Horace Keats Lester (4 August 1904 – 16 June 1946) was a

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 from England who competed for Great Britain. He was a pupil at The Leys School, Cambridge.

Career

Lester took part in the

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 ...

every year from 1923 to 1934, for a total of 12 appearances. He represented

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in the 1926 International Lawn Tennis Challenge. His only match was a dead rubber in Great Britain's Europe Zone semi-final win over

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

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, which he lost in straight sets to Raimundo Morales-Marques. At the 1927 French Championships, Lester was the only seeded British player (12th). He was beaten in the fourth round by

Patrick Spence Patrick Spence (11 February 1898 – 22 November 1983) was a South African tennis player. He was born in Queenstown, South Africa. He competed mainly in Great Britain and found his form in hard court tournaments. He notably won the mixed double ...

, after having wins over Frenchman Alain Bernard, American

Jimmy Van Alen James Henry Van Alen II (September 19, 1902 – July 3, 1991) was an American tennis official and former player. Van Alen was a poet, musician, publisher, civic leader, and raconteur. He was best known for his influence of tennis, especially for ...

and South African Jack Condon.

Death

Lester was killed on 16 June 1946, when he fell 100 feet from the roof of his block of flats in Chesham Place,

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

."LESTER Horace Keats of 20 Chesham-place London S.W.1" in ''Wills and Administrations 1946 (England and Wales)'' (1947), p. 284 It was initially reported that he had been sleepwalking but an inquest in July ruled that Lester had committed suicide, while of "unsound mind".'' Daily News''
"Former Tennis Star Suicides"
5 July 1946, p.17 He left an estate valued for probate at £24,551.

References

1904 births 1946 suicides 1946 deaths English male tennis players British male tennis players Suicides in Westminster Place of birth missing Suicides by jumping in England {{England-tennis-bio-stub