Reginald Doherty

Reginald "Reggie" or "R. F." Frank Doherty (14 October 1872 – 29 December 1910) was a British tennis player and the older brother of tennis player Laurence Doherty. He was known in the tennis world as "R.F." rather than "Reggie".^[3] He was a four-time Wimbledon singles champion and a triple Olympic Gold medalist in doubles and mixed doubles.^[4]

Reginald Doherty

Full name	Reginald Frank Doherty
Country (sports)	United Kingdom
Born	(1872-10-14)14 October 1872 Wimbledon, Surrey, England
Died	29 December 1910(1910-12-29) (aged 38) Kensington, London, England
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Turned pro	1891 (amateur)
Retired	1910
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF	1980 (member page)
Singles
Career record	211–96[1]
Career titles	36[1]
Highest ranking	No. 1 (1897, ITHF)[2]
Grand Slam singles results
Wimbledon	W (1897, 1898, 1899, 1900)
US Open	F (1902Ch)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
Wimbledon	W (1897, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1903, 1904, 1905)
US Open	W (1902, 1903)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	W (1903, 1904, 1905, 1906)
Medal record Olympic Games – Tennis 1900 Paris Doubles 1900 Paris Mixed doubles 1908 London Doubles 1900 Paris Singles

Early life

Doherty was born on 14 October 1872 at Beulah Villa in Wimbledon, the oldest son of William Doherty, a printer, and his wife Catherine Ann Davis.^[5] Doherty began tennis early in life and as a boy at Westminster School showed great promise. At age 14, he won the boys' singles title at an open championship in Llandudno. Doherty was educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he played for the Cambridge University Lawn Tennis Club.^[6] In 1895 and 1895, he was part of the Cambridge team that beat Oxford and won the Scottish and Essex championships.

Career

Grand Slam tournaments

Doherty played in his first Wimbledon Championships in 1894 and lost in the first round to Clement Cazalet in four sets. In 1897 Doherty won his first singles Wimbledon title after beating reigning champion Harold Mahony in three straight sets (6–4, 6–4, 6–3). He successfully defended his title for the next three years (1898, 1899, 1900). In 1898 he did so by beating his brother in the Challenge Round in five sets (6–3, 6–3, 2–6, 5–7, 6–1). In 1901 he finally lost his Wimbledon crown when he was defeated in the Challenge Round by Arthur Gore in four sets (6–4, 5–7, 4–6, 4–6). He was also a runner-up at the US Championships in 1902 where he was beaten by the defending American champion William Larned in four sets (6–4, 2–6, 4–6, 6–8). Together with his brother Laurie he won eight Wimbledon Championships doubles titles and two US Championship doubles titles.

Davis Cup

Doherty represented the British Isles in the prestigious Davis Cup contest from 1902 to 1906. In 1902 he won the doubles match with his brother but lost the final and decisive singles match against American Malcolm Whitman in straight sets (1–6, 5–7, 4–6). In 1903 he contributed significantly to his team's first Davis Cup title against the United States by winning the doubles match and the decisive singles match against Robert Wrenn. Doherty won the Davis Cup trophy a further three times (1904, 1905, 1906) although in these years he only competed, and won, in the doubles matches.^[7]

Olympics

Doherty won the doubles title (gold medals were not given at the 1900 Games) at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris with his brother.^[8] He also competed in the singles tournament and reached the semifinal, where he was scheduled to play against his brother. Reggie withdrew, since the brothers refused to play each other before the final.^[9] He also won the mixed doubles title with five-time Wimbledon champion Charlotte Cooper. Doherty did not compete in the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis. In the 1908 Olympics in London, Reggie again won the doubles title, this time with compatriot George Hillyard.^[10]

R.F. Doherty was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1980 together with his brother.^[2]

Death

Doherty died of heart failure and neurasthenia on 29 December 1910 at age 38 at his home in Kensington, a day after returning from a convalescence stay in a sanatorium in Davos, Switzerland.^[5][11]

According to his obituary in The New York Times, Doherty had "been in ill health for some time". The article further stated he "held at various times every important championship the world of tennis has for a man to win. He was not beaten until he began to fail in health".^[3] Both brothers apparently had respiratory problems throughout their lives.^[12]

R.F. and his brother had been urged to take up lawn tennis by their father, reportedly for health reasons.^[3]

Grand Slam finals

Reginald Doherty – Beginning of a low backhand drive

Reginald Doherty (left) with his brother Laurence.

