Tilden Down under - why no Australian Open?

[timnz]

Bill Tilden was in Australia and New Zealand in the Southern Hemisphere summer of 1920/1921. He won the New Zealand Championships. Why didn't he compete in the Australasian Championships at that time? Does anyone know why?

It's clear from this:

http://tennishistory.com.au/2012/01/...-in-the-1920s/

that Tilden was also there to play Davis Cup against Australasia. He played an exhibition in Mid-January in 1921. Again, he was there around the time of the Australasian Championships.

[FedericRoma83]

Originally Posted by timnz

Bill Tilden was in Australia and New Zealand in the Southern Hemisphere summer of 1920/1921. He won the New Zealand Championships. Why didn't he compete in the Australasian Championships at that time? Does anyone know why?

It's clear from this:

http://tennishistory.com.au/2012/01/...-in-the-1920s/

that Tilden was also there to play Davis Cup against Australasia. He played an exhibition in Mid-January in 1921. Again, he was there around the time of the Australasian Championships.

At the time it was not a great tournament. Even if the ILTF declared it a Major since 1924, they had to wait until 1933 to see american and european players enter the tournament with regularity. The edition won by Borotra was also poor.

[timnz]

Originally Posted by FedericRoma83

At the time it was not a great tournament. Even if the ILTF declared it a Major since 1924, they had to wait until 1933 to see american and european players enter the tournament with regularity. The edition won by Borotra was also poor.

I agree somewhat with your point, but Australia did have great players at the time like Patterson who were worthy competition. And Tilden did play and win the New Zealand Championships which was a smaller championship.

[FedericRoma83]

Originally Posted by timnz

I agree somewhat with your point, but Australia did have great players at the time like Patterson who were worthy competition. And Tilden did play and win the New Zealand Championships which was a smaller championship.

Not even Gerald Patterson entered the tournament that year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1921_Au...%80%93_Singles
It seems a really weak tournament to me. I mean, who the hell was Rhys Gemmell?

[Mustard]

Originally Posted by FedericRoma83

Not even Gerald Patterson entered the tournament that year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1921_Au...%80%93_Singles
It seems a really weak tournament to me. I mean, who the hell was Rhys Gemmell?

The Australasian Championships wasn't a major in 1921, anyway. The majors in 1921 were the WCCC (an indoor wood tournament, held in Copenhagen that year), the WHCC (a clay tournament at the Stade Francis, Paris) and the WGCC (Wimbledon). The US Championships in Philadelphia were another big tournament that year, an unofficial major, due to the USLTA not being affiliated to the ILTF at the time.

[FedericRoma83]

Originally Posted by Mustard

The Australasian Championships wasn't a major in 1921, anyway. The majors in 1921 were the WCCC (an indoor wood tournament, held in Copenhagen that year), the WHCC (a clay tournament at the Stade Francis, Paris) and the WGCC (Wimbledon). The US Championships in Philadelphia were another big tournament that year, an unofficial major, due to the USLTA not being affiliated to the ILTF at the time.

The WCCC wasn't that great also. Even if they declared it a Major, for some reasons the greatest players rarely entered it. On the contrary, the WHCC was taken in high consideration.
The greatest titles "de facto" of the time were probably Wimbledon, the US Champs, and the WHCC. Moreover, the Davis Cup was maybe considered more important than them all, at least back in the days.

[timnz]

Originally Posted by FedericRoma83

Not even Gerald Patterson entered the tournament that year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1921_Au...%80%93_Singles
It seems a really weak tournament to me. I mean, who the hell was Rhys Gemmell?

There were some weird dates. Wikipedia states that the 1920 Australasian Championships was played in March 1920 and the 1921 Championships were played in December. So 21 months between them?

[Mustard]

Originally Posted by timnz

I agree somewhat with your point, but Australia did have great players at the time like Patterson who were worthy competition. And Tilden did play and win the New Zealand Championships which was a smaller championship.

You have to remember that this was before the open era. Tilden was an amateur at the time, so the USLTA would have had a lot of control over Tilden's schedule. Before the open era, tennis players didn't have much control over their careers, being controlled a lot by either national associations or professional promoters.

[Mustard]

Not sure about the dates but the 1921 Australasian Championships was played in Perth, the last time that the tournament was held in that particular city. Perth is on the other side of Australia to cities like Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide.