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

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. 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 organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...

team, and also won the intercollegiate tennis title for

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

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 Colonial Club is one of the eleven current Eating club (Princeton University), eating clubs of Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1891, it is the fifth oldest of the clubs. It is located on 40 Prospect Avenue. ...

. 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 (NCAA), Division I college ice hockey program that represents Princeton University. The Tigers are a member of ECAC Hockey. They play at t ...

team in 1901. At the

Cincinnati Open 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 ...

, 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 Kreigh Collins may refer to: * Kreigh Collins (tennis) * Kreigh Collins (cartoonist) {{hndis, Collins, Kreigh ...

, an outstanding player out of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. 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 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 17 she won the singles title at the 1904 U.S. National Championships (tennis), U.S. Na ...

. He appeared in the first ever Cincinnati Open (1899) and when he played his final singles match in 1909 his singles record in Cincinnati stood at 23-5. 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. Tennis career 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 William Clothier may refer to: *William Clothier (tennis) William 'Bill' Jackson Clothier (September 27, 1881 – September 4, 1962) was an American list of male tennis players, tennis player. Biography William J. Clothier was a top American t ...

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. Begi ...

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 Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

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 compet ...

'', 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 1932 deaths 19th-century American sportsmen 19th-century male tennis players American male tennis players Princeton Tigers men's tennis players Tennis players 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 20th-century American sportsmen