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 cov ...

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 The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organi ...

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, 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 Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the ol ...

, 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 = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. 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 and 1905 with

May Sutton May Godfrey Sutton (September 25, 1886 – October 4, 1975) was an American tennis player who was active during the first decades of the 20th century. At age 16 she won the singles title at the U.S. National Championships and in 1905 she became ...

. Little won the 1900 American intercollegiate singles tennis championship as a student at

. At the U.S. National Championships he paired with Gus Touchard 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) and 1906 (beating Harold Hackett before losing to Karl Behr). He committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

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 The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the '' New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

'', 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