Sears, "Dick" (Richard D.)
Tennis
b. Oct. 16, 1861, Boston, MA
d. April 8, 1943
The bespectacled Sears had an unsurpassed record in national championship play. He entered 14 championship events and won 13 of them.
Sears grew up watching his older brother Fred and second cousin James Dwight play tennis on one of the first courts laid out in the U. S., on a lawn in Nahant, MA, and he began playing with Dwight in his early teens.
The first U. S. national tournament was held at Newport, RI, in 1881. Sears won the singles title without losing a set. He surprised his opponents by going to the net to volley at every opportunity. He later wrote, "All I had to do was to tap the balls, as they came over, first to one side and then the other, running my opponent all over the court."
Sears and Dwight entered the doubles but lost in an early round. However, Sears won the singles and doubles titles the next six years in a row, from 1882 through 1887. Dwight was his doubles partner each year except 1885, when Sears teamed with Joseph S. Clark to win the championship.
A neck injury forced his retirement in 1888, but he recovered sufficiently to win the first U. S. court tennis championship in 1892.