Full name Clarence Munroe Clark US Open W (1881) Turned pro 1881 US Open F (1882) Retired 1885 | Role Tennis player Country (sports) United States Name Clarence Clark | |
Born August 27, 1859
Germantown, PA ( 1859-08-27 ) Died June 29, 1937, Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Education University of Pennsylvania | ||
Int. Tennis HoF 1983 (member page) | ||
Clarence Munroe Clark (August 27, 1859 – June 29, 1937) was an American tennis player active near the end of the 19th century.
Biography
Born in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he was part of a distinguished family from Philadelphia. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1878.
In 1881, he became the first secretary of the United States Lawn Tennis Association. That same year, he won the first doubles tournament in the U.S. National Championships (later called the U.S. Open), playing with Frederick Winslow Taylor, after defeating first the favored Richard Sears/James Dwight, and in the final round, Alexander Van Rensselaer/Arthur Newbold. In 1882, he reached the final of the championships, where he lost to reigning champion Sears in straight sets. Clark also reached the semifinals in 1884.
He married the sister of his doubles partner, Taylor, who would go on to a noted career as an engineer and organizational theorist.
Clark endowed a professorship in Mountain Agriculture at Berea College.
He died on June 29, 1937, at the age of 77, at his home, Cedron (house), in Germantown, Philadelphia.
He was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1983, joining his brother Joseph Clark, who was inducted in 1955.