Oliver Samuel Edward Michael Campbell (February 25, 1871 – July 11, 1953) was an American male
tennis player
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 ...
who won the three consecutive singles titles at the
U.S. Championships from 1890 through 1892.
Education
Campbell was educated at
Columbia College, graduating in 1891 and was posthumously inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010.
Career
For over a century, Campbell had the honour of being the youngest male player to win the U.S. singles title. He did it as a 19-year, 6 months and 9 days old student in 1890. That record went to fellow American
Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras (born August 12, 1971) is an American former professional tennis player. One of the most successful tennis players of all time, he was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the A ...
, 19 years and 28 days, when he won the title in 1990.
Campbell defended his title in the challenge round matches in 1891, defeating
Clarence Hobart, and in 1892, defeating
Fred Hovey, but did not defend it in 1893 and thereby defaulted the title to
Robert Wrenn. The challenge round against Clarence Hobart was the first title match played over five sets.
In addition to his singles titles Campbell won the men's doubles titles at the U.S. National Championships in 1888, 1891 and 1892.
His other career singles highlights include winning the
Tropical Championships on hard courts at the
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Located 40 miles (64 km) south of downtown Jacksonville, the city is on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spani ...
on four occcasions (1889–1891, 1894). he also won the
Englewood Open twice (1987–1888). He won single events at the
New York Tennis Club Open (1886), the
Orange Spring Tournament (1887), the
Westchester Lawn Tennis Club (Invitation) (1888), the
Elberon Casino Invitation (1888),
New Hamburg Invitation (1888), the
Nahant Invitation (1890), South Side Field Club (1890) and the
Narragansette Pier Open (1890). In addition he was a finalist at the
Flushing Athletic Club Open (1889).
Campbell was inducted into the
International Tennis Hall of Fame
The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, 13 grass tennis courts, an ...
in 1955.
Grand Slam finals
Singles (3 titles)
Doubles (3 titles, 2 runner-ups)
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Oliver
1871 births
1953 deaths
19th-century American sportsmen
19th-century male tennis players
American male tennis players
Tennis players from Brooklyn
International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees
United States National champions (tennis)
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles
Columbia Lions men's tennis players
Columbia College (New York) alumni