Full name Watson McLean Washburn Name Watson Washburn Handed Right-handed Country (sports) United States Role Tennis player Turned pro 1910 | Education Harvard University Highest ranking 5 Wimbledon QF (1924) Retired 1937 | |
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Born June 13, 1894New York, NY, USA ( 1894-06-13 ) Plays Right-handed (one-handed backhand) US Open QF (1911, 1912, 1913, 1916, 1920) Died December 2, 1973, New York City, New York, United States | ||
Int. Tennis HoF 1965 (member page) | ||
Watson McLean Washburn (June 13, 1894 – December 2, 1973) was an American tennis player who was in the top 10 in the US seven times between 1914 and 1922. He was also one of the founders of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, to which he was inducted in 1965.
Biography
He was born in Manhattan, New York City on June 13, 1894.
He was primarily a doubles player and teamed with Richard Norris Williams to take the Davis Cup in 1921. Also with Williams, he reached two US Championship finals and one at Wimbledon. He won the US Intercollegiate Doubles Championship in 1913 and the Indoor Doubles Championship in 1915. In July 1915 Washburn and Williams won the doubles title at the Eastern Tennis Championship in Brookline defeating Irving C. Wright and Wallace F. Johnson in four sets.
In 1917 Washburn joined the American Expeditionary Forces and served during World War I in France as a Captain in the artillery.
In 1921 Washburn defeated Richard Norris Williams in the final of the Newport Casino Invitational in five sets.
After his tennis career he became an Assistant State Prosecutor.