Swiss International Championships Explained

Swiss International Championships
Type:	defunct
Tour:	Men's Amateur Tour (1877–1912) Women's Amateur Tour (1877–1912) ILTF Men's Amateur Tour (1913–1967) ILTF Women's Amateur Tour (1913–1967) ITF Independent Tour (1968–1967)
Founded:	1897
Ended:	1967
Location:	Various, Switzerland
Venue:	Various
Surface:	outdoor (clay)

The Swiss International Championships^[1] also called the International Swiss Championships or Championship of Switzerland or simply Swiss Championships was a combined men's and women's clay court tennis tournament established by the Swiss Lawn Tennis Association, and first played at Grasshopper Club, Zurich, Switzerland in 1897. The championships were then held annually and alternated between different venues until 1967. In 1968 the tournament was renamed the Swiss Open International Championships or simply Swiss Open Championships and were then staged permanently at Gstaad. From 1977 the women's tournament was staged at Lausanne and was called the WTA Swiss Open, today that event is branded as the Ladies Open Lausanne.

History

The first early edition of the Championship of Switzerland,^[2] was played at the Grasshopper Club, Zurich, Switzerland under the auspices of the Swiss Lawn Tennis Association, the winner of the men's event was presented with a cup valued at 500 francs.^[3] In 1898 the Swiss Lawn Tennis Association staged the event at Château-d'Œx. In 1899 an open women's singles event was added to the schedule, when the venue was still in St. Moritz. In 1968 the tournament continued into the open branded as the Swiss Open Championships and held permanently at Gstaad the men's event is still active today known as the Swiss Open. The women's event in 1968 was held at Lugano. In 1969 the women's then returned to Gstaad. In 1977 the women's tournament was rebranded as the WTA Swiss Open until 1981 when that event was moved to Lugano. The women's event today is known as the Ladies Open Lausanne held at Lausanne, Switzerland.

Former notable winners of men's singles include; André Vacherot (1903), George Simond (1905), R. Norris Williams (1911), Gottfried von Cramm (1934–1935), Kho Sin-Kie (1938), Jaroslav Drobný (1946), Roy Emerson (1959–1961, 1966–1967), Rod Laver (1962), Nicola Pietrangeli (1963) and Rafael Osuna (1964).

In the women's singles event notable winners include; Charlotte Cooper Sterry (1902), Adine Masson (1904), Elsie Lane (1907), Germaine Régnier Golding (1921–1922, 1924), Lolette Payot (1931, 1933–1934), Louis Brough (1950), Christine Truman (1959), Maria Bueno (1960) and Margaret Smith (1962, 1964).

Host locations

The Swiss International Championships were staged at the following locations throughout its run including Basel, Champéry, Geneva, Gstaad, Les Avants, Montreux, Lausanne, Lugano, Lucerne, Ragatz, St. Moritz, Zermatt, and Zurich from 1897 to 1967.

Finals

Men's singles

Incomplete roll^[4]

