Thomas (Tom) Chaytor (13 November 1870 – 30 January 1951) was an Irish

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. He was Irish Lawn tennis Championships finalist in 1894 losing to

Joshua Pim Dr Joshua Pim FRCSI (20 May 1869 – 15 April 1942) was a medical doctor and Irish amateur tennis player. He won the Wimbledon men's singles title two years in a row, in 1893 and 1894, and was ranked British number one in both those years. H ...

. He was a semi finalist at the 1894 Wimbledon Championships in the men's singles event and a quarter finalist in the men's doubles event. He won seven career titles out of fifteen finals.

Career

Tom Chaytor was born on 13 November 1870 in Killiney, County Dublin in Ireland. He was one of three of his brothers who also played tennis, including the 1890 Wimbledon quarter finalist

Grainger Chaytor David Grainger Chaytor KC. (11 May 1868 – 13 July 1913) was an Irish tennis player and later lawyer. In major tournaments of the time he was a singles quarter finalist at the 1890 Wimbledon Championships, a three time quarter finalist at th ...

. He played his first tournament at the 1890 County Dublin Championships at the Lansdowne Lawn Tennis Club where he reached the semi finals losing to Thomas Harrison Griffiths in 3 sets. In May 1891 he won his first title the Dublin University Championships held at Trinity College, Dublin beating Arthur Henry Gore Ashe in 3 sets. In July 1892 he won the Northumberland Championships at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England beating fellow Irish player

Harold Mahony Harold Segerson Mahony (13 February 1867 – 27 June 1905) was a Scottish-born Irish tennis player who is best known for winning the singles title at the Wimbledon Championships in 1896. His career lasted from 1888 until his death in 1905. Maho ...

in 3 sets. At the end of July 1892 he reached the finals of the

Midland Counties Championships The Midland Counties Championships also known as the Midland International was a grass court tennis tournament held at Edgbaston Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club, Edgbaston, Great Britain from 1881 to 1977. History The first unofficial championshi ...

held at Edgbaston Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club where he lost in 3 sets to, two time Wimbledon finalist Harry Barlow. In August 1892 he won the Exmouth Open tournament at

Exmouth Exmouth is a port town, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the 5th most populous settlement in Devon. Histo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

defeating Harold Walters in 3 sets. In May 1893 he won the first of three titles at the Fitzwilliam Club Championships held at the Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club, Dublin, Ireland defeating Alexander Porter in four sets. In July 1893 he won 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 ...

held at Lemington Spa beating Percy Bateman Brown in 4 sets. In March 1894, Chaytor reached the final of the

Irish Championships Irish Open may refer to: *Irish Open (golf), a golf tournament on the European Tour **Irish Senior Open, a golf tournament on the European Seniors Tour **Ladies Irish Open, a golf tournament on the Ladies European Tour * Irish Open (darts), annual ...

, where he faced defending champion and Wimbledon champion

Chaytor hit great passing shots and his backhand was winning him a lot of points. Pim won, by the score of 9–7 in the fifth set. In May 1894 he won his second Fitzwilliam Club Championships defeating George Greene in the challenge round. At the 1894 Wimbledon Championships in July that year where Tom played only once, he beat Horace Chapman,

Clement Cazalet Clement Haughton Langston Cazalet (16 July 1869 – 23 March 1950) was a British tennis player who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics. He was the son among 10 children of businessman William Clement Cazalet (brother of Edward Cazalet) a ...

and

Ernest George Meers Ernest George Meers (1849 – 20 August 1928) was an English tennis player, organist and gum merchant. Biography Meers was born in Kingsnorth, near Ashford, Kent. He earned a Bachelor of Music from Queen's College, Oxford and was later chairma ...

, before handing a walkover to

Wilfred Baddeley Wilfred Baddeley (11 January 1872 – 24 January 1929) was a British male tennis player and the elder of the Baddeley twins. Career Wilfred, the better-known competitor, made his debut at Wimbledon in 1889 and he went on to win singles ti ...

in the semi finals (he couldn't play because of badly blistered feet). In May 1895 he won the Fitzwilliam Club Championships for the third time beating Walter Herbert Boyd in 3 sets. He won seven career titles overall.Nieuwland, Alex (Tennis Archives)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaytor, Tom 1870 births 1951 deaths 19th-century male tennis players Irish male tennis players People from Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown