Doherty–Mahony rivalry

Laurence Doherty (World No 1
6 Major singles
2 Olympic gold medals, singles & doubles

Harold Mahony (World No 2
1 Major singles
2 Olympic silver medals singles)

This was a tennis rivalry played between British player Laurence Doherty and the Irish player Harold Mahony, which in their respective careers met 18 times from 1896 until 1904.^[1]

Doherty and Mahony were both Grand Slam winners with Doherty winning six slam titles and two Olympic golds and Mahony winning one slam title, two Olympic silver medals and one bronze medal. Throughout their respective careers Doherty won 66 titles^[2] and Mahony 59 titles.^[3]

They first met in 1896 at the London (amateur) Grass Court Championships, Doherty was 22 years old when he first met 29 years old Mahony. At the Grand Slams they met three times, twice at Wimbledon and Doherty led (2-0) in matches and once at the US National Championships, Doherty led (1-0) they also met in the 1900 Paris Olympics final with Doherty again winning (1-0).

They played each other predominately on grass courts but also on clay courts and indoors on hard wood courts.

Challenge Rounds[]

Challenge Round: the final round of a tournament, in which the winner of a single-elimination phase (final) faces the previous year's champion, who plays only that one match. The challenge round was used in some tournaments in the early history of tennis (from 1877 through 1921).^[4]

Head-to-head[]

Official matches (Doherty 14–4 Mahony)[]

No.	Year	Tournament	Surface	Round	Winner	Score
1.	1896	Championship of London[5]	Grass	SF	Mahony	6–3, 4–6, 6–2, 2–6, 10–8
2.	1897	Championship of London[6]	Grass	QF	Doherty	w.o
3.	1898	Northern Championships[7]	Grass	R2	Doherty	6–1, 6–8, 6–3, 2–6, 7–5
4.	1898	Wimbledon Championships[8]	Grass	F	Doherty	6–1, 6–2, 4–6, 2–6, 14-12
5.	1898	Championship of London[9]	Grass	F	Doherty	6–3, 6–4, 9–7
6.	1898	Scottish Championships[10]	Grass	SF	Doherty	6–2 6–0
7.	1898	The Homburg Cup[11]	Clay	SF	Doherty	6–3, 6–2
8.	1898	Welsh Covered Court Championships[12]	Hard (i)	F	Mahony	5–7, 6–4, 7–5, 6–4
9.	1900	Olympics[13][14]	Clay	F	Doherty	6–4, 6–2, 6–3
10.	1900	Dinard[15]	Clay	CR	Doherty	4–6, 6–1, 8–6, 7–5
11.	1901	Kent Championships[16]	Grass	CR	Doherty	4–6, 6–1, 8–6, 7–5
12.	1902	Leicestershire Championships[17]	Grass	F	Mahony	w.o.
13.	1902	Wimbledon Championships[18]	Grass	SF	Doherty	4–6, 4–6, 8–6, 2-0 (ret)
14.	1902	European Championships[19]	Hard (i)	F	Doherty	4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 6–1
15.	1903	Middlesex Championships	Grass	R2	Mahony	w.o.
16.	1903	U.S. National Championships	Grass	R4	Doherty	6–3, 6–2, 6–4
17.	1904	Northumberland Championships[20]	Grass	R3	Doherty	6–2, 6–0
18.	1904	London Covered Court Championships[21]	Hard (i)	R2	Doherty	7–5, 6–3, 3–6, 6–4

Breakdown of their rivalry[]

• All matches: Doherty, 14–4
• Outdoor courts: Doherty, 13-2
• Clay courts: Doherty, 1–0
• Grass courts: Doherty, 13–2
• Indoor hard courts: Doherty, 2–1
• Grand Slam matches: Doherty, 3–0
• Grand Slam finals: Doherty, 1–0
• Olympic finals: Doherty, 1-0
• All finals: Doherty, 6–2

References[]

Sources[]

• https://app.thetennisbase.com/Laurence Doherty v Harold Mahony, Head to Head, 1896 to 1904

External links[]

• http://www.wimbledon.com/History 1890s.