William Clothier (tennis)
Full name | William Jackson Clothier |
---|---|
Country (sports) | United States |
Born | Sharon Hill, PA, United States | September 27, 1881
Died | September 4, 1962 Philadelphia, United States | (aged 80)
Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
Int. Tennis HoF | 1956 (member page) |
Singles | |
Highest ranking | No. 4 (1906, ITHF)[1] |
Grand Slam singles results | |
Wimbledon | 4R (1905) |
US Open | W (1906) |
Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |
US Open | F (1912) |
William 'Bill' Jackson Clothier (September 27, 1881 – September 4, 1962) was an American
Biography
William J. Clothier was a top American tennis player in the early 1900s and reached the singles final of the
Clothier won the intercollegiate tennis singles and doubles championship in 1902 playing for Harvard, where he was a three sport athlete and also played hockey and football.
He was a member of the winning USA Davis Cup Team in 1905 and 1909 and won both his singles matches in the 1909 final against the British Isles.[4]
Together with his son, William J. Clothier II, they two won the national father-son title held at Longwood Cricket Club twice in 1935 and 1936.[5]
Clothier was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1956 and was elected its first President in 1954, a position he held until 1957.[1]
Clothier also played amateur ice hockey from 1900 to 1904 with the Quaker City Hockey Club in Philadelphia and the Harvard Crimson intercollegiate team in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Clothier is interred in the family plot at
Playing style
In their book R.F. and H.L. Doherty - On Lawn Tennis (1903) multiple Wimbledon champions Reginald and Lawrence Doherty described Clothier's playing style:
Clothier has copied Whitman, but is not so good. His twist service is much the same as Whitman's, and he always follows it up to the net, He volleys well, and is especially severe overhead. His volleying is considerably superior to his ground strokes.
On Lawn Tennis - 1903[6]
Grand Slam finals
Singles (1 title, 2 runners-up)
Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Win | 1906 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | Beals Wright | 6–3, 6–0, 6–4 |
Loss | 1907 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | William Larned | w/o |
Loss | 1909 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | William Larned | 1–6, 2–6, 7–5, 6–1, 1–6 |
Mixed doubles: (1 runner-up)
Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 1912 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | Eleonora Sears | Richard Williams |
4–6, 6–2, 9–11 |
References
- ^ a b "Hall of Famers - William Clothier". International Tennis Hall of Fame. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ^ "Clothier Beats Wright for the Tennis Title" (PDF). The New York Times. 30 Aug 1906. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ^ "Champion Larned Retains his Title" (PDF). The New York Times. 28 Aug 1909. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ^ "Davis Cup - Profile William Clothier". ITF. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ^ "William Clothier, 86, Spy and Tennis Star". The New York Times. 3 Nov 2002. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ^ Doherty, R.F. (1903). R.F. and H.L. Doherty on Lawn Tennis (1st ed.). London: Lawn Tennis. pp. 62–63.