James Dwight (July 14, 1852, France – July 13, 1917) was an American

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 who was known as the "Founding Father of American Tennis".

Biography

Dwight won the first recorded tournament in the U.S. (and probably in the world, before the first

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...

) played in August 1876 on the property of his uncle, William Appleton, at Nahant, Massachusetts. After graduating from Harvard in 1874, he traveled in Europe, saw the new sport of lawn tennis being played, and brought the necessary equipment home. Then he persuaded his uncle to mark out a court on his smooth front lawn so he could play a game with his cousin Fred Sears. That first attempt was disappointing. Dwight later wrote "we voted the whole thing a fraud and put it away." About a month later, they tried again as a way of passing time on a rainy day. This time, tennis seemed much more interesting, even though they were wearing rubber boots and raincoats. The 1876 tournament was a neighborhood affair: "it was played on handicap on a round robin basis. There were two players on scratch, James Dwight and Fred D Sears Jr., each of whom played against 11 other players until a final between them. Rackets scoring was used...Dwight beat Sears 12–15 15–7 15–13. By then, Dwight and Sears had taught the game to a number of people, including Richard Dudley "Dick" Sears, another cousin, who went on to win the first seven national singles championships. Dwight was one of the founders of the U.S. National Lawn Tennis Association in 1881, and he served as its president for 21 years. He never won the singles championship, but he reached the tournament final in 1883 losing to Richard Sears, with whom he did team to take five national doubles titles, from 1882 through 1884 and from 1886 through 1887. In a rare transatlantic trip in those days, James Dwight entered the 1884 and

1885 Events January–March * January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam. * January 4 – ...

Wimbledon tournaments, reaching the semifinals in 1885 (losing to

Herbert Lawford Herbert Fortescue Lawford (15 May 1851 – 20 April 1925) was a former world No. 1 tennis player from Scotland who won the Men's Singles championship at Wimbledon in 1887, and was runner-up a record 5 times (shared with Arthur Gore). Career ...

). His other career tournaments singles wins include the Longwood Bowl in Boston (1884), the Brighton Lawn Tennis Club Tournament (1885), Brincliffe Lawn Tennis Club Open Tournament (1885) held at Sheffield in England, the

Warwickshire Championships The Warwickshire Championships also known as the Warwickshire County Championships founded on 1 August 1882 was a men's and women's grass court tennis tournament held at Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England from 1882 to 1938 as part of the pre-op ...

(1885, 1887), the

Northern Championships Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

(1885), the

Brookfield Isle of Wight Open The Brookfield Isle of Wight Open was a late Victorian era men's tennis tournament founded in August 1884. It was first staged at Brookfield, Ryde, Isle of Wight, England and ran through until 1886 when it was abolished. History The Brookfield I ...

(1884-1885), and the

West of England Championships West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

(1886). He was inducted to 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 ...

in 1955.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 runner-up)

Doubles (5 titles)

Notes

External links