| 1879 men's tennis season | |
| Duration: | 2 June – 28 December |
| Edition: | 4th |
| Tournaments: | 26 (Amateur) [1] |
| Categories: | Important (2) National (1) Provincial/State/Regional (3) County (4) Local/other (16) |
| Most Tournament Titles: |  Vere St. Leger Goold (3) |
| Most Tournament Finals: | Vere St. Leger Goold (5) |
| Previous: | 1878 |
| Next: | 1880 |
The 1879 men's tennis season [2] [3] was composed of the fourth annual pre-open era tennis season and incorporated 26 tournaments. The 1879 Wimbledon Championships was won by John Hartley defending champion Patrick Francis Hadow, defending champion could not participate in the Challenge Round. This year saw the inaugural [4] Irish Championships that in its early stages of development was considered as important that of the Wimbledon Championships the event was won by Vere St. Leger Goold who defeated in Charles David Barry in the final by Charles David Barry 8–6, 8–6. Important this year was the staging of six hard court tournaments some of which included the Dublin University Championships the East Gloucestershire Championships held in Cheltenham Great Britain,[5] Nice Tennis Tournament in Nice, France and the first tournament to be held outside of Europe in Australia with the Victorian Championships.
The tour started in Nice, France in May and ended in Melbourne, Australia in December.
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),[6] in some tournaments not all.
Notes 2:Tournaments in italics were events that were staged only once that season
Key
| Important.[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] | |
| National | |
| Provincial/State/Regional | |
| County | |
| Local/other |
No events
| Date | Tournament | Winner | Finalist | Semifinalist | Quarter finalist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 April - 2 May.[13] | Earlsfort Terrace Tournament Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin, Ireland Asphalt | Vere Thomas Saint Leger Goold ? | J.C. Roberts | ||
| 14 - 15 May.[14] | Bournemouth CLTC Spring Tournament Bournemouth CLTC Dean Park Cricket Ground Bournemouth, England Grass Singles - Doubles |  Sir Hubert James Medlycott ? | ? | ||
| Week | Tournament | Winner | Finalist | Semifinalist | Quarter finalist | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 June[15] | Irish Lawn Tennis Championships[16] [17] Dublin, Ireland Grass Singles | Vere St. Leger Goold[18] 8–6, 8–6 | David Charles Barry | Henry Evelyn Toombe John Jameson Cairnes | F J Joyce J J Sherrard L McDonnell A Hodgson | |
| 30 Jun -30 Jul | Edgar Lubbock 6-1 6-0 8-6 | Lestocq Robert Erskine |
| Date | Tournament | Winner | All comers' finalist | Semifinalist | Quarterfinalist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7–16 July | John Hartley walkover | Vere St. Leger Goold Bye Cecil Francis Parr | Charles Gilbert Heathcote C D Barry G E Tabor | ||
| Challenge round Patrick Francis Hadow | |||||
| 14-15 July.[21] | Henry W. J. Gardner 6-4 6-3 | E. W. Burnett | William Arthur Briscoe J.H. Lonsdale | N. Bailey J.C. Keene W.W. Jacks | |
| 14-15 July | Nalton Womersley 6-4 6-5 | Dale Womersley | |||
| Date | Tournament | Winner | Finalist | Semifinalist | Quarter finalist | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August | Leslie Balfour-Melville[24] [25] def | ? | ||||
| 27 July- 2 August.[26] | County Kildare Tournament Naas Military Barracks Naas, County Kildare, Ireland Grass - | Algernon Ambrose Michael Aylmer 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. | James G. Kennedy | |||
| 29 July - 2 August.[27] | County Kildare Closed Tournament Naas Military Barracks Naas, County Kildare, Ireland Grass - | George Edward Devere Kennedy 6-4, 6-5 | H. Mitchell | |||
| 6 - 8 August.[28] | County Galway LTC Tournament County Galway Lawn Tennis Club Lisbeg, County Galway, Ireland Grass - | W.G. Eyre ? | W. Peebles | |||
| 12 - 13 August.[29] | F.L. Cope ? | Robert Shaw Templer | ||||
| 15–16 August[30] | Montague Hankey 6-5 6-5 6-5 | Captain James J. Glascott | Captain James J. Glascott James H. Medlycott | Captain Bradford James C. Pipon | ||
| 22–25 August | Waterford Tournament Waterford, Ireland Grass Singles | Vere St. Leger Goold ? | J. M. Brown | Henry Joseph Gallwey J. C. Roberts | Patrick Joseph Gallwey William Joseph Gallwey Pierce Barron-Newell |
| Date | Tournament | Winner | Finalist | Semifinalist | Quarter finalist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 September.[31] [32] | Teifiside LTC Championship Teifiside Lawn Tennis Club Newcastle Emlyn, Wales Grass Singles - Doubles | Gwyn Saunders Davies ? | Frank Miles | ||
| 3–9 September | Joseph Fritz James Heffernan Considine 6–4, 6–3 | Henry Evelyn Tombe | Joseph Fritz James Heffernan Considine[35] T. J. Johnston | Major Richard de Ros Rose W. Ryan Charles R B Heaton-Armstrong | |
| Henry Evelyn Tombe Mrs. R B Heaton-Armstrong 6-3, 6-5, 6-2 | Mr. Baker Miss Annie Rice | ||||
| 2 - 5 September.[36] | Yare LTC Tournament Yare Lawn Tennis Club Fritton, Great Yarmouth Surface ? Singles - Doubles | Percy Lucas ? | Julian Marshall | ||
| 23 September.[37] | Captain Short 6-5, 4-6, 6-3 | M. Short | |||
| Date | Tournament | Winner | Finalist | Semifinalist | Quarter finalist | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 September - 4 October.[38] | Bournemouth CLTC Autumn Tournament Bournemouth CLTC Dean Park Cricket Ground Bournemouth, England Grass Singles - Doubles | Edmond Bennet Brackenbury ? | Sir Hubert James Medlycott | |||
| 7–11 October. | William Renshaw 6-4 6-3 5-6 6-4 | |||||
| 20–23 October.[39] | Dublin University Championships Singles - Doubles | Henry James Daly ? | Ernest Edward Knox | Charles William O’Hara Mease Henry James Daly | Charles William O’Hara Mease Thomas Haines Abrahall G.H. Bailey |
No events
Note: Important tournaments in bold
Vere St. Leger Goold—Irish Championships, Dublin (Earlsfort), Waterford—(3) Henry James Daley—Dublin—(1)
A. F. Robinson—Melbourne—(1) Captain Short—Belfast—(1) Dale Womersley—Knighton—(1) F.L. Cope—Armagh—(1) Gwyn Saunders Davies—Newcastle Emlyn—(1) Henry Lyle Mulholland—Nice—(1) John Hartley—Wimbledon Championships—(1) Joseph F. J. H. Considine—Limerick—(1) Percy Lucas—Great Yarmouth—(1) W.G. Eyre—Lisbeg—(1)Source: The Concise History of Tennis
| Karoly Mazak World Rankings for 1879 [43] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| 1 | ||||
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| 8 | ||||