1878 men's tennis season

The 1878 men's tennis season was composed of the third annual pre-open era tour. It now incorporated 15 tournaments staged in Great Britain and Ireland the Wimbledon championships was won by challenger Patrick Francis Hadow defeating the defending champion Spencer Gore.

It began in April in Newcastle Emlyn, Wales and ended in October in Bournemouth, Dorset, England.

Summary
This early pre open era tour began in April 1878 with Teifiside Lawn Tennis Club Tournament on grass played at Newcastle Emlyn, Wales the club is still open today. In May a spring tennis tournament was held at the Bournemouth Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club on Dean Park Cricket Ground, Bournemouth, England the club held a second event in October this year.

In July the most important event of the year the 1878 Wimbledon Championships was won by the challenger Patrick Francis Hadow who beat Spencer Gore in the all comers final. In August the inaugural Scottish Championships was won by James Patten MacDougall. In September at the inaugural County Wicklow Championships the tournament was won by a Captain Hughes. In September at the South of Ireland Championships held Wicklow in Ireland, the Limerick Cup was won by Vere St. Leger Goold.

Calendar
Notes 1: Challenge round: the final round of a tournament, in which the winner of a single-elimination phase faces the previous year's champion, who plays only that one match. The challenge round was used in the early history of tennis (from 1877 through 1921), in some tournaments not all. * Indicates challenger Notes 2:Tournaments in italics were events that were staged only once that season

Key

January to March
No events

November to December
No events

List of tournament winners
Important tournament in bold
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Patrick Francis Hadow – Wimbledon-(1)
 * 🇮🇪 W.F. Templer – Armagh-(1)
 * Edmond Bennet Brackenbury – Bournemouth 1st-(1)
 * Sir Hubert James Medlycott – Bournemouth 2nd-(1)
 * 🇮🇪 Henry Evelyn Tombe – Bromley-(1)
 * 🇮🇪 James Jackson Sherrard – Dublin-(1)
 * James Patten MacDougall – Edinburgh-(1)
 * 🇬🇧 Clement Edward Cottrell– Esher-(1)
 * 🇬🇧 Jonas Henry William Gardner–Lichfield-(1)
 * 🇮🇪 William Henry Darby – Limerick-(1)
 * 🇮🇪 Robert Baron Templer –Moy-(1)
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Gwyn Saunders – Newcastle Emlyn-(1)
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Rev. William Hughes – Newton Abbott-(1)
 * 🇮🇪 Vere St. Leger Goold – Waterford-(1)

Rankings
Source: The Concise History of Tennis, 6th edition, 2016