The 1885 men's tennis season was the tenth annual tennis circuit, consisting of 131 tournaments. It began on 1 January in New York City, United States and ended 11 November in Singapore, British Malaya.
Season summary In a repeat of the 1884 final, Herbert Lawford retained his Irish Lawn Tennis Championships title in Dublin, defeating Ernest Renshaw in five sets. William Renshaw won a fifth consecutive Wimbledon Championship. American player James Dwight broke British dominance at the Northern Championships in Manchester, defeating defending champion Donald Stewart in straight sets. In the United States Richard Sears collected a fifth consecutive US National Championship, beating Godfrey Brinley in four sets. In Australia, the New South Wales Championships were held for the first time at the Association Cricket Ground at the Moore Park in Sydney. In England, the British Covered Court Championships, one of the first tournaments in history to be played on indoor courts, is held in London.
American player James Dwight was the title leader for the season, winning 6 titles from 8 finals. He was the first non-European player to do so since 1877.
Season results Notes 1: Challenge round: the final round of a tournament, in which the winner of a single-elimination phase faces the previous year's champion, who plays only that one match. The challenge round was used in the early history of tennis (from 1877 through 1921), in some tournaments not all.* Indicates challenger Notes 2:Tournaments in italics were events that were staged only once that season
Key Important. National Provincial/State/Regional County Local
Tournaments in 1885 included:
January DateTournamentWinnerFinalistSemi finalistQuarter finalist1–January.Hall, Valentine Gill (1889) Lawn Tennis in America. D. W. Granbery & Co., New York, NY. USA. page.13.Seventh Regiment ChampionshipSeventh Regiment LTCSeventh Regiment ArmoryNew York City, NY, United StatesHard(indoors) Henry Graff Trevor? .
February No events
March 'No events
April DateTournamentWinnerFinalistSemi finalistQuarter finalistApril.Canterbury ChampionshipsCanterbury LTCChristchurch, New ZealandGrassSingles - Doubles Frederick Wilding 6-2 6-3 6-3 C.C. Corfe Edward James Ross F.H. Bruges A.W. Cooke J.B. Harrison 2 April. British Covered Court Championships Hyde Park Lawn Tennis ClubLondon, EnglandIndoorWoodSingles - Doubles Herbert Lawford7-5, 6-3 6-0 Charles Hoadley Ashe Ross Herbert Chipp Charles Prideaux Triscott E. Syers Henley E. Syers Henley William C. Taylor Herbert Wilberforce
May DateTournamentWinnerFinalistSemi finalistQuarter finalist4- 7 May Cambridge University LTC TournamentCambridge Great BritainGrass Herbert Wilberforce6-2 1-6 6-2 7-5 Frederick Hooper Aldrich-Blake John Moyer Heathcote Howard Pease William Nevill Cobbold Thomas Barton Holmes Alfred E. Walker7 H. Ward 5 - 7 May Inter-Colonial Lawn Tennis TournamentSydney AustraliaGrass William John Bush-Salmon1–6, 6–8, 6–3, 6–2, 6–3 Walter John C. Riddell Rex Allen Thomas Bately Rolin Dudley Webb 18 May.Longwood Cricket Club Tournament(later Longwood Bowl)Longwood Cricket Club, Chestnut Hill, Mass, USAOutdoorGrassSingles - Doubles Howard Augustus Taylor? 19 - 25 May."Lawn Tennis: The Ilkley Tournament". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. Leeds, Yorkshire, England. 