Singles: 6 (4 titles, 2 runners-up)

Result	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1897	Wimbledon	Grass	Harold Mahony	6–4, 6–4, 6–3	[13]
Win	1898	Wimbledon	Grass	Laurence Doherty	6–3, 6–3, 2–6, 5–7, 6–1	[13]
Win	1899	Wimbledon	Grass	Arthur Gore	1–6, 4–6, 6–3, 6–3, 6–3	[13]
Win	1900	Wimbledon	Grass	Sydney Smith	6–8, 6–3, 6–1, 5–7, 11–9	[13]
Loss	1901	Wimbledon	Grass	Arthur Gore	6–4, 5–7, 4–6, 4–6	[13]
Loss	1902	U.S. National Championships	Grass	William Larned	6–4, 2–6, 4–6, 6–8	[14]

Doubles: 13 (10 titles, 3 runners-up)

Result	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1896	Wimbledon	Grass	Harold Nisbet	Herbert Baddeley Wilfred Baddeley	6–1, 6–3, 4–6, 2–6, 1–6	[15]
Win	1897	Wimbledon	Grass	Laurence Doherty	Herbert Baddeley Wilfred Baddeley	6–4, 4–6, 8–6, 6–4	[15]
Win	1898	Wimbledon	Grass	Laurence Doherty	Clarence Hobart Harold Nisbet	6–4, 6–4, 6–2	[15]
Win	1899	Wimbledon	Grass	Laurence Doherty	Clarence Hobart Harold Nisbet	7–5, 6–0, 6–2	[15]
Win	1900	Wimbledon	Grass	Laurence Doherty	Herbert Roper Barrett Harold Nisbet	9–7, 7–5, 4–6, 3–6, 6–3	[15]
Win	1901	Wimbledon	Grass	Laurence Doherty	Dwight Davis Holcombe Ward	4–6, 6–2, 6–3, 9–7	[15]
Loss	1902	Wimbledon	Grass	Laurence Doherty	Frank Riseley Sydney Smith	6–4, 6–8, 3–6, 6–4, 9–11	[15]
Win	1902	U.S. National Championships	Grass	Laurence Doherty	Dwight Davis Holcombe Ward	11–9, 12–10, 6–4	[16]
Win	1903	Wimbledon	Grass	Laurence Doherty	Frank Riseley Sydney Smith	6–4, 6–4, 6–4	[15]
Win	1903	U.S. National Championships	Grass	Laurence Doherty	Kreigh Collins L. Harry Waidner	7–5, 6–3, 6–3	[16]
Win	1904	Wimbledon	Grass	Laurence Doherty	Frank Riseley Sydney Smith	6–1, 6–2, 6–4	[15]
Win	1905	Wimbledon	Grass	Laurence Doherty	Frank Riseley Sydney Smith	6–2, 6–4, 6–8, 6–3	[15]
Loss	1906	Wimbledon	Grass	Laurence Doherty	Frank Riseley Sydney Smith	8–6, 4–6, 7–5, 3–6, 3–6	[15]

Career finals (52)

Titles by surface
Clay (18–4)
Grass (14–12)
Hard (1–0)
Wood (3–0)

