1889 women's tennis season

The 1889 Women's Tennis Season was a tennis tournament circuit composed of 63 major, national, regional, county, and regular tournaments. The season began in January in Madras, India, and ended in December in Dunedin, New Zealand.^[1]

From 1888 until 1912 Britain's Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), grew in status and influence to become the de facto international tennis governing body before the proper International Lawn Tennis Federation commenced operations.^[2] Despite the United States National Lawn Tennis Association (USNLTA) forming in 1881 a good seven years before the LTA, it was the British body that set laws, settled disputes and organized the increasingly complicated tournament calendar before the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) formed in March, 1913.^[3]

After the formation of the ILTF the world tennis circuit going forward was a highly organised and structured network of national and international tournaments.^[4] Most tennis tournaments were usually mixed events for men and women, and the women's international tennis circuit certainly up to 1923 was composed mainly of tournaments on the British and European Circuits.^[5] After the USNLTA joined the ILTF this would later change with more and more tournaments being staged globally. Women tennis players on the world circuit up to the open era were funded by their national associations enabling them to travel and take part in international tournaments.^[6]

1889 sees a slight decrease in the number women's singles events being held as the tennis circuit continues to form.^[7] The 1889 women's tennis season began on 8 January with the first Southern India Championships staged at Madras, India.^[1] In May 1889 at the first major event of the year the Irish Championships^[8] played at the Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin, Ireland. Ireland's Louisa Martin wins the singles title beating defending champion Blanche Hillyard, she also picks up the ladies doubles event is won partnered with Florence Stanuell. In the mixed doubles Lena Rice and Willoughby Hamilton defeat Blanche Hillyard and Harold Stone. In terms of draw size the South of England Championships was the largest tournament of the year with a draw of 30 across two events.

In mid June 1889 the change in scheduling is continued when the U.S. National Championships are held at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, PA, Bertha Townsend successfully defends her title in the challenge round by defeating Lida Voorhees in straight sets.^[9]

Later the same month at the third major tournament of the year the Northern Championships played at the Northern Lawn Tennis Club in Manchester, England Lottie Dod successfully defends her title beating Blanche Hillyard in three sets, in the women's doubles final sisters Bertha Steedman and Mary Steedman defeat another sister pairing Ann and Lottie Dod in straight sets, and the All England Mixed Doubles Championship event,^[1] is won by Lottie Dod and John Charles Kay who defeat Blanche Hillyard and Ernest Renshaw in the final.^[1]

In July at the fourth and final major event of the season the 1889 Wimbledon Championships the world's first major tennis tournament, Blanche Bingley takes the title, when she defeats upcoming Irish player Lena Rice in three very close sets to win her third major title.^[10][11] The season ended on 30 December 1889 at the New Zealand Championships, held in Dunedin, New Zealand that was played on grass.^[1]

Prior to the creation of the International Lawn Tennis Federation and the establishment of its world championship events in 1913 the Wimbledon Championships, the U.S. National Championships, the Irish Lawn Tennis Championships and the Northern Championships were considered by players and historians as the four most important tennis tournaments to win,^[12][13][14] and together effectively making an early incarnation of the Grand Slam events we know today.^[15]

Key

This is a list of winners by the total number of singles titles won for 1889 major titles in bold:

• Louisa Martin – Bath, Cheltenham, Irish Championships (3)
• May Langrishe – Brighton, Bournemouth, Eastbourne, (3)
• Lottie Dod – Darlington, Northern Championships, (2)
• Ivy Arbuthnot – East Grinstead, Felixstowe, (2)
• E Gordon – Auckland II, Dunedin II, (2)
• Mabel Grant – Hamilton, Pietermaritzburg, (2)
• Ellen M Mayne – Geelong, Sydney, (2)
• E. Malcolm – Keswick, Moffat, (2)
• Lida Voorhees – Livingston, Wissahickon, (2)
• Bertha Townsend – U.S.National Championships, (1)
• Constance Bryan – Cannes, (1)
• R. Orbell – Dunedin, (1)
• Mrs Bruce-Johnston – Pau, (1)
• Mrs. Rowell – Singapore, (1)
• Miss Nicholas – Madras, (1)
• Florence Stanuell – Dublin, (1)
• Lottie Paterson – Edinburgh II, (1)
• May Jacks – London, (1)
• Mary Pick – Waterloo, (1)
• Connie Butler – Edinburgh, (1)
• Miss Pope – Penarth, (1)
• Maud Shackle – Beckenham, (1)
• Maud Watson – Edgbaston, (1)
• Blanche Hillyard – Wimbledon Championships, (1)
• Katherine Grey – Hull, (1)
• Mary Steedman – Chiswick Park, (1)
• Mabel Boulton – Ilkley, (1)
• Helen Jackson – Newcastle, (1)
• Miss Norman – Colchester, (1)
• Katherine Hole – Exmouth, (1)
• Alice Cheese – Darlington, (1)
• Miss Crossley – Sheffield, (1)
• Frances Arrowsmith – Victoria, (1)
• Bertha Steedman – Buxton, (1)
• Beatrice Wood – Nottingham, (1)
• Miss. Moir – St Andrews, (1)
• Edith Gurney – Scarborough, (1)
• Winifred Kersey – Saxmundham, (1)
• G. Crofton – Dublin, (1)
• F. Williams – South Orange, (1)
• Miss Bursk – Lancaster, (1)
• Sarah Allen – Trefriw, (1)
• Bessie Carpenter – Sewickley, (1)
• Charlotte Cooper – Ealing, (1)
• May Carter – Santa Monica, (1)
• Mrs. Chaytor – Singapore II, (1)
• Edith Austin – Dieppe, (1)
• Mev. van de Poll – Scheveningen, (1)
• Mrs Quinnell – Brisbane, (1)
• Nellie A'Beckett – Melbourne, (1)
• M. Sloane – Corowa, (1)

• Total Tournaments (63)
• Most Titles: Louisa Martin & May Langrishe (3)
• Most Finals: Louisa Martin (4)
• Most Matches Played: Blanche Hillyard (16)
• Most Matches Won: Blanche Hillyard (13)
• Match Winning %: Louisa Martin (85.7%) min 14 matches
• Most Tournaments Played: Connie Butler (7)

• Bartlett, Michael and Gillen, Bob. (1981) The Tennis Book, edited by Michael Bartlett and Bob Gillen, Arbor House, New York, ISBN 0-87795-344-9
• Collins, Bud. Total Tennis:The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia, Sport Classic Books, Toronto, Canada, ISBN 0-9731443-4-3.
• Crips, Mark (10 May 2022). In Pursuit of the Slam: My Year Travelling to Tennis's Top Four Tournaments (5 ed.). Manchester: i2.i Publishng. ISBN 9781914933981.
• Garcia, Gabriel. "Season: 1889". The Tennis Base. Madrid, Spain: Tennismem SAL.
• Hughes, G.P. Dunlop Lawn Tennis Almanack And Tournament Guide, G.P. Hughes.
• Lowe, Sir F. Gordon. Lowe's Lawn Tennis Annuals and Compendia, Eyre & Spottiswoode. London, England.
• Robertson, Max (1974). The Encyclopedia of Tennis. London: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9780047960420.
• Someren, Janine van (December 2010). "3: The Amateur Tennis Circuit". Women's Sporting Lives: A biographical study of elite amateur tennis players at Wimbledon. A thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Southampton, England: University of Southampton Research Repository.
• Wallis Myers A. Ayre's Lawn Tennis Almanack And Tournament Guide, London, England.