 Larned in 1901 | |
| Full name | William Augustus Larned |
|---|---|
| Country (sports) |  United States |
| Born | (1872-12-30)December 30, 1872 |
| Died | December 16, 1926(1926-12-16) (aged 53) New York City, US |
| Turned pro | 1890 (amateur tour) |
| Retired | 1911 |
| Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
| Int. Tennis HoF | 1956(member page) |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 291–71 (80.3%)[1] |
| Career titles | 48[1] |
| Highest ranking | No.1 (1901,ITHF)[2] |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Wimbledon | QF (1896,1905) |
| US Open | W (1901,1902,1907,1908,1909,1910,1911) |
| Doubles | |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| Wimbledon | SF (1905) |
| Team competitions | |
| Davis Cup | W (1902) |
William Augustus Larned (December 30, 1872 – December 16, 1926) was an Americantennis player who was active at the beginning of the 20th century. He won seven singles titles at theU.S. National Championships.
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(July 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Larned was born and raised inSummit, New Jersey, on the estate of his father, William Zebedee Larned, a wealthy lawyer and a major landowner in Summit. Stoneover, the manor house in which he grew up, today houses the administrative and faculty offices of theOak Knoll School. Larned Road in Summit honors both father and son; Brayton School in Summit was named in honor of his younger brother Brayton, who died at age 15. He came from a family that could trace its American roots to shortly after the arrival of the Mayflower. In 1890 he came to Cornell University to study mechanical engineering. He first gained fame in his junior year, when he became the first (and to this day, the only) Cornellian to win the intercollegiate tennis championship.
An all-around athlete, Larned captained theSt. Nicholas Hockey Club in 1896–97 and was also a horseman, golfer, and rifle shot. He invented the steel-framed racquet in 1922 and founded a company to manufacture it.
Larned won the title seven times, as didRichard Sears before him andBill Tilden after.[3] Larned was a member of the U.S. Davis Cup Team in 1902–03, 1905, 1908–09 and 1911–12. Larned achieved a career-high U.S. ranking of No. 1. He twice participated in theWimbledon Championships, in 1896 and 1905, but could not match his success at home, losing on both occasions in the quarterfinals.
Larned also won other tournaments multiple times including theLongwood Challenge Bowl eleven times (1894–1897, 1901, 1903–1909), theMiddle States Championships six times (1894–95, 1897, 1899, 1906–1907), and theSouthampton Invitation three times (1902, 1904, 1906).[4]
He was inducted in theInternational Tennis Hall of Fame in 1956.
Larned in 1898 had served in theSpanish–American War as one of Theodore Roosevelt'sRough Riders. While serving in the war, Larned developed rheumatism in Cuba;rheumatoid arthritis later deteriorated his health forcing him to retire from tennis after losing the Davis Cup challenge round in early 1912. Partially paralyzed byspinal meningitis, he was unable to do any of the activities he loved most, and became depressed. On the evening of December 15, 1926, inside the private chambers of the exclusiveKnickerbocker Club in Manhattan, the 53-year-old Larned committed suicide by shooting himself.[5]
In their bookR.F. and H.L. Doherty - On Lawn Tennis (1903) multiple Wimbledon champions Reginald and Laurence Doherty described Larned's playing style:
Larned, when on his game, is very fine indeed and very brilliant. His is a good style and pleasant to watch. Throughout he hits hard, and goes for his stroke. With very little effort Larned gets great pace on the ball. His forehand is distinctly stronger than his backhand, but he puts top on both, hitting nearly at the height of the bound. Among his strongest points are his forehand volley, which is very hard indeed, and his service, which is a capital one of the ordinary straight kind, and which he, as a rule, follows up to the net. He is quick reaching the net after a good-length drive, and he can drive the ball while he is on the run. He is good at the volley but erratic at times in his return of service. He has really only one fault — namely, that he varies at times; he has his off-days.
On Lawn Tennis - 1903[6]
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1900 | U.S. National Championships | Grass |  Malcolm Whitman | 4–6, 6–1, 2–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 1901 | U.S. National Championships | Grass |  Beals Wright | 6–2, 6–8, 6–4, 6–4 |
| Win | 1902 | U.S. National Championships | Grass |  Reginald Doherty | 4–6, 6–2, 6–4, 8–6 |
| Loss | 1903 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | Laurence Doherty | 0–6, 3–6, 8–10 |
| Win | 1907 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | Robert LeRoy | 6–2, 6–2, 6–4 |
| Win | 1908 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | Beals Wright | 6–1, 6–2, 8–6 |
| Win | 1909 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | Bill Clothier | 6–1, 6–2, 5–7, 1–6, 6–1 |
| Win | 1910 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | Tom Bundy | 6–1, 5–7, 6–0, 6–8, 6–1 |
| Win | 1911 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | Maurice McLoughlin | 6–4, 6–4, 6–2 |
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
Events with a challenge round: (WC) won; (CR) lost the challenge round; (FA) all comers' finalist
| 1891 | 1892 | 1893 | 1894 | 1895 | 1896 | 1897 | 1898 | 1899 | 1900 | 1901 | 1902 | 1903 | 1904 | 1905 | 1906 | 1907 | 1908 | 1909 | 1910 | 1911 | SR | W–L | Win % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | 7 / 20 | 66–14 | 82.50 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| French | only for French club members | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | A | A | QF | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | QF | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 5–2 | 71.43 |
| U.S. | 3R | FA | A | FA | FA | FA | SF | A | A | CR | W | WC | CR | SF | SF | 2R | W | WC | WC | WC | WC | 7 / 18 | 61–12 | 83.56 |
| Australian | not held | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | |||||||||||||
| Win–loss | 2–1 | 5–1 | 4–1 | 5–1 | 5–1 | 7–2 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 6–1 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 7–2 | 0–1 | 7–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | |||
For the fourth consecutive time and for the sixth time in his career as tennis player William A. Larned, of Summit, N.J., today won the challenge match of the singles championship of the United States, defeating Thos. C. Bundy, of Los Angeles, Cal., on the Casin courts, 6–1, 5–7, 6–0, 6–8, 6–1
