Merriwa Park has provided the picturesque backdrop for Wangaratta's annual tennis tournament since 1926, welcoming fledgling players, proven stars and homegrown champs to test their skills on its grass courts over the course of a century.

Through a world war, a pandemic, local floods, and date changes, the tournament has endured.

This weekend will mark the 100th anniversary of the first Wangaratta tournament, which was held in 1926 - as it would be for several years - on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

That event was staged on grass courts which had been opened in the city's sunken gardens just a couple of months earlier.

At their opening, the courts had received the blessing of Australian star Gerald Patterson (the nephew of opera singer Dame Nellie Melba), who was sent by Spalding Brothers to play exhibition matches with a group including Davis Cup representative Richard Schlesinger, in exchange for the Merriwa Park Lawn Tennis Club using Spalding balls at its tournament.

Patterson, who had won the Wimbledon singles title in 1919 and 1922, was quoted in the club's annual report as saying that the courts were "the equal of any on which he had played in the capital cities".

By 1932, it was decided that the Christmas fixture should be abolished, and a tournament held instead on Saturday 28 and Monday 30 January, 1933, with Sunday as a day of rest.

In the absence of a clubhouse, arrangements were made for lunch on the lawn, a loudspeaker was organised, and the park's band rotunda was converted into a tournament box, with spectators charged a shilling, and a band engaged for a Saturday night dance.

The date change helped the tournament grow in popularity during a period of development which saw the club add three new courts and a clubhouse.

A modified tournament continued to be held in January most years through World War 2, with 1942 entries restricted to the borough and district, and the threat of cancellation in 1944 due to a ball ration luckily averted when the Lawn Tennis Association of Victoria lent the Wangaratta club 12 dozen balls.

Due to rising numbers (with record entries in 1947), the five grass courts at Wangaratta Golf Club (then located where the Barr Reserve stadium sits today) were occasionally used for the tournament.

Some of the best pennant players in Victoria and NSW were among those who came to Wangaratta each year through the 1950s; in 1956, 13-year-old Albury schoolgirl Margaret Smith (later Margaret Court) won the C grade singles - just one of the titles collected on her path to grand slam success.

Other big names to grace the Merriwa Park courts over the years included Neale Fraser, Frank Sedgman, Rex Hartwig and George Worthington.

Through the '50s and '60s, social events including a pre-tournament gathering, Saturday night clubhouse dance, and Sunday evening out-of-town barbecue were held, and the tournament maintained its reputation as one of regional Victoria's best by regularly attracting top players, particularly from Albury.

In 1967, the two biggest drawcards were Jamaican Davis Cup players Lance Lumsden and Richard Russell, who had been eliminated from the Australian Open at Kooyong and were entered to play in Wangaratta, attracting huge crowds when they contested the final.

Though floods in 1974 and '93 impacted the club in its low-lying position, tournaments were still held in both years, with the event's only washout occurring in the finals of 1978; likewise, the COVID-19 pandemic swirled around but did not stop the event in the early 2020s.

Albury's Wurtz brothers took hold of the men's singles from the late 1970s, with either Ken or Rod winning the title between 1979 and '87, and Rod winning again in '89.

Their brother Graham won in 1973 and '76 (with victories to Wangaratta's own Ken Hiskins in between), so the Wurtz brothers' total haul was 16 titles.

In the early 1980s, four new courts were laid and the porous courts resurfaced, and towards the end of the decade barbecue facilities were constructed and the clubhouse was fit to burst with the large tournament attendance.

Through the years, Melbourne A pennant players and coaches continued to travel to Wangaratta and win, including Chris Lamb snaring four titles in the 2010s, while Wangaratta star Michelle Hill put her own stamp on the tournament by winning the title nine times between 1983 and '95.

Belle Thompson, who has won the last three women's titles, is edging close to Hill's record.

When the state government moved the Australia Day holiday from the last Monday in January to its actual date, 26 January, there were fears that the annual tournament would lose support; indeed, with the day falling on a Wednesday in 1994, there were 376 matches played compared to 670 the previous year.

However, the tournament has rolled on through the change, not just because of the on-court action, but importantly due to the countless locals who have given their time as volunteers over its history to ensure the annual running of the event.

The spirit of all those who have graced the courts, helped out in the clubhouse or maintained the facility over the years will be felt in Merriwa Park this weekend as the 100th anniversary is celebrated.