25 May 1885. British Newspaper Archive. p. 3.Ilkley TournamentIlkley LTC Ilkley, Yorkshire, EnglandGrass E.W. Fletcher 6-4 4-6 6-5 A.R. Atkinson W.T. Booker M. Pole William Gerald Barker D.F. Douglas Arthur Copson Peake E.M. Turner 20 - 25 May.Whitehouse OpenWhitehouse Lawn Tennis ClubEdinburgh, Lothian, ScotlandOutdoorClay Herbert Bowes-Lyon 8-6, 11-13, 6-4, 6-3 Richard Henry Fuller George Kerr Archibald Thomson William Ferguson John Galbraith Horn Charles R. Andrew Howden Alfred Aitken Thomson 18 - 26 May Irish Lawn Tennis ChampionshipsFitzwilliam LTCDublin, IrelandGrass Herbert Lawford 4-6, 6–2, 3–6, 6–3, 6-4 Eyre Chatterton6-4, 7–5, 9-7 Ernest Browne Willoughby Hamilton James Dwight George Bloomfield Garvey A.C. Robertson Robert Shaw TemplerChallenger Ernest Renshaw 23 - 26 May.Fitzwilliam PlateFitzwilliam LTC Dublin, IrelandGrass Herbert Knox McKay6-3 7-5 6-2 William C. Taylor Tom Campion J.Butler Robinson Harry Grove John Charles Kay Ernest Edward Knox Gilbert Mahon 23 - 26 May.Fitzwilliam PurseFitzwilliam LTC Dublin, IrelandGrass Charles Henry Chaytor6-3 7-5 6-2 George Arnulph Montgomerie Toler Roberts Garvey Thomas Harrison Griffiths Edward Bernard Greene William Drummond Hamilton Ronald M. McDougall A. Taylor 26 May.Young America Cricket Club InvitationYoung America Cricket ClubStanton, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States GrassSingles – Doubles Joseph Sill Clark Sr.6-3, 6-3, 6-2 Clarence Munroe Clark Richard Field Conover William V.S. Thorne 11 - 27 May Dublin University ChampionshipsDublin IrelandAsphalt Tom Campion 5-7 6-1 7-5 6-1 Charles Henry Chaytor David Wilson Christie C. Stein Eyre Chatterton Herbert Knox McKay 25 - 30 May West of England ChampionshipsBathGreat BritainGrass Ernest de Sylly H. Browne6-3, 6–1,6-4 James Dwight Edward G. Meyricke William C. Taylor Charles Hoadley Ashe Ross E.H. Nicolls H. Peters C.A. Williamson 30 May.Scarlet Ribbon Amateur Tournament Scarlet Ribbon LTC Groveland Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, United States.Surface ? J.W. Corwith? Charles A. Chase
June DateTournamentWinnerFinalistSemi finalistQuarter finalist30 May -6 June.East Orange Club Amateur TournamentEast Orange Athletic ClubEast Orange, New Jersey, United StatesGrass Patrick Lyman6-4, 6-3, 6-3 Wallace Percy Knapp June.Oxford University Champion TournamentNorham Gardens, Oxford, Great BritainGrassSingles – Doubles Thomas Robinson Grey6-3, 5–7, 6–3, 6-3 J.S. Burton Harry Grove Edward G. Meyricke Benjamin V. Sellon Brodie Hamilton A. Emmons J.B. Forman Stephen Dickinson Winkworth Hamilton A. Emmons Thomas Robinson Grey6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 9-7 Harry Grove John Redfern Deykin Thomas Musgrave Burton Miss Burton6-0, 6-5 Thomas Robinson Grey Miss Davis, 1 - 6 June East Gloucestershire ChampionshipsCheltenham, Great BritainHard Singles - Doubles Ernest Browne6-4, 6–3, 6-2 Charles Hoadley Ashe Ross James Dwight Donald Stewart Frederick William Knox William C. Taylor Charles Lacy Sweet Robert Charles Thompson 8 - 13 June London Athletic Club Open TournamentStamford Bridge, Fulham, Great BritainGrassSingles - Doubles Charles Hoadley Ashe Ross3-6, 8–6, 1–6, 6–2, 6-3 Ernest Wool Lewis Harry Grove William C. Taylor E.W. Brook Herbert Chipp James Herbert Crispe Charles Lacy Sweet 19 - 12 June Middle States ChampionshipsHoboken, New Jersey, United States GrassSingles - Doubles Richard Sears 6-4, 6–1, 6-3 Howard Augustus Taylor Robert Livingston Beeckman Charles Belmont Davis Joseph Sill Clark Sr. M.P. Gybbes E. Spinnet C.A. Stevens 10 - 13 June.EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY TENNIS TOURNAMENT. The annual lawn tennis tournament in connection with Edinburgh University was begun Corstorphine on