Natal Sugar Circuit Open Championships
Tennis tournament
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Natal Sugar Circuit Open Championships[1] was a men's and women's international tennis tournament founded in 1962 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa as the Natal Sugar Circuit Championships. Its sponsorship name was the Hulett Natal Sugar Circuit Open Championships[2] It was the sugar circuit series finales event. The tournament ended in 1981.
| Natal Sugar Circuit Open Tennis Championships | |
|---|---|
| Defunct tennis tournament | |
| Tour | ILTF Sugar Circuit |
| Founded | 1962 |
| Abolished | 1981 |
| Location | Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa |
| Surface | Hard (outdoor) |
History
The Natal Championships were founded in 1884 and first staged Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.[3] In 1962 the Natal Sugar Championships were founded as part of the Sugar Circuit (f. 1962)[4][5] of tennis tournaments from the 1960s to 1980s.[6] In 1962 and 1972 only men's tournament was also valid as the Natal Championships.
In 1980 the tournament was ended due to the withdraw of sponsorship by South African Sugar Association.[7][8] The event was staged at Umhlali during the final four years of the women's event. In later years the tournament had switched to hard courts. The event was usually run between the middle two weeks of July each year.
Finals
Men's singles
(Incomplete roll)
| Natal Sugar Championships | |||
| 1962 |  Mike Sangster |  Gaetan Koenig | 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 |
| 1963 |  Wilhelm Bungert | Abe Segal | Title shared due to rain. |
| Open era | |||
| Natal Sugar Open Championships | |||
| 1970[9] | Keith Diepraam | Graham Stilwell | 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 |
| 1971 |  Manuel Santana |  Jan Leschly | 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 |
| 1972[10] | Jürgen Fassbender | Juan Gisbert | 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 |
| 1974 |  Raz Reid | Deon Joubert | 6-2, 6-1 |
Women's singles
(Incomplete roll)
