Raymond Demorest Little (January 5, 1880 – July 29, 1932) was an American

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player. He was ranked in the U.S. Top 10 eleven times between 1900 and 1912, his highest ranking coming in 1907 when he was ranked No. 4. He played on the United States Davis Cup team, and also won the intercollegiate tennis title for

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

in 1900.

Biography

Little was born on January 5, 1880. His father was

Joseph J. Little Joseph James Little (June 5, 1841 – February 11, 1913) was an American printer by trade who served as a U.S. Representative from New York from 1891 to 1893, after winning a special election to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of ...

, an English-born Democratic Party member of Congress, publishing executive, and civil war veteran. He attended

, where he was the president of Colonial Club. He was also captain for the

Princeton Tigers men's ice hockey The Princeton Tigers men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Princeton University. The Tigers are a member of ECAC Hockey. They play at the Hobey Baker Memo ...

team in 1901. At the tournament now known as the Cincinnati Masters, the oldest tournament in the U.S. played in its original city, Little reached 12 finals in eight appearances between 1900 and 1907: four singles finals, six doubles finals and two mixed doubles finals. In those 12 finals appearances, his only loss came in the singles final of 1903, when he was defeated by Kreigh Collins, an outstanding player out of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Little's three singles titles came in 1900, 1901 and 1902, his six doubles titles were in 1900, 1901, 1904, 1905, 1906 & 1907, and his mixed doubles titles came in 1901 with

Marion Jones Farquhar Marion Jones Farquhar (née Jones; November 2, 1879 – March 14, 1965) was an American tennis player. She won the women's singles titles at the 1899 and 1902 U.S. Championships. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in ...

and 1905 with May Sutton. Little won the 1900 American intercollegiate singles tennis championship as a student at

. At the U.S. National Championships he paired with

Gus Touchard Gustave "Gus" Fitzhugh Touchard Jr. (or Gustav) (January 11, 1888 – September 5, 1918) was an American tennis player in the early part of the 20th century. He was ranked as high as No. 4 in the United States during his career. Personal life He ...

to win the 1911 doubles title and reach the 1912 doubles final. He also reached the doubles final in 1900, 1904 and 1908. Little reached the semifinals of the singles in 1901 (beating William Clothier before losing to

Beals Wright Beals Coleman Wright (December 19, 1879 – August 23, 1961) was an American tennis player who was active at the end of the 1890s and early 1900s. He won the singles title at the 1905 U.S. National Championships. Wright was a two-time Olympic g ...

) and 1906 (beating

Harold Hackett Harold Humphrey Hackett (July 12, 1878 – November 20, 1937) was an American tennis player. Biography Born in Hingham, Massachusetts, but a long-time resident of New York, Hackett turned in his best results in doubles with Fred Alexander. Begin ...

before losing to

Karl Behr Karl Howell Behr (May 30, 1885 – October 15, 1949) was an American tennis player and banker. He was also a survivor of the sinking of . Personal life Karl Howell Behr was born the son of Herman and Grace (née Howell) Behr of New York City. ...

). He committed suicide on July 29, 1932."Raymond Little, Former Star in Tennis, Suicide: National Doubles Champion in 1911 Uses Shotgun in Park Avenue Home", '' New York Herald Tribune'', 30 July 1932: 6.

Grand Slam finals

Doubles (1 title, 4 runner-ups)

Mixed doubles (1 title, 2 runner-ups)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Little, Raymond 1880 births 1932 suicides 19th-century American people 19th-century male tennis players American male tennis players Princeton Tigers men's tennis players Tennis people from New York (state) Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles United States National champions (tennis) Suicides in New York City