This was a tennis rivalry played between British player Laurence Doherty and the Irish player Harold Mahony, which in their respective careers met 18 times from 1896 until 1904.
Doherty and Mahony were both Grand Slam winners with Doherty winning six slam titles and two Olympic golds and Mahony winning one slam title, two Olympic silver medals and one bronze medal. Throughout their respective careers Doherty won 66 titles and Mahony 59 titles.
They first met in 1896 at the London Championships, Doherty was 22 years old when he first met 29 years old Mahony. At the Grand Slams they met three times, twice at Wimbledon and Doherty led (2-0) in matches and once at the U.S. National Championships, Doherty led (1-0) they also met in the 1900 Paris Olympics final with Doherty again winning (1-0).
They played each other predominately on grass courts but also on clay courts and indoors on hard wood courts.
Challenge Rounds Challenge Round: the final round of a tournament, in which the winner of a single-elimination phase (final) faces the previous year's champion, who plays only that one match. The challenge round was used in some tournaments in the early history of tennis (from 1877 through 1921).
Head-to-head
Official matches (Doherty 14–4 Mahony) Legend (Doherty-Mahony) Grand Slams (3-0) Olympics (1-0)
No. Year Tournament Surface Round Winner Score 1. 1896 London Championships Grass SF Mahony 6–3, 4–6, 6–2, 2–6, 10–8 2. 1897 London Championships Grass QF Doherty w.o 3. 1898 Northern Championships Grass R2 Doherty 6–1, 6–8, 6–3, 2–6, 7–5 4. 1898 Wimbledon Championships Grass F Doherty 6–1, 6–2, 4–6, 2–6, 14-12 5. 1898London Championships Grass F Doherty 6–3, 6–4, 9–7 6. 1898 Scottish Championships Grass SF Doherty 6–2 6–0 7. 1898 The Homburg Cup Clay SF Doherty 6–3, 6–2 8. 1898 Welsh Covered Court Championships Hard (i) F Mahony 5–7, 6–4, 7–5, 6–4 9. 1900 Olympics Clay F Doherty 6–4, 6–2, 6–3 10. 1900 Dinard International Clay CR Doherty 4–6, 6–1, 8–6, 7–5 11. 1901 Kent Championships Grass CR Doherty 4–6, 6–1, 8–6, 7–5 12. 1902 Leicestershire Championships Grass F Mahony w.o. 13. 1902 Wimbledon Championships Grass SF Doherty 4–6, 4–6, 8–6, 2-0 (ret) 14. 1902 European Championships Hard (i) F Doherty 4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 6–1 15. 1903 Middlesex Championships Grass R2 Mahony w.o. 16. 1903 U.S. National Championships Grass R4 Doherty 6–3, 6–2, 6–4 17. 1904 Northumberland Championships Grass R3 Doherty 6–2, 6–0 18. 1904 London Covered Court Championships Hard (i) R2 Doherty 7–5, 6–3, 3–6, 6–4
Breakdown of their rivalry All matches: Doherty, 14–4 Outdoor courts: Doherty, 13-2 Clay courts: Doherty, 1–0 Grass courts: Doherty, 13–2 Indoor hard courts: Doherty, 2–1 Grand Slam matches: Doherty, 3–0 Grand Slam finals: Doherty, 1–0 Olympic finals: Doherty, 1-0 All finals: Doherty, 6–2
References
Sources https://app.thetennisbase.com/Laurence Doherty v Harold Mahony, Head to Head, 1896 to 1904
External links http://www.wimbledon.com/History 1890s.