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John Keys offered as a gift 3 acres (12,000 m) of land on
Bedford Avenue adjoining the new Cincinnati Golf Club. John Scarborough offered the Club what is substantially its present location, not as a gift, but rent free for the first few years. Mr. Scarborough agreed to lay out four courts and build a club house at his own expense.
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Trabert was one of the most prominent players in the modern history of tennis. He played on the United States Davis Cup team and was later the captain. He won the French singles twice, 1954-55 as well as the
Wimbledon and U.S. singles in 1955, making him one of only nine men in tennis history to have
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Among the members of CTC were John B. Keys and John
Scarborough. Each owned tracts of land which they were interested in developing into a subdivision. They both hoped to do the club a favor, and at the same time enhance the value of their holdings by encouraging the club to locate on their property.
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On
December 3, 1880, Edmund H. Pendleton presided over a meeting held at the Burnet House in Cincinnati, the purpose being the organization of a tennis club. A constitution was drawn up and the following officers were nominated and elected: President - Jeptha Garrand; Secretary - Howard S. Winslow;
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Company. Too numerous to mention are other members who have been leaders in the business community, medical, legal and teaching professions. From 1993 to 1995, member J. Howard "Bumpy" Frazer served as president of the USTA - the first
Cincinnatian ever to direct the national organization. Another
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At the time one of the officers of the club, Howard S. Winslow, lived on Oak Street and
Reading Road. His father generously made available to the members if the club (CTC) sufficient ground to lay three grass courts at the rear of his property which was adjacent to a lane. The city fathers, seeing
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doubles titles, and also reached the men's doubles finals of the U.S. National
Championship nine times. He also was a Davis Cup player and one of the most successful Davis Cup captains in U.S. history. He was enshrined into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1967 and was in the first class,
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Between the years of 1903 and 1968, and with the exception of about 10 years, the Club hosted the popular and well-known tournament known as the Tri-State Tennis
Tournament. This event attracted many of the best male and female players from around the country and the world, and the tournament was
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For the next 13 years the Club occupied two different locations on Vernon Place. During these years the Club grew in terms of membership and activity, and in two of the three years, 1891 and 1893, the club sponsored the Ohio State Adult
Championship. Having moved twice in 13 years, the club began
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In the first year at the new location there were four courts, the present courts 1, 2, 9 and 10. In 1904 three more courts were added to the upper tier, the present 6, 7 and 8. In 1925 three courts were added to the lower tier, courts 3, 4 and 5. The original club house was torn down in 1905 and
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was leased for indoor play until May 1881, making
Cincinnati the site of some of the earliest indoor play in America. The lease on Music Hall was renewed for an additional year, but soon thereafter the decision was made to terminate the agreement. (The story is that the roof leaked, and the club
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along with his former protégé Tony Trabert, enshrined into the Cincinnati Tennis Hall of Fame. After his playing career, he was Tournament Director of the US Open. Talbert and Trabert were both coached by Howard Zaeh, as well as many hundreds of others who went on to play around the world.
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reported: "Such a number of noted tennis players from cities throughout the United States has been entered that the Tri-State Tournament ranks very high, being surpassed in importance only by the National Lawn Tennis Association Tournament at Newport, R.I."
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Thirty-eight members from Vernon Place along with many new members brought the membership to 186 when the courts were opened. Some of the improvements promised in the Scarborough agreements were not completed until 1900.
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when it was first played in 1899, and was a finalist several times afterward. He was ranked No. 7 in Men's Singles by the USTA in 1908. Another nationally prominent player in the early years was
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Stewart Shillito, the son of John Shillito, the founder of the Cincinnati department store, Shillito's, had seen tennis played while on vacation at the fashionable seaside resort of
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won three of the four major titles in a calendar year. He was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1970. Court 2 at the tennis club has been dedicated in his honor.
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Finally in the spring of 1899, Scarborough's offer was excepted because Keys' property on Bedford was considered "too far out in the country and somewhat inaccessible".
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by the United States Department of Interior for its leadership in the development and advancement of the sport of tennis in the Cincinnati and Ohio Valley Area.
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members wanted a discount on the rent because of it.) With the termination of the lease, the era of the nineteenth century indoor tennis ended in Cincinnati.
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tie in 1952, the first ever to be played here. All this activity did much to further the interest in tennis in Cincinnati and in the Ohio Valley area.