Singles titles (36)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in final	Score
1.	1895	Essex Championships,[17] Colchester, England	Grass	Herbert Ramon Yglesias	6–3, 6–1, 6–0
2.	1895	Scottish Championships,[18] Moffat, Scotland	Grass	Richard Millar Watson	walkover
3.	1895	Welsh Covered Court Championships,[19] Llandudno, Wales	Wood	William S. N. Heard	walkover
4.	1895	Exmouth LTC Tournament, Exmouth, England	Grass	Harry S. Barlow	6–1, 7–5, 6–2
5.	1896	Baden Baden International, Baden-Baden, Germany	Clay	Count Voss	6–1, 7–5, 6–2
6.	1896	East of England Championships, England	Grass	Edward Roy Allen	6–4, 8–6
7.	1896	Essex Championships, Colchester, England	Grass	Laurence Doherty	walkover
8.	1896	Scottish Championships,[18] Moffat, Scotland	Grass	Edward Roy Allen	13–11, 6–4 retired.
9.	1896	The Homburg Cup, Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany	Clay	William M. Cranston	walkover
10.	1896	Welsh Covered Court Championships,[19] Llandudno, Wales	Wood	Laurence Doherty	walkover
11.	1897	Baden Baden International, Baden-Baden, Germany	Clay	Laurence Doherty	walkover
12.	1897	Wimbledon Championships, London, England	Grass	Wilberforce Eaves	6–3, 7–5, 2–0 ret
13.	1897	South of France Championships, Nice, France	Clay	Count Voss	6–2, 6–4, 3–6, 6–1
14.	1897	The Homburg Cup, Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany	Clay	George Hillyard	walkover
15.	1897	Monte-Carlo Cup,[20] Monte Carlo, France	Clay	Conway W. Blackwood Price	6–2, 6–1, 6–2
16.	1897	Scottish Championships,[21] Moffat, Scotland	Grass	Laurence Doherty	walkover
17.	1897	Cannes Championships, Cannes, France	Clay	M.G. Gongoltz	6–2, 6–4, 6–3
18.	1897	Welsh Covered Court Championships,[19] Llandudno, Wales	Wood	Laurence Doherty	walkover
19.	1898	Wimbledon Championships, London, England	Grass	Laurence Doherty	6–3, 6–3, 2–6, 5–7, 6–1
20.	1898	The Homburg Cup, Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany	Clay	Laurence Doherty	walkover
21.	1898	Monte-Carlo Cup,[20] Monte Carlo, France	Clay	Count Voss	4–6, 6–3, 6–3, 4–0 Retired.
22.	1899	Irish Championships Dublin, Ireland	Grass	Harold Mahony	6–3, 6–4, 5–7, 6–4
23.	1899	Wimbledon Championships London, England	Grass	Arthur Gore	1–6, 4–6, 6–3, 6–3, 6–3
24.	1899	Monte-Carlo Cup,[20] Monte Carlo, France	Clay	Count Voss	6–2 Ret.
25.	1899	Heiligendammer Cup, Heiligendammer, Germany	Clay	Georg Wantzelius	6–2, 6–1, 6–2
26.	1899	The Homburg Cup, Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany	Clay	Clarence Hobart	3–6, 4–6, 6–0, 6–3, 6–4
27.	1899	South of France Championships, Nice, France	Clay	Count Voss	6–0, 6–0 6–0
28.	1900	Irish Championships Dublin, Ireland	Grass	Arthur Gore	6–4, 7–5, 7–9, 7–9, 6–3
29.	1900	Wimbledon Championships London, England	Grass	Sydney Howard Smith	6–8, 6–3, 6–1, 6–2
30.	1901	Irish Championships Dublin, Ireland	Grass	Laurence Doherty	6–4, 4–6 ret.
31.	1902	Monte-Carlo Cup,[20] Monte Carlo, France	Clay	George Hillyard	6–1, 6–4, 6–3
32.	1902	Paris International Championships, Paris, France	Clay	Paul Lebreton	walkover
33.	1903	Monte-Carlo Cup,[20] Monte Carlo, France	Clay	Frank Riseley	6–1, 14–16 Ret.
34.	1903	Paris International Championships, Paris, France	Clay	Max Decugis	6–4, 6–3, 8–6
35.	1904	Monte-Carlo Cup,[20] Monte Carlo, France	Clay	Josiah Ritchie	6–1, 7–5, 3–6, 7–5
36.	1909	South African Championships,[22] Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Lionel Escombe	6–3, 6–1, 6–1

