Royal Tennis Club of Gran Canaria

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Category: Leisure · Subcategory: Sports · Year: 1895-96

The century-old history of the current Royal Tennis Club of Gran Canaria is as interesting as it is little known. It all began at the end of the 19th century: between 1895-96, some enthusiastic English residents on the Island decided to build Las Palmas Lawn Tennis Club to be able to practise the fashionable sport at that time among the upper classes of society, which had been patented 22 years earlier by the British Walter Clopton Wingfield. Very soon those tennis facilities located opposite the Metropole hotel, now municipal offices, became the meeting point for the thriving Anglo-Saxon colony and the gradual presence of the emerging local bourgeoisie. It was also a mandatory stop for both the English who visited the Island for its excellent climate and healing conditions, as well as those who stopped over en route to the British colonies in Africa.

The club also had a decisive impact nationally with the outstanding performance of Sydney Montague Head, Spanish champion in 1907 and 1909, who received the beautiful silver cup donated by King Alfonso XIII. This encouraged the practice of the sport and the incorporation of local players into the aforementioned entity.

Las Palmas Lawn Tennis Club was an important part of the flourishing sporting, social and cultural activity of the time, in which the illustrious guests of the Metropole and Santa Catalina hotels frequently visited the City Garden (Ciudad Jardín) grounds, on their route through the British Club and the Gabinete Literario. Through the club’s cement court passed figures from culture, politics, flourishing commerce, and the cinematic and literary scene, such as Ava Gardner and Agatha Christie. The English writer arrived in Gran Canaria on 27 February 1927 at the age of 36, accompanied by her young daughter Rosalind and her secretary Carlo. She frequented and played on the club’s courts in Ciudad Jardín while developing the novel Miss Marple and the Thirteen Problems , in which she referred to Agaete and Puerto de las Nieves, one of her favourite places in the plot of The Moving Finger . Similarly, Ava Gardner travelled from the Santa Catalina hotel to the Metropole courts to play tennis with the "lucky" and very young, at that time, Vicente Boissier Pérez. "Without a doubt, she was a very beautiful woman, but what caught my attention especially was her extraordinary complexion," he recalls. During her stay on the Island, it was said of the diva that she accompanied breakfast with a few glasses of sherry.

On the other hand, the English of the late 19th century not only introduced tennis to Gran Canaria, but also football – where the incorporation of locals happened more quickly than in other sports – cricket, bowling, etc. However, their initiative in golf was decisive in creating the Lomo del Polvo (Escaleritas) course, which would eventually become the oldest course in Spain and one of the oldest in Europe. In 1957 it moved to its new headquarters in Bandama under the name Club de Golf de Las Palmas, initiated by the Gran Canarian Juan Domínguez Guedes, pioneer of the new project and a prominent figure in the sporting, social and business life of the Island.

The old facilities of Ciudad Jardín, all wooden with cement surfaces on the courts, were very restrictive for Gran Canarians at first, then gradually opened up to their incorporation. "The youngsters who began frequenting the club were called the 'Greasers', because of the social and economic status of their families, but the reality is that in many cases they had to make use of rackets and balls discarded by the English in order to play," according to Vicente Boissier.

It had seven courts at its beginnings, but years later two of them fell out of use due to the installation of a laundry and other maintenance services for the Metropole hotel. On those courts played players of worldwide significance such as Lili Álvarez from Gijón, Countess of Valdène, Wimbledon finalist in 1924-25-26, and doubles champion at Roland Garros in 1927. Adored by all fans, especially in London, where her play was considered "unusually daring".

Manuel Alonso also played, the first of the trilogy of Manolos, alongside Manolo Santana and Manuel Orantes. In 1920 he was considered the best player in the world. In his memory the Spanish junior championship Memorial Manuel Alonso is held. Fans of the time were able to see former Grand Slam champions and the cream of Spanish tennis of the era.

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