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After the first court was built, interest spread rapidly among enthusiastic friends of Shillito, and by 1880, Cincinnati was ready for a tennis club.
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The CTC remained at that location through 1885, when it moved, with no explanation, to a new location on Arbigust Street (now called Vernon Place).
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225:, and in 1878 he decided to build a court at his father's home on Highland Avenue and Oak Street in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Mt. Auburn.
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Since 1974, the club has played host to the United States Tennis Association's National Father & Son Clay Court Championships.
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In addition to a number of outstanding players, CTC has had distinguished and prominent citizens in its membership. To name a few,
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Many great players, both men and women, participated in the tournament. Its list of winners reads like a "Who's Who'" of tennis -
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CTC has occupied its present site at Dexter and Wold Avenues since 1899, and on March 29, 1983 it was listed on the
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Throughout this long period the Club continued to bring world class players and teams to Cincinnati, including a
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member, Alvin Bunis, founded the first tennis senior tour—the first senior tour in either tennis or golf.
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was introduced in America, and is today one of the oldest active tennis clubs in the United States.
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The club has had a number of nationally ranked players, the first being Nat Emerson who won the
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growing tennis activity, named the lane Tennis Lane. It continues to bear that name today.
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Bill Talbert was ranked in the U.S. Top 10 13 times between 1941 & 1954. He won nine
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of Dayton also won the NCAA Singles title in 1957, while at the University of Michigan.
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always one of the major events on the major tennis schedule during the Pre-Open Era.
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From Club Court to Center Court, The Evolution of Professional Tennis in Cincinnati
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In one week, 86 players were enrolled as members, and the south wing of
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From Bustles to Shorts, Four Generations at the Cincinnati Tennis Club
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playing for the University of Cincinnati won the NCAA Singles title.
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This tournament eventually would grow into what is now known as the
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Sports venues on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio
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530:National Register of Historic Places in Cincinnati
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43:but its sources remain unclear because it lacks
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251:looking in 1898 for a more permanent address.
266:replaced with the present structure in 1906.
436:National Father Son Clay Court Championships
462:The Cincinnati Tennis Club, A Brief History
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540:Sports clubs and teams established in 1880
205:was founded in 1880 just five years after
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105:U.S. National Register of Historic Places
74:Learn how and when to remove this message
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545:Athletics clubs in the United States
430:National Register of Historic Places
424:National Register of Historic Places
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525:Tennis venues in the United States
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232:and Treasurer - Albert C. Barney.
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555:Tennis clubs in the United States
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411:, Justice of the Supreme court;
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351:Nat Emerson and Tony Trabert
86:United States historic place
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535:Sports venues in Cincinnati
345:Western & Southern Open
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203:The Cincinnati Tennis Club
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180:NRHP reference
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270:The Tri-State Tournament
131:Dexter and Wold Avenues
29:This article includes a
281:The Cincinnati Enquirer
58:more precise citations.
97:Cincinnati Tennis Club
501:39.13417°N 84.46917°W
458:, by Phillip S. Smith
340:, to name but a few.
164:39.13417°N 84.46944°W
417:Procter & Gamble
361:Reuben A. Holden Jr.
357:Tri-State Tournament
506:39.13417; -84.46917
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405:William Howard Taft
169:39.13417; -84.46944
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452:, by Stanley Lewis
31:list of references
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399:Prominent members
219:Narragansett Pier
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122:Entrance in 2023
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409:Potter Stewart
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64:December 2015
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475:Club website
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413:Neil McElroy
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369:Barry MacKay
365:Tony Trabert
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334:Pauline Betz
330:Alice Marble
322:Barry MacKay
318:Tony Trabert
314:Bill Talbert
310:Frank Parker
294:Beals Wright
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50:Please help
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306:Bobby Riggs
302:George Lott
298:Bill Tilden
290:Nat Emerson
167: /
143:Coordinates
56:introducing
519:Categories
479:Map links:
380:Grand Slam
326:May Sutton
237:Music Hall
155:84°28′10″W
133:Cincinnati
492:84°28′9″W
393:Davis Cup
387:Davis Cup
489:39°8′3″N
278:In 1904
187:83001979
152:39°8′3″N
128:Location
213:History
52:improve
336:, and
207:tennis
37:, or
137:Ohio
182:No.
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