Willoughby Hamilton (tennis player)

Willoughby James Hamilton

Willoughby James "Willoby" Hamilton (born December 9, 1864 in Monasterevin , Kildare , Ireland , † September 27, 1943 in Dublin ) was an Irish tennis player . He won singles at the Wimbledon Championships in 1890 and the Irish Championships in 1889 .

Life

Hamilton was a versatile athlete, so he came in 1885 together with his brother Drummond to a mission for the Irish national football team in a game against Wales (final score 2: 8). As early as 1884 he took part in tennis tournaments. His physical appearance has been described as pale and fragile, which earned him the nickname Ghost ("ghost"). In tennis, he was known for his hard forehand called the Irish Drive .

In 1889, Hamilton won the men's singles title at the Irish Championships. In the years 1886 to 1888 he won the double title of the same tournament, in 1889 the title in mixed, together with his compatriot Lena Rice .

At Wimbledon, Hamilton broke William Renshaw's long-standing dominance in men's singles with two spectacular victories over him. The first win in 1888 marked the end of Renshaw's streak of 14 wins, which was a record at the time. At the championships in 1890, both met in the Challenge Round , Hamilton was the challenger. The game was even over five sets, in the end Hamilton left the field with a result as the winner of the game and thus the tournament.

The following year, however, he fell ill with blood poisoning , so that he could not defend his title at Wimbledon. He then ended his tennis career and worked as a stockbroker. On May 31, 1894, he married Sophia Jane Thomson.

In badminton, he and his brother Blayney won the men's doubles competition in 1902 at the first Irish Open . His nephew Willoughby Hamilton was also successful in badminton.

He died in 1943 at the age of 78 in Dundrum, Dublin .

title

singles

No.	year	competition	Final opponent	Bottom line
1.	1889	Irish championships	Ernest Renshaw	12:10, 6: 1, 6: 3
2.	1890	Wimbledon Championships	William Renshaw	6: 8, 6: 2, 3: 6, 6: 1, 6: 1

Double

No.	year	competition	partner	Final opponent	Bottom line
1.	1886	Irish championships	Thomas Spread Campion
2.	1887	Irish championships	Thomas Spread Campion
3.	1888	Irish championships	Thomas Spread Campion

mixed double

No.	year	competition	Partner	Final opponent	Bottom line
1.	1889	Irish championships	Lena Rice

Sources and web links

• B. Collins: History of Tennis. 2nd Edition. New Chapter Press, New York 2010, ISBN 978-0-942257-70-0 , p. 692.
• L. Tingay: One Hundred Years of Wimbledon. Guinness World Records Ltd, London 1977, ISBN 0-900424-71-0 , p. 198.
• Willoughby James Hamilton. tennisarchives.com, accessed on January 5, 2016 (English). 
• ATP profile Willoughby Hamilton (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ L. Tingay: One Hundred Years of Wimbledon. Guinness World Records Ltd, London 1977.
2. ↑ ^{a b} B. Collins: History of Tennis. 2nd Edition. New Chapter Press, New York 2010.
3. ↑ Marriage of Willoughby James Hamilton of Dundrum and Sophia Jane Thomson of Dundrum on May 31, 1894. churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie, accessed on November 14, 2012 .