Robert Duffield Wrenn (September 20, 1873 – November 12, 1925) was an American left-handed

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player, four-time U.S. singles championship winner, and one of the first inductees in the

International Tennis Hall of Fame The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an indo ...

Biography

Wrenn was born in

Highland Park, Illinois Highland Park is a suburban city located in the southeastern part of Lake County, Illinois, United States, about north of downtown Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 30,176. Highland Park is one of several municipalities located o ...

. Wrenn attended Harvard University, where he was a prominent

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

on the football team. Wrenn was considered "one of Harvard's greatest all-around athletes," a star player at football, ice hockey, and baseball. Wrenn played a small role in the formation of collegiate ice hockey in the United States. In the fall of 1892, Wrenn and fellow tennis champion (and doubles partner)

Malcolm Greene Chace Malcolm Greene Chace (March 12, 1875 – July 16, 1955) was an American financier and textile industrialist who was instrumental in bringing electric power to New England. He was a pioneer of the sport of ice hockey in the United States, and was ...

played in an international tennis tournament in Niagara Falls, New York. There they met some Canadian athletes who invited them to return the next winter to learn about their sport of

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

, which differed from the game of ice polo which was then played in American colleges. Wrenn and Chace gathered some friends from other northeast colleges including Cornell University and returned to Canada over Christmas break 1894-95 for a series of hockey matches. Each of the students returned to their respective campuses to promote the sport of ice hockey. Wrenn later played for the

St. Nicholas Hockey Club The St. Nicholas Hockey Club is an ice hockey club from Manhattan, New York City. St. Nicholas Hockey Club played in the American Amateur Hockey League between 1896–1903 and 1905–1918 and won three championship titles, in 1907, 1914 and 1915. ...

. Wrenn won his tennis titles in 1893, 1894, 1896 and 1897 (losing out to

Fred Hovey Frederick Howard Hovey (October 7, 1868 – October 18, 1945) was a male tennis player from the United States. Biography Frederick Howard Hovey was born on October 7, 1868 in Newton Centre, Massachusetts. His brother was George Rice Hovey, and ...

in 1895). In 1898, he served in Cuba with

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

Rough Riders The Rough Riders was a nickname given to the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish–American War and the only one to see combat. The United States Army was small, understaffed, and diso ...

in the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

. He contracted

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

while in Cuba. Wrenn played for the U.S. Davis Cup team in 1903 together with his brother George. In the final against the British Isles at the

Longwood Cricket Club Longwood Cricket Club is a tennis and former cricket club based in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. It is the site of the first Davis Cup competition. History A club for cricket was opened in 1877 at Longwood Estate, a place named afte ...

, they were defeated 1–4 and Wrenn lost both his singles matches against

Reginald Reginald is a masculine given name in the English language. Etymology and history The meaning of Reginald is “King". The name is derived from the Latin ''Reginaldus'', which has been influenced by the Latin word ''regina'', meaning "queen". Th ...

and

Laurence Doherty Hugh Laurence "Laurie" Doherty (8 October 1875 – 21 August 1919) was a British tennis player and the younger brother of tennis player Reginald Doherty. He was a six-time Grand Slam champion and a double Olympic Gold medalist at the 1900 Sum ...

as well as the doubles against the Doherty brothers. Wrenn was vice-president of the

United States Tennis Association The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...

from 1902 until 1911 and president from 1912 until 1915. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1955. He was arrested in 1914 when the car he was driving ran over and killed Herbert George Loveday, the choir director of St Mary's Church in Tuxedo Park, New York. Wrenn was exonerated when, according to ''The New York Times'' (May 21, 1914), "The Grand Jury, finding from testimony that the mechanism of the car had become disarranged, and the steering gear powerless, declined to find an indictment, and the complaint was dismissed." Wrenn was an aviator in World War I. He died of

Bright's disease Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine, and was frequently accompanied b ...

at age 52, in his apartment in the Hotel Madison in New York City.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (4 titles, 1 runner-up)

Doubles (1 title, 1 runner-up)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wrenn, Robert 1873 births 1925 deaths American football quarterbacks American male tennis players Harvard Crimson football players Indiana Hoosiers football coaches Rough Riders All-American college football players Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees United States National champions (tennis) People from Highland Park, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois Sportspeople from the Chicago metropolitan area Tennis people from Illinois