Tournament

Suffolk Championships

The Suffolk Championships was an open international tennis tournament for both men and women held at Saxmundham, Suffolk, England founded in 1883 as the Saxmundham Lawn Tennis Tournament In 1893 it was elevated to a county-level event and renamed as the Suffolk County Championships. The championships ran until 1968 when it ceased to be part of ILTC worldwide tennis circuit.

History
On 12 August 1883 an annual open Saxmundham Lawn Tennis Tournament was established at Hurts Hall Park, Saxmundham, Suffolk, England that ran until 1893. that was a featured event on the Men's 1883 Tennis Tour. The winner of the first men's singles title was William Bolding Monement who defeated J.M. Wilkinson in straight sets.

Also in August 1883 an annual Framlingham Tennis Tournament was also established by the Framlingham LTC, and played on the Hurts Hill Courts, Hurts Hill Park, Saxmundham, Suffolk, England that ran until 1914. It was not staged throughout World War One. It resumed in 1919 and that event also carried the title of Suffolk Championships for that year, and in 1922. The Framlingham event continued to be held at Hurts Hall Park, Saxmundham until 1936, when it was moved to the tennis courts of the Framlingham College Grounds at Framlingham (a distance of 17 miles) until the start of World War Two.

In 1884 the Saxmundham Lawn Tennis Tournament women's singles event was won by Miss M. Marriott who beat Miss G. Rant in two straight sets. In 1893 the event was renamed the Suffolk Championships, the first official winners of the men's single title was Mr Rupert L. Hamblin-Smith, and the women's singles tile Miss Alice Simpson Pickering.

From 1915 the championships being organised and staged by the Saxmundham LTC were not held until 1920 due to World War One. From 1923 until the out break of World War Two in 1939 championships continued to be held in Saxmundham. After World War Two the Framlingham LTC took over responsibility for organising the Suffolk Championships at Framlingham College until 1983. The Framlingham Open Lawn Tennis Tournament a distinct event was staged alongside this event until 1981. The event is still played today under its original name, but is no longer a senior tour level event.

In the men's singles event Herbert Roper Barrett was the most successful player he won 17 titles, out of 18 finals between 1898 and 1921 which remains today an all time record for most finals at a single tennis tournament.