World Hard Court Championships

World Hard Court Championships
Defunct tennis tournament
Founded	1912
Abolished	1923
Editions	7
Location	Paris, France (1912–1921) Brussels, Belgium (1922) Paris, France (1923)
Surface	Clay / Outdoor

World Hard Court Championships (WHCC) was an annual major tennis tournament held from 1912 to 1923, principally in Paris, France. The venue was the clay courts of the Stade Français in Saint-Cloud, Paris, with one exception, when they were held at the Royal Leopold Club in Brussels, Belgium, in 1922.

It was open to all international amateur players from all nationalities, unlike the French Championships, which were open only to tennis players who were members of clubs in France through 1924; because of this the WHCC is sometimes considered as the proper precursor to the French Open. The French Championships were also held at a different venue at the time, the Racing Club de France, Paris.

WHCC was part of a series of world championships advanced by the International Lawn Tennis Federation as Majors, the others being the World Grass Court Championships (Wimbledon) and the World Covered Court Championships (held in a variety of countries). The US Championships was not part of this series, even though it was regarded as a significant event.

The WHCC was not played in 1924, when Paris hosted the Olympic Games and its tennis tournament, also held on clay courts, took the place of the championship. In 1925 the tournament was disbanded when French Championships opened to international competitors, with the event held alternately between the Stade Français (1925, 1927), which was the site of the WHCC, and the Racing Club de France (1926), which was the site of the previous French Championship. From 1928, the French Championships moved to Stade Roland Garros.

Anthony Wilding was the only male multiple champion in the singles event, winning the title in 1913 and 1914, while Suzanne Lenglen won the women's singles title four times (1914, 1921–23).

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