Meadow Club Invitation

In 1887 the Meadow Club was founded[5] It is a private members located at Southampton, Long Island, New York, United States.[6] The club inaugurated a major international tennis tournament called the Meadow Club Invitation[7] that was staged for 85 editions between 1888 and 1973, though it was not staged continuously.[8] A women's invitation singles tournament was introduced briefly in the late 1920s to early 1940s under the title of the Southampton Invitational Round Robin or Meadow Club Invitational Round Robin, though women did take part most years in the mixed doubles events.

With the exception of 1903 when the English player Laurie Doherty won the men's event it was completely dominated by American players until the mid-1940s with multiple winners such as; Howard Augustus Taylor,[4] Vinnie Richards, Bill Tilden II, Frank Parker, and Bobby Riggs.[9] After World War II up until at least 1969 more foreign players won this event including; Pancho Segura, Roy Emerson, Ian Vermaak, Fred Stolle, Tony Roche and Owen Davidson and Rod Laver.[10] The Meadow Club Invitation[11] ran until 1973 when it was discontinued.[12]