert André Gobert André Henri Gobert was a male tennis player from France.He was born and died in Paris.-Career:...   William Laurentz William Laurentz William Laurentz was a French tennis player of the early 20th century, born in Paris, died in 1922.Laurentz notably won the mixed doubles at the French Championships in 1912 and 1913...			Stade Français
1921	André Gobert André Gobert André Henri Gobert was a male tennis player from France.He was born and died in Paris.-Career:...   William Laurentz William Laurentz William Laurentz was a French tennis player of the early 20th century, born in Paris, died in 1922.Laurentz notably won the mixed doubles at the French Championships in 1912 and 1913...			Stade Français
1922	Jean Borotra Jean Borotra Jean Robert Borotra was a French champion tennis player. He was one of the famous "Four Musketeers" from his country who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s.-Career:...   Henri Cochet Henri Cochet Henri Jean Cochet was a champion tennis player, one of the famous "Four Musketeers" from France who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s....			Royal Leopold Club, Brussels Brussels Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union... , Belgium
1923	Jacques Brugnon Jacques Brugnon Jacques "Toto" Brugnon was a French tennis player, one of the famous "Four Musketeers" from France who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s.He was born in Paris and died in Paris.... Dupont			Stade Français

External links

• Detailed history of World Hard Court Championships