Singles runners-up (16)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in final	Score
1.	1895	Colchester Championships, Colchester, England	Grass	Charles Gladstone Allen	walkover
2.	1896	Irish Championships, Dublin, Ireland	Grass	Harold Mahony	6–2, 6–2, 6–4
3.	1896	Queen's Club Championships, London, England	Grass	Harold Mahony	11–9, 6–4, 6–4
4.	1896	Sussex Championships, Exmouth, England	Grass	Wilfred Baddeley	6–1, 6–2, 6–3
5.	1897	Irish Championships, Dublin, Ireland	Grass	Wilberforce Eaves	6–4, 6–3, 3–6, 6–2
6.	1897	Northern Lawn Tennis Association Tournament, Manchester, England	Grass	Wilfred Baddeley	6–2, 7–5, 2–6, 6–0
7.	1898	South of France Championships, Nice, France	Clay	Laurence Doherty	walkover
8.	1898	Irish Championships, Dublin, Ireland	Grass	Harold Mahony	6–3, 8–6, 6–3
9.	1898	Scottish Championships, Moffat, Scotland	Grass	Laurence Doherty	walkover
10.	1899	Championship of Europe, Bad Homburg, Germany	Clay	Harold Mahony	walkover
11.	1900	South of France Championships, Nice, France	Clay	Laurence Doherty	walkover
12.	1901	Wimbledon Championships, London, England	Grass	Arthur Gore	4–6, 7–5, 6–4, 6–4
13.	1902	U.S. National Championships, Newport, RI, USA	Grass	William Larned	4–6, 6–2, 6–4, 8–6
14	1902	South of France Championships, Nice, France	Clay	Laurence Doherty	walkover
15.	1902	Irish Championships, Dublin, Ireland	Grass	Laurence Doherty	walkover
16	1905	East Grinstead, East Grinstead, England	Grass	Roderick James McNair	walkover

References

1. "Players:Doherty, Reginald". The Tennis Base. Madrid: Tennismem SL. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
2. "Hall of Famers – Reggie Doherty". International Tennis Hall of Fame. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
3. "Famous Tennis Player Dead: R.F. Doherty, Once American Champion, Passes Away in London", The New York Times, 30 December 1910
4. "Reginald Doherty". Olympedia. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
5. Wray Vamplew. "Doherty, (Hugh) Laurence [Laurie] (1875–1919), tennis player". Oxford University Press.
6. "Doherty, Reginald Frank (DHRY894RF)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
7. "Davis Cup Player Profile". ITF. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
8. "Reginald Doherty Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
9. Grasso, John (16 September 2011). Historical dictionary of tennis. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. p. 86. ISBN 9780810872370. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
10. "All the Medallists since 1896". Olympic Movement. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
11. "Late Mr. Doherty". Northern Advocate (New Zealand). Northland. 14 February 1911. p. 3.
12. Hugh Laurence Doherty (UK) Archived 9 December 2012 at archive.today
13. "Wimbledon Rolls of Honour / Gentlemen's Singles". Wimbledon official tournament website. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
14. "US Open Past Champions / Men's Singles". US Open official website. Archived from the original on 22 February 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
15. "Wimbledon Rolls of Honour / Gentlemen's Doubles". Wimbledon. AELTC.
16. "US Open Past Champions / Men's Doubles". US Open official website. Archived from the original on 25 October 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
17. "Late Mr. Doherty". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Northern Advocate, 14 February 1911. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
18. "A Great Lawn Tennis Player: Death of Mr. R. F. Doherty". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. The Dominion. 11 February 1911. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
19. Kinsey, Albert. "The Craigside Hotel Hydro Band". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/. BBC Radio Times Regional Programme Western, 9 July 1936. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
20. Schneiderman, E. Digby Baltzell; with a new introduction by Howard G. (2013). Sporting gentlemen : men's tennis from the age of honor to the cult of the superstar. Somerset, NJ: Transaction Publishers. p. 73. ISBN 9781412851800.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
21. "Games and Players:Notable Tennis Record". The Glasgow Herald. 18 April 1951.
22. "Reggie Doherty-Biography". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2016.

External links

• Reginald Doherty at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Reginald Doherty at the International Tennis Federation
• Reginald Doherty at the Davis Cup
• Reginald Doherty at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
• Reginald Doherty at Olympedia (archive)