Tom Pettitt

For the American television news correspondent, see Tom Pettit.
Tom Pettitt
Tom Pettitt at the 1890 Championship in Dublin
Born(1859-12-19)19 December 1859
Died17 October 1946(1946-10-17) (aged 86)

Tom Pettitt ((1859-12-19)19 December 1859 - (1946-10-17)17 October 1946) was the real tennis world champion from 1885 to 1890.

Biography

Born in Beckenham, Kent, England, Pettitt emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, United States, as a penniless teenager. He quickly rose from being the dressing-room boy at a Boston Tennis & Racquet Club, to being the club’s head tennis professional,[1] at age seventeen.[2] He began playing matches in Great Britain and France to improve his game, and finally challenged George Lambert at the Royal Tennis Court, Hampton Court Palace, for the world championship in 1885. He defended his title in Dublin in 1890, then retired the title the same year. He is credited with inventing the railroad, a fast overarm service that runs the length of the penthouse with a reverse twist.

Pettitt continued to work in Boston at various clubs, retiring from the Tennis and Racquet Club in 1927 after half a century of service. He also taught lawn tennis at the Newport Casino during the summers from 1876–1929, and afterwards continued as a supervisor there. He also took part in the Newport Pro Amateur Challenge a series of one day men's tennis tournaments that pitted best professional tennis players against the best amateur tennis players.[3]

Pettitt died in Newport, Rhode Island. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1982.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Inductee: Tom Pettitt: Class of 1982". www.tennisfame.com. International Tennis Hall of Fame. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  2. ^ James Zug (1 November 2007). Squash: A History of the Game. Simon and Schuster. pp. 47–. ISBN 978-1-4165-8483-4.
  3. ^ "LAWN TENNIS AT NEWPORT: Sears Defeats Brinley In a Brilliantly Contested Game". The Boston Globe. Boston. Massachusetts: newspapers.com. 22 Aug 1885. p. 4. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  4. ^ International Tennis Hall Of Fame & Museum (June 2011). Tennis and the Newport Casino. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 71–. ISBN 978-0-7385-7482-0.