Tennis
b. July 14, 1852, Paris, France
d. July 14, 1917
Sometimes called the "Father of American Tennis," Dwight won the first recorded tournament in the U. S., played in 1876 on the property of his uncle, William Appleton, at Nahant, MA.
After graduating from Harvard in 1874, he traveled in Europe, saw the new sport of lawn tennis being played, and brought the necessary equipment home. Then he persuaded his uncle to mark out a court on his smooth front lawn so he could play a game with his cousin, Fred Sears.
That first attempt was disappointing. Dwight later wrote, ". . . we voted the whole thing a fraud and put it away." About a month later, they tried again, as a way of passing time on a rainy day. This time, tennis seemed much more interesting, even though they were wearing rubber boots and raincoats. The 1876 tournament was a neighborhood affair; by then, Dwight and Sears had taught the game to a number of people, including another cousin, Richard Sears, who went on to win the first seven national singles championships.
Dwight was one of the founders of the U. S. National Lawn Tennis Association in 1881, and he served as its president for twenty-one years. He never won the singles championship, but he did team with Richard Sears to take five national doubles titles, from 1882 through 1884 and from 1886 through 1887.
International Tennis Hall of Fame
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