Malcolm Whitman

Malcolm Douglass Whitman aka “Mal” was a professional tennis player from the United States. He was born on March 15, 1877 in New York, New York, and was one of the known “Harvard Three”. The said three players were a part of the first U.S. Team to participate in the Davis Cup.

During the first ever tournament, it was Whitman who led the main contenders in the United States versus British Isles face-off. In the said tournament in 1900, Whitman defeated Arthur Gore in a 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 match. His classmate, Dwight Davis, the Cup donor, also contributed a singles win as well as the doubles clincher in a partnership with Holcombe Ward.

Whitman was also known as a quarterfinalist during the U.S. Championships in 1896 and 1897. But he did make headlines when he won the same championship from 1898 to 1900. He also had to defeat Davis in another semi-finals match, but when he reached the finals round, he was declared as the champion since the person to beat, Robert Wrenn, was unavailable as he was off fighting in the Spanish-American War.

Whitman faced another huge obstacle, but this time it was more personal as it was against his father. Whitman’s father wished that he would concentrate more on his law studies instead of playing tennis. However, Whitman managed to stick to his racket and even defeated Bill Larned in a 6-4, 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 match.

One of his known tennis playing techniques was his weird bounding reverse twist serve as well as sharp volleying. However, Whitman’s serve is no longer seen today. Standing at 6 feet and 2 inches, Whitman garnered 3 Grand Slam wins, all in the U.S. Championships. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1955. However, he was not able to attend the event as he had passed away years before it happened. He had committed suicide in December 28, 1932.