What has happened to Irish Tennis?

vokazu

Legend
Their last Wimbledon Champions were Harold Mahony (1896) and Lena Rice (1890).

Their last AO Champion was James Cecil Parke (1912)

Their last USO champion was Mabel Cahill (1892)

Their last Gold Medalist was John Boland (1896)

Will there be a new Irish Grand Slam Champion in the future?
 
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vokazu

Legend
No, they cannot handle the amount of sun exposure required to play professional tennis.
(coming from an Irish origin ginger)
They can raise their tennis children in tropical countries to adapt to the hot climate. But hey how did Bjorn Borg do it?
 

Tennisfan339

Professional
Their last Wimbledon Champions were Harold Mahony (1896) and Lena Rice (1890).

Their last AO Champion was James Cecil Parke (1912)

Their last USO champion was Mabel Cahill (1892)

Their last Gold Medalist was John Boland (1896)

Well there be a new Irish Grand Slam Champion in the future?

How to forget this match in 1896 against Braddeley. One of the greatest Grand Slam finals ever. 2008 and 2019 level, yet so underrated.
 

bnt333

New User
I lived for 1 year in Clontarf (Dublin). I saw only two decent tennis clubs there: the Fitzwilliam and the Clontarf.
Players level in my opinion is not even comparable to a village club in Spain. My understanding is that the investments still revolve around gaelic sports and rugby. They are easy to play in open air with a still rainy and wet weather.
 

Candide

Hall of Fame
Historically, Ireland has also had a deep loathing of all things that come with the whiff of the English ruling class. The very word "cricket" used to evoke giggling it was so evocative of effete, upper class foppery. Tennis, sadly, carries some of that baggage.
 

Olli Jokinen

Hall of Fame
Historically, Ireland has also had a deep loathing of all things that come with the whiff of the English ruling class. The very word "cricket" used to evoke giggling it was so evocative of effete, upper class foppery. Tennis, sadly, carries some of that baggage.
They like the snobbiest of all sport, golf, though (yes, I know it's basically Scottish)
 

ibbi

G.O.A.T.
I want to say about 15ish years ago there was a guy who started getting noticed on the ATP tour. Didn't get very far or last very long, but I had an Irish mate who was a tennis fan and he was hoping for the best for him... Cannot remember his name.
 
No, Becker proved that redheads could handle the sun as well as anyone else!
Becker had a lot of freckles though, and that protected him :cool:
I think those in most danger are pale white, without freckles.
I remember a kid in my school had the palest skin, and no freckles, so his face would go bright pink in hot weather.
 

Grafil Injection

Hall of Fame
They like the snobbiest of all sport, golf, though (yes, I know it's basically Scottish)

At least in England and I expect Ireland too, golf is more of an everyman's sport than tennis and cricket. Although there are some mega-expensive clubs with ridiculous dress-code rules, there are 100s of cheap and cheerful courses in the UK where plenty of chippies and sparkies slope off to a couple of afternoons each week. Golf courses also usually benefit from good value 19th holes, unlike most tennis clubs.
 

vokazu

Legend
I want to say about 15ish years ago there was a guy who started getting noticed on the ATP tour. Didn't get very far or last very long, but I had an Irish mate who was a tennis fan and he was hoping for the best for him... Cannot remember his name.
Is it Conor Niland?
 

D-Lite

Hall of Fame
Is it Conor Niland?
There was Niland and then McGee after him. McGee came through the college tennis route but neither of them went beyond R1 at a major. Niland's book is quite interesting and really sheds light on the struggle of the Futures/Challenger tour grind attempt to get direct entry to majors/major qualies.
 

Mainad

Bionic Poster
Historically, Ireland has also had a deep loathing of all things that come with the whiff of the English ruling class. The very word "cricket" used to evoke giggling it was so evocative of effete, upper class foppery. Tennis, sadly, carries some of that baggage.

Ironically the great Irish poet W,B.Yeats was also a great cricket fan. :cool:
 

Subway Tennis

G.O.A.T.
All I know is that this guy founded Tennis Ireland in 1908 and things started to go awry from that point onwards:

leprechaun-in-the-hood-inset.jpg
 

vokazu

Legend
There was Niland and then McGee after him. McGee came through the college tennis route but neither of them went beyond R1 at a major. Niland's book is quite interesting and really sheds light on the struggle of the Futures/Challenger tour grind attempt to get direct entry to majors/major qualies.
Sadly Niland retired because of recurring hip injury.
 

Olli Jokinen

Hall of Fame
At least in England and I expect Ireland too, golf is more of an everyman's sport than tennis and cricket. Although there are some mega-expensive clubs with ridiculous dress-code rules, there are 100s of cheap and cheerful courses in the UK where plenty of chippies and sparkies slope off to a couple of afternoons each week. Golf courses also usually benefit from good value 19th holes, unlike most tennis clubs.
So it's the drinking then?
 

Candide

Hall of Fame
Ironically the great Irish poet W,B.Yeats was also a great cricket fan. :cool:
It would take too long to get into the weeds of Irish history or to explain the terms "Anglo-Irish" and "Protestant ascendency" but just trust me when I say - that's not quite the point you might think it is and is in no way ironic.
 
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mtommer

Hall of Fame
Niland's book is quite interesting and really sheds light on the struggle of the Futures/Challenger tour grind attempt to get direct entry to majors/major qualies.
It's also interesting how many top juniors very quickly shed that level by winning those tournaments.
 
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