Year	Location	Champion	Runner-up	Score
1897	Zurich		Francis Louis Fassitt	?
1898	Château-d'Œx	Robert Baldwin Hough^[5]	Maurice Albert Turrettini	6–2, 6–2, 6–1
1899	St. Moritz	George Simond	Robert Baldwin Hough	6–0, 6–1
1900	Château-d'Œx	E.K. Harvey	Robert Baldwin Hough	6–3, 5–7, 6–4, ret.
1901	St. Moritz	Major Edmund Bela Joseph Harran		4–6, 6–2, 6–1, 6–4
1902	Ragatz		Robert Baldwin Hough	11–9, 3–6, 6–3, 6–2
1903	St. Moritz		?	?
1904	Les Avants		Georges Patry	6–0, 6–1, 6–4
1905	St. Moritz	George Simond (2)	St. John Douglass Stewart	w.o.
1906	Montreux		Les Poidevin	w.o.
1907	St. Moritz		E. Morris Hall	3–6, 6–1, 6–3, 4–6, 7–5
1908	Château-d'Œx			w.o.
1909	Geneva		Les Poidevin	3–6, 6–2, 11–9
1910	St. Moritz		J. de K. Bowen	6–1, 6–2, 6–0
1911	Lucerne	R. Norris Williams	Heinrich Kleinschroth	6–2, 7–5, 6–0
1912	Montreux	Max Decugis	André Chancerel	8–6, 6–0, ret.
1913	St. Moritz		Moritz von Bissing	?
1914	Not held (due to World War I)
1915	Zermatt		Pierre Farjon	6–2, 6–2, 2–6, 6–2
1916	Zurich	Major Edmund Bela Joseph Harran (2)	?	?
1917	Lausanne	Major Edmund Bela Joseph Harran (3)	A. György Dungyersky	6–4, 2–6, 7–5
1918	Basel	Maurice Albert Turrettini		?
1919	Geneva	Paul de Borman	Armand Charles Simon	6–3, 6–4, 6–4
1920	Zurich	Hans G. Syz	?	?
1921	Zurich	Maurice A. Ferrier	?	?
1922	St. Moritz	Jean Couiteas de Faucamberge	Léonce Aslangul	6–4, 7–5, 6–4
1923	Villars		?	?
1924	Lucerne	W. Lasch	André Chancerel	6–3, 6–1, 6–1
1925	Champery	Willi Hannemann		?
1926	Geneva	Giorgio de Stefani		6–2, 6–8, 6–3, 8–6
1927	Geneva	Jean Wuarin	Craig Campbell	6–2, 6–2, 6–2
1928	Zurich	A. Ernst	Will Ehrenreich	6–1, 6–8, 6–3, 6–4
1929	Geneva	Yoshiro Ota^[6]	Erik Worm	4–6, 6–4, 4–6, 6–1, 6–3
1930	Lucerne	Hyotaro Sato^[7]	Orestes Garangiotis	6–1, 6–0, 4–6, 6–4
1931	Montreux	Giorgio de Stefani (2)	Emanuele Sertorio	6–1, 6–2, 6–3
1932	Basel	Philippe Gajan	Max Ellmer	6–3, 1–6, 12–10, 9–7
1933	Geneva	Roland Journu	Charles Aeschlimann	7–5, 12–10, 6–4
1934	Lucerne	Gottfried von Cramm	Adam Baworowski	6–2, 6–0, 6–4
1935	Geneva	Gottfried von Cramm (2)	Max Ellmer	6–0, 6–3, 6–4
1936^[8]	Lucerne	Giorgio de Stefani	Kho Sin-Kie	6–1, 2–6, 2–6, 6–4, 6–4
1937	Gstaad			6–3, 8–6, ret.
1938	Lucerne	Kho Sin-Kie	Roland Journu	6–1, 6–4
1939	Zurich	Francesco Romanoni	Christian Boussus	4–6, 6–1, 4–6, 9–7, 6–3
1940/1945	Not held (due to world war two)
1946	Lucerne	Jaroslav Drobný	Marcello Del Bello	9–7, 6–2, 1–6, 6–1
1947	Geneva	Gianni Cucelli	Eric Sturgess	6–4 4–6 7–5 6–4
1948	The championships were held at Gstaad, but the semi-finals and final was not played
1949	Gstaad			3–6, 6–3, 2–6, 6–3, 7–5
1950	Lausanne		Vic Seixas	6–4, 7–5, 3–6, 6–2
1951	Lucerne	Leon Norgarb	Sydney Levy	9–7, 4–6, 6–4, 6–4
1952^[9]	Gstaad			6–4, 6–2, 6–1
1953	Lugano			6–4, 6–2, 6–1
1954	Gstaad			6–4, 11–9, 6–4
1955	Gstaad			6–4, 2–6, 6–2, 6–2
1956	Lugano	Neale Fraser	Ulf Schmidt	8–6 2–6 2–6 3–6 6–3
1957^[10]	Gstaad			3–6, 6–3, 6–3, 6–1
1958	Gstaad			2–6, 3–6, 7–5, 6–4, 6–3
1959	Lugano	Roy Emerson	Billy Knight	6–3, 6–4, 6–3
1960	Gstaad	Roy Emerson (2)		6–4, 9–7, 6–2
1961	Gstaad	Roy Emerson (3)		6–3, 6–1, 6–0
1962^[11]	Lugano	Rod Laver	Ramanathan Krishnan	6–4, 6–2
1963	Gstaad			7–5, 6–2, 6–2
1964	Gstaad	Thomaz Koch	Ronald Barnes	6–3, 6–1, 7–9, 7–5
1965	Lugano	Ion Țiriac		divided title
1966	Gstaad	Roy Emerson (4)		5–7, 7–5, 6–3
1967^[12]	Gstaad	Roy Emerson (5)		6–2, 8–6, 6–4
Open era
For the open era event see Swiss Open

Women's singles

Incomplete roll

Year	Location	Champion	Runner-up	Score
1899	St. Moritz	Mildred Brooksmith	Miss Stephenson	6–1, 6–1
1900	Château-d'Œx	Mildred Brooksmith (2)	Adine Masson	6–3, 1–6, 6–4
1901	St. Moritz	Mildred Brooksmith (3)	H. Couppa	6–0, 6–0
1902	Ragatz	Charlotte Cooper Sterry	Mlle Simon	6–1, 6–2
1903	St. Moritz	Yvonne Prévost	Domini Elliadi	?
1904	Les Avants	Adine Masson	Yvonne de Pfeffel	6–1, 6–4
1905	St. Moritz		?	?
1906	Montreux	Vera Warden	Rosamund Salusbury	6–8, 6–1, 6–3
1907	St. Moritz	Elsie Lane	Mrs Anderson	w.o.
1908	Château-d'Œx	Virginia MacVeagh	Mildred Brooksmith	w.o.
1909	Geneva	Aurea Edgington	Jeanne Matthey	6–1, 6–1
1910	St. Moritz	Aurea Edgington (2)		6–0, 6–3
1911	Lucerne	Aurea Edgington (3)	Germaine Régnier	6–0, 7–5
1912	Montreux	Aurea Edgington (4)	Domini Elliadi Crosfield	6–1, 6–4
1913	St. Moritz	Eveline Froude-Bellew Crundall-Punnett	Domini Elliadi Crosfield	6–2, 5–7, 6–2
1914	Not held (due to World War I)
1915	Zermatt	Daisy Speranza	G. Matossian	6–3, 6–3
1916	Zurich		?	?
1917	Lausanne	/ Renee de Morsier	Germaine Golding	6–4, 7–5
1918	Basel	Mme Prince	Blanche Müller	?
1919	Geneva		Frl Kärcher	6–3, 6–3
1920	Zurich	Miss C. Lang	?	? Mme M. Monk
1921	Lausanne		Mme M. Monk	6–0, 6–0
1922	St. Moritz	Germaine Golding (2)	Frau Froehlichen	6–1, 6–1
1923	Villars	Madeleine de Prelle de la Nieppe	?	?
1924	Lucerne	Germaine Golding (3)	Miss Lane	6–4, 4–6, 6–4
1925	Champery	Madeline Fisher O'Neill	Mrs Pitman	?
1926	Zurich		Frau Steinfels	6–3, 6–1
1927	Lugano	Domini Elliadi Crosfield	?	?
1928	Zurich	Frau Steinfels	Emmy Schäublin	6–2, 6–3
1929	Geneva	Bella Dutton de Pons	Lolette Payot	6–3, 3–6, 9–7
1930	Lucerne	Ilse Friedleben	Lolette Payot	4–6, 6–2, 10–8
1931	Montreux	Lolette Payot	Lucia Valerio	6–4, 5–7, 6–3
1932	Basel	Rosie Berthet	Jacqueline Goldschmidt	6–2, 5–7, 6–2
1933	Geneva	Lolette Payot (2)	Paula Stuck	7–5, 6–2
1934	Lucerne	Lolette Payot (3)	Colette Rosambert	6–2, 8–6
1935	Geneva	Simone Passermard Mathieu	Colette Rosambert Boegner	6–2, 6–2
1936	Lucerne	Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling	Simone Passermard Mathieu	3–6, 6–3 6–1
1937	Gstaad	Simone Passermard Mathieu (2)	Arlette Halff	6–2, 6–4
1938	Lucerne	Arlette Halff	Hella Kovac	6–0, 7–5
1939	Zurich	Jadwiga Jędrzejowska	Arlette Halff	6–2, 4–6, 6–2
1940/1945	Not held (due to world war two)
1946	Lucerne	Dodo Bundy	Nelly Adamson-Landry	divided title
1947	Lausanne	Sheila Piercey Summers	Doris Hart	6–3, 2–6, 6–3
1948	Championships were held at Gstaad, but the semi-finals and final abandoned because of rain
1949	Gstaad	Sheila Piercey Summers (2)	Joan Curry	6–3, 6–3
1950	Lausanne			6–4, 6–2
1951	Lucerne	Nancye Wynne Bolton	Barbara Scofield Davidson	3–6, 6–2, 6–1
1952	Gstaad		Erika Vollmer	6–2, 0–6, 6–2
1953	Lucerne			4–6, 6–4, 7–5
1954	Gstaad	Violette Alvensleben-Rigollet		6–1, 6–3
1955	Gstaad	Hazel Redick-Smith	Ruth Nathan Kaufmann	1–6, 6–1, 6–4
1956	Lugano		Jenny Staley Hoad	1–6, 6–3, 6–3
1957	Gstaad		Sandra Reynolds	2–6, 7–5, 6–4
1958	Gstaad		Yola Ramírez	3–6 6–2 6–0
1959	Lugano	Christine Truman	Yola Ramírez	8–6, 6–1
1960	Gstaad		Sandra Reynolds	6–2, 6–3
1961	Gstaad	Sandra Reynolds		7–5, 6–3
1962	Lugano	Margaret Smith	Lesley Turner	6–2, 6–1
1963	Gstaad	Robyn Ebbern	Lesley Turner	6–3, 6–4
1964	Lausanne	Margaret Smith (2)	Jan Lehane	2–6, 8–6, 6–2
1965	Lugano	Norma Baylon	Edda Buding	1-1 sets, 5–5. rain stopped play
1966	Gstaad		Sonja Pachta	5–7, 7–5, 6–3
1967	Gstaad	Annette Van Zyl		6–1, 3–6, 6–3
Open era
For the open era event see WTA Swiss Open

