Note that the entry form and a poster are attached to the bottom of this post.
Coral Beach & Tennis Club’s and Bermuda’s ties with American tennis and the United States Tennis Association go back literally to the beginning – the game of lawn tennis was introduced to the United States from Bermuda.
Lawn Tennis was invented in England in 1873 and was brought to Bermuda by a British Army officer a year later. Mary Outerbridge saw the game being played at a home called Clermont in Paget – less than a mile from what is now the Coral Beach Club – and was conquered by it.
She took tennis with her to the United States, along with the rules of the game, measurements of the court and no doubt some equipment and introduced tennis to the members of Staten Island Cricket Club, where it became an instant hit.
It was at the instigation of her brother, Eugenius Outerbridge, the president of the Staten Island Club, that the US National Lawn Tennis Association – the predecessor to the USTA – was formed in 1881 in an effort to regularize the rules of the game throughout the young nation.
Perhaps as a result of this history, Coral Beach is the only non-American club to have USTA direct membership, and for decades, many of the greatest names in tennis have trained and played in Bermuda, including Fred Perry, Jack Kramer, Roy Emerson, Ken Rosewall, Cliff Drysdale, Clark Graebner, Rod Laver, Tony Trabert and the two Panchos- Segura and Gonzalez. More recently,Jimmy Connors, Vitas Gerulaitis, Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander, Pat Cash, Patrick Rafter and others have favored Bermuda as the ideal location get away to combine serious training and relaxation.
Coral Beach Club started hosting two tournaments during the first two weeks in November and have attracted many great amateur players. Now the Bermuda Clay Court Championships aim to continue on this legacy, with Bermuda’s pleasant weather and Coral Beach’s outstanding clay courts.
Accreditation of the tournament by the USTA, scheduled to be held from October 24 to October 31, means that participants are eligible for USTA points.
The tournament is also featured on the USTA’s website where USTA members can register directly. The USTA Tournament number is 960000115 and the link to the Coral Beach tournament is: https://tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=172172&mode=preview#&&s=0
Non-USTA members can still register for the tournament using the links in the invitation, which is attached for your convenience.
Coral Beach wants to thank Moet & Chandon for kindly agreeing to sponsor the tournament and we are pleased to say that the amount of prize money available for the tournament is growing steadily.
Please feel free to forward additional copies of the entry forms if you have friends who would like to play and kindly let us have their names and email addresses.
Do not hesitate to telephone us on 441-239-7210 or email us at tennis@coralbeach.bm with any further questions you may have.
The Club is offering extremely attractive all-inclusive accommodation packages for visiting players and their families.
We do hope you can play this year and look forward to seeing you in October.