Violet Summerhayes (May 31, 1878 – 1974) was an English-born Canadian tennis player in the early twentieth century. She won the Rogers Cup championship from 1899 to 1905.
Early life Violet Marian Summerhayes was born in England and raised in Toronto, Ontario. Her father William F. Summerhayes was a barrister and tennis supporter."Former Liberal Organizer Dead" Ottawa Journal (April 14, 1936): 13. via Newspapers.com She developed her tennis skills with her siblings, at the St. Matthew's Church Tennis Club in Riverdale.M. Ann Hall, The Girl and the Game: A History of Women's Sport in Canada, Second Edition (University of Toronto Press 2016). She also trained as a kindergarten assistant in Toronto, passing the government examination in 1896."Inspector's Annual Report" Annual Report (Toronto Board of Education 1896): 19.
Career Summerhayes dominated Canadian women's tennis at the turn into the twentieth century, with seven singles wins at the Canadian Open.Violet Summerhayes, Tennis Canada Hall of Fame.M. Ann Hall, Immodest and Sensational: 150 Years of Canadian Women in Sports (James Lorimer & Co. 2008): 20. She won the International Championship Ladies' Singles event at Niagara in 1905."Tennis Cup for Wright" New York Times (September 3, 1905): 11. She competed at Beckenham and Wimbledon in 1907,"Lawn Tennis" The Bystander (June 19, 1907): 625. and at Niagara again in 1908 and 1909."Niles in Winning Form" New York Times (August 28, 1908): 5. "Beals Wright Wins at Niagara" New York Times (August 27, 1909): 4.
Summerhays competed in women's doubles with Myrtle McAteer at Niagara in 1903"Miss McAteer to Play Miss Neely" Chicago Tribune (August 30, 1903): 10. via Newspapers.com and mixed doubles in 1909."Women's Tennis at Niagara" New York Times (August 30, 1903): 14. "May Sutton Wins from Mrs. Hannam in Tennis" Oakland Tribune (August 28, 1909): 15. via Newspapers.com A "Miss Summerhayes" was reported as competing in women's doubles at Toronto in 1920."Ontario Championship at Toronto" American Lawn Tennis (October 15, 1920): 492.
Summerhayes' streak of four consecutive Rogers Cup victories stood as a record for almost a century, until Monica Seles tied the record.James Bisson, "Seles to Rogers Cup Hall of Fame" The Globe and Mail (August 13, 2009).
Personal life Violet Summerhayes appears in the Toronto City Directory in 1928 in connection with the Women's Auxiliary to the Church of England Missionary Society.Might's Greater Toronto city directory (Might Directories Limited 1928). She died in 1974, aged 96 years, in Toronto.
References
External links A photograph of Violet Summerhayes playing tennis in 1908, from the Toronto Guardian.