Malcolm Whitman

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Whitman, before 1903

Malcolm Douglass "Mal" Whitman (born March 15, 1877 in New York City , † December 28, 1932 there ) was an American tennis player and three-time winner of the US championships from 1898 to 1900.

Life

Whitman was born in New York in 1877 and studied law at Harvard University . After he had already reached the quarter-finals at the American Championships in 1896 and 1897, he defeated Dwight Davis in the final in 1898 and won his first title. The following year he defended the title against challenger Parmly Paret . After he had prevailed against concerns of his father, who asked him to put the tennis racket aside and concentrate on his studies, he started again in 1900 and was able to defend his title again.

Whitman took part alongside his fellow students Davis and Holcombe Ward in the first edition of the Davis Cup , at that time a country duel between the USA and Great Britain, in Boston . There he won his game against Arthur Gore , the US team finally won 3-0. After the Davis Cup was canceled the following year, he played again in 1902 in the Davis Cup, which the USA won. Also this year he could win his two singles against Joshua Pim and Reginald Doherty . Then he ended his tennis career.

Whitman later served as a member of the board of the American tennis association USTA .

In the last years of his life he dealt with tennis history , about which he published a book in 1932. In it he took the view that Mary Outerbridge had played the first modern tennis on American soil. This is now considered dubious. In December of the same year, Whitman suffered a nervous breakdown , as a result of which he committed suicide. The year before, his daughter had died of pneumonia . In 1955 he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame .

Single track

No. year Championship Final opponent Result
1. 1898 US championships United States 44United States Dwight Davis 3: 6, 6: 2, 6: 2, 6: 1
2. 1899 US championships United States 44United States Parmly Paret 6: 1, 6: 2, 3: 6, 7: 5
3. 1900 US championships United States 44United States William Larned 6: 4, 1: 6, 6: 2, 6: 2

literature

  • Malcolm Douglass Whitman: Tennis Origins and Mysteries. With an historical bibliography by Robert W. Henderson . Derrydale Press, New York NY 1932, (Also reprinted by David & Charles, Mineola, NY among others 2004, ISBN 0-486-43357-9 ).

Sources and web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ According to the tournament mode at that time, the previous year's winner automatically qualified for the final, the so-called Challenge Round .
  2. ↑ Heiner Gillmeister: cultural history of tennis. Wilhelm Fink Verlag, Munich 1990. ISBN 3-7705-2618-X , p. 258
  3. ↑ New York Times, December 29, 1932 ( online )
  4. ↑ The Pittsburgh Press, December 31, 1931 ( online at Google News)
personal data
SURNAME Whitman, Malcolm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Whitman, Malcolm Douglass; Whitman, Mal
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American tennis player
DATE OF BIRTH March 15, 1877
PLACE OF BIRTH New York , United States
DATE OF DEATH December 28, 1932
Place of death New York , United States