Richard D. Sears

A two-time national champion while at Harvard in the 1880s, Sears was much more than the collegiate champion. From 1881-87, while he was in college, Sears captured seven consecutive U.S. Championships (now the U.S. Open) singles titles, beating a different challenger in each final. He added six doubles titles during that same seven-year span. While at Harvard, Sears, who learned to play tennis in 1879, won the two national intercollegiate singles titles (now the NCAA title), in 1887 and ’88, and he and partner Quincy Shaw won the doubles championship in 1887. Sears also served as the president of the USTA in 1887 and ’88. Sears was inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1955; he died in 1943 at age 81.