Nathaniel C. Emerson (25 October 1874 – 25 October 1958) was a top-ranked American amateur

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player in the early 20th century.

Personal life

Born in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

on October 25, 1874, to Henry Emerson Jr. & Eleanor Caldwell, he moved to

Yakima, Washington Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, United States, and the state's 11th most populous city. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The ...

by 1911, where he owned an apple orchard. Later he moved to

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, where he died on October 25, 1958, his 84th birthday.

Tennis career

He was ranked in the ranked in U.S. tennis top ten (No. 7) in 1908 and in the top 20 in 1909 (No. 17) and 1907 (No. 19). In the national doubles rankings, he was ranked No. 6 in 1908 and No. 9 in 1907. He was a singles semifinalist at the 1908 U.S. National Championship (now known as the U.S. Open), and a doubles finalist at the U.S. National Championship in 1906 & 1908 (both times with L. Harry Waidner). They lost to future International Tennis Hall of Famers Fred Alexander and

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. Begi ...

in 1906, and Raymond D. Little and

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 ...

in 1908. At the Cincinnati Open he: *Was the first men's singles winner (1899) *Was a singles finalist in 1908 *Won five doubles titles – 1899 (with Burton Hollister), 1902 & 1903 (with

Ernie Diehl Ernest Guy Diehl (October 2, 1877 – November 6, 1958) was a Major League Baseball outfielder who played for four seasons. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1903 to 1904, and the Boston Beaneaters/Doves in 1906 and 1909. He served as t ...

), 1907 (with Raymond D. Little), and 1908 (with William P. Hunt). *Reached the doubles final in 1900 (with Diehl) and 1905 (with Robert Mitchell) *Still holds the record for most round of 16 appearances all-time at the

Cincinnati Masters The Cincinnati Open (also known as the Cincinnati Masters) is an annual professional tennis event held in Cincinnati, United States. Due to previous sponsorship, it has also been known as: the Thriftway ATP Championships, the Great American I ...

with 12 (tied with his brother, H. Truxtun Emerson,

Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...

Roger Federer Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...

, and

Michael Chang Michael Te-pei Chang (born February 22, 1972) is an American former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked world No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in 1996. Chang is the youngest man in history to win a singl ...

) *Compiled a 47-11 record in 12 singles appearances *Defeated Fred Alexander in 1900 semifinals, Edwin P. Fischer in the 1902 quarterfinals, Waidner in the 1909 All-Comers final and the 1903 semifinals, Nathaniel Niles in the 1907 round of 16, Robert Chauncey Seaver in the 1908 All-Comers final, and Richard H. Palmer in the 1909 semifinals. Also, he was: *Singles champion at the 1899 & 1900 at the Ohio State Tennis Championship *Singles champion at the Western Tennis Championship in 1907 & 1908 *Singles champion at the Oregon State Tennis Championship in 1910 *Singles finalist at the Western Tennis Championship in 1905, 1906 and 1907 *Doubles winner of the Western Tennis Championship in 1906 & 1908 *Singles winner of the 1908 Northwestern Championships *Singles winner and doubles finalist at the 1915 Tennessee State Championships *Doubles finalist at the Oregon State Tennis Championship in 1910 He was inducted into the Cincinnati Tennis Hall of Fame in 2003, along with six others: Ruth Sanders Cordes, Barry MacKay, Al Bunis, Paul Flory, Kathy Graeter, and Tom Price.

Sources

*''From Club Court to Center Court'' by Phillip S. Smith (2008 Edition; ) *Wright & Ditson's Tennis Annual (1901 & 1909 Editions) {{DEFAULTSORT:Emerson, Nat 1874 births 1958 deaths 19th-century American sportsmen 19th-century male tennis players American male tennis players Tennis players from Memphis, Tennessee Sportspeople from Yakima, Washington Tennis players from Cincinnati 20th-century American sportsmen