Tally Holmes

Tally Holmes was an African American tennis player in the 1910s and 1920s.

Holmes was one of the founders of the American Tennis Association (ATA). Holmes and other representatives from dozens of black tennis clubs met in Washington D.C. on Thanksgiving Day in 1916, to create a more organized way for black youths to participate in tennis. The group of men created the American Tennis Association.

Holmes was the winner of the men’s singles division of the first National Tennis Championship in 1917, 1918, 1921, 1924. This tournament is now a yearly production put on by the ATA. Holmes competed in the men’s singles, and men’s doubles. He won in singles, and he and his partner, Sylvester Smith, won in pairs.