Clarence Hobart (June 27, 1870 – August 2, 1930) was a tennis player from the United States. He was a six-time champion at the U.S. National Championships, winning three titles in men's doubles in 1890, 1893 and 1894 and three others in mixed doubles in 1892, 1893 and 1905.[2][3] Hobart also reached the Challenge Round in the Gentlemen's Singles in 1891, finishing runner-up.

Clarence Hobart
Country (sports) United States
Born(1870-06-27)June 27, 1870
Waltham, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedAugust 2, 1930(1930-08-02) (aged 60)
Asheville, North Carolina, U.S.
Turned pro1888 (amateur tour)
Retired1919
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Singles
Career record201–70 (74.1%)[1]
Career titles18[1]
Grand Slam singles results
WimbledonSF (1898)
US OpenF (1891Ch, 1905)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
WimbledonF (1898, 1899)
US OpenW (1890, 1893, 1894)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
US OpenW (1892, 1893, 1905)

In 1905 he won the mixed doubles title at the U.S. National Championship with Augusta Schultz whom he married in 1895.[4]

In 1899 he won the Championship of Germany, played in Homburg, by defeating A.W. Gore in the final in three straight sets and subsequently winning against Irishman Harold Mahony in the challenge round in five sets.[5] At the same venue he reached the final of the Homburg Cup but lost in five sets to Wimbledon champion Reggie Doherty after leading 2–0 in sets.[6] During a 1903 tour in Europe he reached the finals of the Kent Championships and the Ostend International tournament in Belgium but was defeated by A.W. Gore and Paul de Borman respectively.

In 1907 Hobart competed in the Longwood Bowl, at the time the most important tournament in the U.S. next to the national championship, and won the All-Comers tournament. This entitled him to play for the tournament title in the Challenge Round against Larned, the winner of the previous title, but he refused to play explaining "For many years I have opposed the practice of permitting the holders to stand out in our tournaments,... on the obvious ground that it is unjust to pit a tired man against a fresh one, and equally unjust to give the holder only one chance for defeat while the challenger must necessarily have several.". His refusal contributed to the abandonment in 1912 of the Challenge Round system at the U.S. National Championships.[7]

Clarence Hobart died on August 2, 1930, as a result of an accident at a swimming pool in Asheville, NC.[7]

Grand Slam finals edit

Singles (1 runner-up) edit

Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1891 U.S. National Championships Grass   Oliver Campbell 6–2, 5–7, 9–7, 1–6, 2–6

Doubles (3 titles, 5 runner-ups) edit

Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1888 U.S. National Championships Grass   Edward MacMullen   Oliver Campbell
  Valentine Hall
4–6, 2–6, 2–6
Win 1890 U.S. National Championships Grass   Valentine Hall   Charles Carver
  John Ryerson
6–3, 4–6, 6–2, 2–6, 6–3
Loss 1891 U.S. National Championships Grass   Valentine Hall   Oliver Campbell
  Robert Huntington
3–6, 4–6, 6–8
Win 1893 U.S. National Championships Grass   Fred Hovey   Oliver Campbell
  Robert Huntington
6–3, 6–4, 4–6, 6–2
Win 1894 U.S. National Championships Grass   Fred Hovey   Carr Neel
  Sam Neel
6–3, 8–6, 6–1
Loss 1895 U.S. National Championships Grass   Fred Hovey   Malcolm Chace
  Robert Wrenn
5–7, 1–6, 6–8
Loss 1898 Wimbledon Championships Grass   Harold Nisbet   Reginald Doherty
  Laurence Doherty
4–6, 4–6, 2–6
Loss 1899 Wimbledon Championships Grass   Harold Nisbet   Reginald Doherty
  Laurence Doherty
5–7, 0–6, 2–6

Mixed doubles (3 titles) edit

Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1892 U.S. National Championships Grass   Mabel Cahill   Elisabeth Moore
  Rodmond Beach
6–1, 6–3
Win 1893 U.S. National Championships Grass   Ellen Roosevelt   Ethel Bankson
  Robert Willson Jr.
6–4, 4–6, 10–6
Win 1905 U.S. National Championships Grass   Augusta Schultz   Elisabeth Moore
  Edward Dewhurst
6–2, 6–4

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Clarence Hobart: Career match record". thetennisbase.com. Tennismen SL.
  2. ^ Collins, Bud (2010). The Bud Collins History of Tennis (2nd ed.). [New York]: New Chapter Press. pp. 455, 476, 481. ISBN 978-0-942257-70-0.
  3. ^ "Hobart and Hovey Champions" (PDF). The New York Times. July 30, 1893. Retrieved June 3, 2012.
  4. ^ "Weddings Past and to Come". New York Tribune. December 20, 1895. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
  5. ^ "Championship of Germany". Australian Town and Country Journal. NSW: National Library of Australia. October 14, 1899. p. 55.
  6. ^ "Lawn-tennis" (PDF). Algemeen Handelsblad. August 22, 1899. p. 2.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ a b Gillmeister, Heiner (1998). Tennis : A Cultural History. Washington Square, N.Y.: New York University Press. p. 277. ISBN 978-0-8147-3121-5.

External links edit