Sources

Condon, Robert J. (1990). The Fifty Finest Athletes of the 20th Century: A Worldwide Reference. Jefferson, North Carolina, USA,: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-89950-374-5.
Nieuwland, Alex. "Tournament – Swiss International Championships. Netherlands: Tennis Archives.
Paret, Jahial Parmly; Maddren, William Harvey (1904). Lawn tennis, its past, present, and future. New York, London: Macmillan.
Player Profile: Hyotare Sato". ATP Tour. ATP.
Player Profile: Robert Hough". ATP Tour. ATP.
Player Profile; Yoshiro Ota". International Tennis Federation.
Sports Illustrated (1957) New York. United States.
The Outing Magazine. (1899) Boston, United States: Outing Publishing Company.
Times, The New York (24 July 1967). The New York Times. The New York Times Company.
Wechsler, Bob (2008). Day by Day in Jewish Sports History. New York: KTAV Publishing House, Inc. ISBN 978-1-60280-013-7.
Writers, Staff. "1877 to 2012 Finals Results". Steve G Tennis. stevegtennis.com.

Notes and References

Book: The Outing Magazine . 1899 . Outing Publishing Company . Boston, United States . 467 . Lawn Tennis on the European Continent.
Book: Paret . Jahial Parmly . Maddren . William Harvey . Lawn tennis, its past, present, and future . 1904 . Macmillan . New York, London . 45–46 .
The Outing Magazine (1899)
Web site: Nieuwland . Alex . Tournament – Swiss International Championships . www.tennisarchives.com . Tennis Archives . 10 October 2022 . Netherlands.
Web site: Player Profile: Robert Hough . ATP Tour . ATP . 10 October 2022.
Web site: Player Profile; Yoshiro Ota . www.itftennis.com . ITF . 10 October 2022.
Web site: Player Profile: Hyotare Sato . ATP Tour . ATP . 10 October 2022.
Web site: Staff Writers . 1877 to 2012 Finals Results . Steve G Tennis . stevegtennis.com . 10 October 2022.
Book: Wechsler . Bob . Day by Day in Jewish Sports History . 2008 . KTAV Publishing House, Inc. . New York . 978-1-60280-013-7 . 195 .
Staff . S. I. . For the Record: Tennis . 10 October 2022 . Sports Illustrated . 5 August 1957 . New York .
Book: Condon . Robert J. . The Fifty Finest Athletes of the 20th Century: A Worldwide Reference . 1990 . McFarland & Company . Jefferson, North Carolina, USA . 978-0-89950-374-5 . 100 .
News: Times . The New York . Emerson Captures Swiss Tennis Title . 9 October 2022 . The New York Times . 24 July 1967 . 47.