The early years
United States · born Boston, 1879 · died 1961 · left-handed · US champion 1905 and the first American to reach the Wimbledon All-Comers singles final
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1905
US champion, beating Holcombe Ward 6-2, 6-1, 11-9
3
US doubles titles in a row with Ward, 1904 to 1906
4
US singles finals, 1901 to 1908
9-6
Davis Cup record, 6-3 in singles
1910
First American in the Wimbledon All-Comers singles final
Beals Coleman Wright was born in Boston on 19 December 1879, the son of George Wright, shortstop of the Cincinnati Red Stockings and founder of the sporting goods firm Wright and Ditson, and nephew of the baseball pioneer Harry Wright. He went to Harvard. A left-hander who served and followed it to the net, he reached his first US singles final in 1901, losing to William Larned. He won the Canadian Championships at Niagara-on-the-Lake from 1902 to 1904 and, with his brother Irving, the Canadian doubles four years running from 1902.
In 1904 at St Louis he became the first American to win an Olympic gold medal in tennis, taking the singles and, with Edgar Leonard, the doubles. With Holcombe Ward he won the US doubles in 1904, 1905 and 1906, and in 1905 he beat Ward 6-2, 6-1, 11-9 in the Challenge Round for the US singles title. He lost the US final to William Clothier in 1906 and to Larned in 1908.
He played Davis Cup in 1905, 1907, 1908 and 1911, with a record of nine wins and six defeats, and in Melbourne in 1908 he beat both Tony Wilding and Norman Brookes. In 1910, aged 30, he became the first American to reach the All-Comers singles final at Wimbledon, where he lost to Wilding in five sets, and that summer he won the Kent Championships at Beckenham. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1956 and died in Alton, Illinois, on 23 August 1961.
| US singles finals | 1901: lost to William Larned 2-6, 8-6, 4-6, 4-6. 1905 Challenge Round: beat Holcombe Ward 6-2, 6-1, 11-9. 1906: lost to William Clothier 3-6, 0-6, 4-6. 1908: lost to Larned 1-6, 2-6, 6-8 |
|---|---|
| US doubles with Ward | 1904: beat Kreigh Collins and Raymond Little 1-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, from two sets to one down. 1905: beat Fred Alexander and Harold Hackett 6-4, 6-4, 6-1. 1906: beat Alexander and Hackett 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 |
| Wimbledon | 1910 All-Comers singles final: lost to Tony Wilding 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 3-6 after leading by two sets. 1907 All-Comers doubles final with Karl Behr: lost to Norman Brookes and Wilding 4-6, 4-6, 2-6 |
| Davis Cup, Melbourne 1908 | On grass at the Warehousemen's Cricket Club ground (the Albert Ground), St Kilda Road, 27 to 30 November: beat Wilding 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 and Brookes 0-6, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 12-10; lost the doubles with Fred Alexander to Brookes and Wilding 4-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 4-6. Australasia won the tie 3-2 |
| US Championships | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1904 | Men's doubles | with Holcombe Ward |
| 1905 | Men's doubles | with Holcombe Ward |
| 1905 | Men's singles | |
| 1906 | Men's doubles | with Holcombe Ward |
| Kent Championships (Beckenham) | ||
| 1910 | Men's singles | |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"Beals Wright is certainly the best in America at low volleys, and is very good overhead."
The person behind the player.
Boston
His father, George Wright, played shortstop for the Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first professional baseball team, formed in 1869 by Beals's uncle Harry Wright; George drew a then record salary of $1,400 for the season. Both men were later elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, so Beals's induction at Newport in 1956 completed a family set.
Source: Olympedia; International Tennis Hall of FameCambridge, Massachusetts
His father's baseball earnings paid for him to go to Harvard. Although he became one of the leading players in America, he never won his letter at the university.
Source: OlympediaSt Louis, 1904
The 1904 Olympic tennis was played in St Louis in heat reaching 100 degrees. Wright beat his compatriot Robert LeRoy 6-4, 6-4 for the singles gold, the first won by an American in tennis, and with Edgar Leonard beat LeRoy and Alphonzo Bell 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 for the doubles.
Source: International Tennis Hall of FameMelbourne, November 1908
On the final day, with a north wind and 101 degrees in the shade, Brookes won the first set to love and lost only three games in the second. Wright then wore him down, 7-5, 6-2, 12-10, in a match of three hours that left the tie at two rubbers all. Wilding, due to play the deciding match, chose not to watch and lay down in a cool, shady place; he then beat Fred Alexander in straight sets.
Source: Keith Dunstan, "The Tennis Passion", Sports (1973)Wimbledon, 1910
At 30 he became the first American to reach the All-Comers singles final at Wimbledon. He won the first two sets against Wilding, who came back to win the fifth 6-3 and then beat the holder, Arthur Gore, for the title.
Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame; Wimbledon Compendium 2025 (AELTC)Free membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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