Clarence Hobart

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.
Died	August 2, 1930(1930-08-02) (aged 60) Asheville, North Carolina, U.S.
Turned pro	1888 (amateur tour)
Retired	1919
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Singles
Career record	201–70 (74.1%)[1]
Career titles	18[1]
Grand Slam singles results
Wimbledon	SF (1898)
US Open	F (1891Ch, 1905)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
Wimbledon	F (1898, 1899)
US Open	W (1890, 1893, 1894)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
US Open	W (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

Singles (1 runner-up)

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)

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)

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

1. "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. 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

• Clarence Hobart on the website of The New York Times