Wednesday concluded on Saturday results as follows; Source: Dundee Evening Telegraph, Monday 15 June 1885, Angus, Scotland, The British Newspaper Archive, https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000453/18850615/002/0002, page. 2.Edinburgh University LTC Open Edinburgh University LTC Corstorphine, Edinburgh, Scotland ClaySingles - Doubles Herbert Bowes-Lyon 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 T. Leigh MacLachlan John Galbraith Horn George James Kerr James H. Aitken Charles R. A. Howden Reginald H. Noott Alex Thomson 15 - 17 June.ACTON VALE LAWN TENNIS CLUB OPEN TOURNAMENT:The Acton Vale Open will be held at the Acton Vale Club at Homier Road, Wednesday, June 15, 10. and 17the, commencing next week. The Field. (Saturday 06 June 1885 ) The British Newspaper Archive. London, England. page.1.Acton Vale LTC OpenActon Vale LTCEast Acton, London, EnglandGrassSingles - Doubles Ernest Wool Lewis 7-5 6-2 7-5 Herbert Chipp Harold Stapylton Greenwell Arthur Wellesley Hallward Frederick Alexander Bowlby F. Bramah F.E. Cole A. Walker 13 - 19 June.Waterloo TournamentLiverpool, Great BritainGrassSingles - Doubles Charles Stananought 7-5, 6–3, 5–7, 7-5 Jacob Gaitskell Brown Andrew Laurie Macfie James Alexander Rome L.W. Brooke John Edmondson J.W. Fowler Richard Millar Watson 16 - 19 June. Leamington Open TournamentLeamington LTCLeamington Spa, Warwickshire, EnglandGrassSingles - Doubles James Dwight 6-3 6-2 6-2 Alfred Henry Betham Francis Russell Burrow Hamilton A. Emmons G. Clark J.B. Forman Windsor Richard Heneage John Charles Kay 16 - 19 June. Warwickshire ChampionshipsLeamington LTCLeamington Spa, Warwickshire, EnglandGrassSingles - Doubles Hamilton A. Emmons w.o. John Charles Kay J.H. Mitchell W.J. Sarjant A.E.H. Clarke A.H. Griffiths Albert Cecil Hill L. Richardson 17 - 20 June.Broughty Ferry OpenBroughty Ferry LTCBroughty Ferry, Dundee, Angus, Scotland ClaySingles - Doubles A. Browne 6-2 4-6 8-6 6-8 6-2 George Nelson Stenhouse J.B. Gray L.F. Robertson G.A. Ballingall T. Leigh MacLachlan H.B. Mitchell D.J. Walls 18 - 20 June.Brincliffe Lawn Tennis Club Open TournamentBrincliffe LTCBramall Lane, Sheffield, South Riding, England GrassSingles - Doubles James Dwight2-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 Arthur John Stanley Ernest Wool Lewis Charles Lacy Sweet Ernest Browne Hamilton A. Emmons John Charles Kay E.M. Turner 20-23 June. Chapel Allerton LTC TournamentChapel Allerton LTCWest Riding of Yorkshire, EnglandGrassSingles - Doubles John Thorneycroft Hartley 6-0 6-2 6-1 Alexander Mallinson Charles Joseph Dymond Maxwell Fitzsimmons Maurice Spencer Clark Reginald Higginbottom Walter Oliver Montague Stephenson 23 June. Fall Open Tournament Far and Near LTCFar and Near LTCHastings-on-Hudson, New York, USAOutdoorGrassSingles - Doubles Robert Livingston Beeckman?> 24 June. Berrylands Club Tournament Berrylands LTCSurbiton, Surrey, EnglandOutdoorGrassSingles R. Playford 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 J.F. Newton L. Newton A.B. Tomkins J.W. Adamson H. Higley G. Rawlings Harry Stanley Scrivener 20 - 27 June.Northern ChampionshipsLiverpool Cricket Club Aigburth, Liverpool, EnglandGrass Singles - Doubles James Dwight6-2, 6–4, 6–4, Ernest Wool Lewis E.W. Fletcher A.L. Payne Jacob Gaitskell Brown William Nevill Cobbold Hamilton A. Emmons Andrew Laurie MacfieChallenger Donald Stewart 25 - 26 June. Orange Spring Tournament Montrose, NJ, United StatesGrassSingles - Doubles Howard Augustus Taylor7-5, 6–2, 6-3 William V.S. Thorne
July