player – Tennisarchives.com

General First nameMalcolm Douglass (Mal)
LastnameWhitman
GenderMale
CountryUnited States of America
Date of birth1877-03-05
Place of birthNew York, United States of America
Date of death1932-12-28
Place of deathNew York, United States of America

About

Adapted from Wikipedia, at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Whitman

Malcolm D. Whitman was born in New York in 1877, the son of William Whitman (1842-1928), a naturalised American citizen who had been born in Nova Scotia, Canada, and Jane Dole Hallett (1842-1929), who was from Charlestown in Massachusetts.

Malcolm D. Whitman graduated from The Roxbury Latin School, a private school in Boston, where he is celebrated as one of its greatest athletes. While a student at Harvard University, Whitman won the singles title at the American Intercollegiate Championships, and the doubles title at the same tournament in 1897 and 1898. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1899 and received his Bachelor-in-Law degree in 1902.

In 1896, Whitman entered the men’s singles event at the U.S. National Championships for the first time. In those days the tournament was held, at the Newport Casino on Rhode Island. On his debut Whitman lost in the quarter-finals to Bill Larned. In 1897, Whitman again lost in the quarterfinals, this time against Harold Nisbet.

Whitman is best known for his hat-trick of singles titles at the U.S. National Championships – he was undefeated in the men’s singles event there from 1898 to 1900, he stayed undefeated there. In 1901, he did not compete om the U.S. National Championships, but in 1902 he lost in the all-comers’ final to the Englishman Reginald Doherty. According to the Doherty brothers, Reginald nad his brother Hugh Lawrence (‘Laurie’), Malcolm Whitman and Bill Larned were at that time the best American singles players.

Whitman was a member of the inaugural American Davis Cup squad in 1900 and beat Englishman Arthur Gore in Boston, Massachusetts, to help his US team win the trophy. In the 1902 Davis Cup final round, against Great Britain in Brooklyn, he contributed to his team’s win by defeating Joshua Pim and Reginald Doherty in the singles rubbers.

Whitman retired from tennis in 1902 at the age of 25. He married twice, with five children – two sons and three daughters being born of those marriages. He was a member of the executive committee of the U.S. National Lawn Tennis Association and held management positions in several companies. He wrote the book entitled “Tennis – Origins and Mysteries”, which was first published in 1932. In the same year Malcolm D. Whitman committed suicide at the age of 55.
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From The Evening Independent (New York), 28 December 1932:

“Former American Tennis Champion Kills Himself – Jumps To Death From Penthouse – Suffered From Nervous Breakdown

“Malcolm D. Whitman, a member of the textile firm of Lasher and Whitman and former national tennis champion, committed suicide today by leaping from his penthouse atop a five-story apartment house at 136 East 67th Street. The body landed in the courtyard of an adjoining apartment building. Associates told police Whitman had been suffering from a nervous breakdown.

“Whitman was a vice-president of William Whitman, Inc., of Boston, a firm founded by his father. He was also a director of Acadia Mills, Katama Mills, Monomac Spinning Company, Nashawena Mills, Calhoun Falls and the U.S. Testing Company. He received his A.B. degree from Harvard in 1899 and his bachelor of law degree in 1902, and was admitted to the New York Bar.

“Whitman held the national singles tennis championships for three years running, from 1898 to 1900, and was runner-up for the title in 1902. He was a contemporary player of Dwight F. Davis, former Secretary of War, and donor of the international tennis trophy, known as the Davis Cup, defeating Davis for the national title in 1898. Whitman was a member of the first Davis Cup team in 1900. The other members were Davis and Holcomb Ward. They played at the Longwood Club in Boston, defeating England three matches to nothing.

“At the height of his tennis career, Whitman entered business, but he maintained his interest in the sport and continued to play for his own amusement. He wrote a book called ‘The History of Tennis’, one of the most complete books on the game ever written. He was an honorary member of the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association and a member of two of its committees.”

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