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The Southdean Covered Court Championships was an indoor tennis tournament established in 1934 at the Southdean Sports Club, Middleton-on-Sea, West Sussex, England. The championships ran until 1952 when they were discontinued.

History

In 1922 Sir Walter Aston Blount, 10th Baronet created a New City holiday resort in the former seaplane factory south of the church. One of the hangars accommodated a dance hall and another indoor tennis courts; there were also outdoor tennis courts, a putting green.

The New City had its own hotel accommodation, dairy, farm, ice generating plant, and mineral water factory, besides a laundry, hairdressing rooms, and lending library. By 1934 the New City had become the Southdean hotel and sports club, which in 1937 was open to nonresidents, and which by then could offer squash courts and a sea-water swimming pool. In 1934 the Southdean Covered Court Championships was established at the Southdean Sports Club. The championships were staged through till 1952 before being discontinued.

Venue

The Southdean Sports Club was founded in 1934. In 1953 the club's facilities included two covered courts and two badminton courts for indoor use plus six grass courts, and four hard clay courts for outdoor tennis. In 1997 Southdean Sports Club was renamed to the Middleton Sports Club.

Finals

Men's singles

(Incomplete roll):

Year	Winner	Finalist	Score
1936	Frank Wilde	Henry Billington	8-6, 6-0.
1937	Frank Wilde (2)	Murray Deloford	6-3, 6-8, 6-3.
1938	Choy Wai-Chuen	Henry Billington	5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
1940/1945	Not held (due to World War Ii)
1949	Paddy Roberts	Howard Walton	6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
1950	Gerry Oakley	Derrick Leyland	8-6, 6-3.
1951	Gerry Oakley (2)	George Godsell	10-12, 8-6, ret..
1952	Ignacy Tłoczyński	Gerry Oakley	9-7, 6-4.

Women's singles

(Incomplete roll)

Year	Winner	Finalist	Score
1936	Audrey Wright	Mary Whitmarsh	6-3, 0-6, 10-8
1937	Valerie Scott	Audrey Wright	4-6, 6-4, 6-4
1938	Gladys Southwell	Rosemary Thomas	7-5, 6-4
1939	Freda James Hammersley	Thelma Jarvis	7-5, 6-3
1940/1945	Not held (due to World War II)
1949	Kay Stammers Menzies	Jean Walker-Smith	4-6, 6-3, 6-2
1950	Betty Smith Coutts	Gladys Lines	6-2, 5-7, 7-5
1951	Angela Mortimer	Gay Moorhouse Chandler	6-2, 6-4
1952	Angela Mortimer (2)	Mary Harris	6-1, 6-1

References

1. "Southdean give the lead again covered court tennis tourney: As usual, the Southdean Sports Club opened the tennis season in England with their 6th annual Covered Court Championship tournament, held there last week". Bognor Regis Observer. Sussex, England: The British Newspaper Archive. 8 March 1939. p. 5.
2. "Oakley shines in southern finals: Several Sussex players acquitted themselves creditably in the open tennis tournament which reached its final stages on the 11th Southdean Covered Courts Championships at the end of last week". Bognor Regis Observer. Sussex, England: The British Newspaper Archive. 24 March 1951. p. 6.
3. Nieuwland, Alex. "Tournament – Tournament Southdean Covered Court Championships". www.tennisarchives.com. Tennis Archives. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
4. A P Baggs and H M Warne. "Middleton-on-Sea," in A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 5 Part 1, Arundel Rape: South-Western Part, Including Arundel, ed. T P Hudson (London: Victoria County History, 1997), 190-204. British History Online, accessed January 17, 2023, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/sussex/vol5/pt1/pp190-204.
5. British History Online
6. British History Online
7. Bognor Regis Observer (1939)
8. "Southdean sports club Middleton-on-Sea". Bognor Regis Observer. Sussex, England: The British Newspaper Archive. 6 November 1953. p. 7.
9. ^ "Tournaments:Southdean Covered Courts". The Tennis Base. Tennismem SL. Retrieved 17 May 2023.

• Defunct tennis tournaments in the United Kingdom
• Indoor tennis tournaments
• Wood court tennis tournaments