Malcom Whitman

In the late 1800s and into the next century, Malcolm Whitman was among the finest tennis players in the United States and beyond. While attending Harvard, he was the American intercollegiate singles champion in 1896 and the doubles champion in 1897 and ’98. He was also on the inaugural U.S. Davis Cup team in 1900, as well as in 1902. He was ranked No. 1 in the world in 1900. Tall for his era at 6-foot-2, Whitman used his reach to great effect at the net. He won the U.S. National men’s singles championships (the precursor to the U.S. Open) from 1898-1900, becoming the No. 1-ranked American. From 1896-1902, Whitman was ranked among the top 10 Americans six times. Whitman, who graduated from Harvard Law School in 1899, retired from tennis in 1902, but he didn’t leave the game entirely. He later became a member of the Executive Committee of the U.S. National Lawn Tennis Association, and in 1932, his book, “Tennis Origins and Mysteries,” was published. Whitman died in 1932; he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1955.