The early years
United States · born Hyde Park, New York, 1868 · died 1954 · right-handed · US champion in 1890 and, with her sister Grace, half of the first sisters to win a major title
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1890
US singles champion at the Philadelphia Cricket Club
6-2, 6-2
Her Challenge Round win over the holder, Bertha Townsend
1st
Sisters to win a major title, with Grace in the 1890 doubles
1891
US finalist in singles and doubles
1893
US mixed champion with Clarence Hobart
Ellen Crosby Roosevelt was born on 20 August 1868 into the Roosevelt family of Rosedale, the estate near Hyde Park, New York, a daughter of John Aspinwall Roosevelt and a first cousin of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Her father built a court at the house, and she and her elder sister Grace learned the game there in the 1870s. In 1889 she beat Grace 6-1, 6-2 in the final of the Hudson River Lawn Tennis Association tournament.
At the Philadelphia Cricket Club in June 1890 she won the All-Comers' event, beating Mabel Cahill, who retired in the third set, and Lida Voorhees 6-3, 6-1, then beat the holder Bertha Townsend 6-2, 6-2 in the Challenge Round. She and Grace also won the doubles, beating Townsend and Margarette Ballard 6-1, 6-2.
In 1891 Cahill took both titles from the sisters: she beat Ellen 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 in the Challenge Round, and with Emma Leavitt-Morgan beat the Roosevelts 2-6, 8-6, 6-4 in the doubles. Ellen won one more national title, the 1893 mixed doubles with Clarence Hobart. She never married and lived at Rosedale for the rest of her life. She died on 26 September 1954 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975.
| 1890 US Championships | All-Comers': beat D. F. Butterfield 6-0, 6-0, Mabel Cahill (retired in the third set) and Lida Voorhees 6-3, 6-1. Challenge Round: beat the holder Bertha Townsend 6-2, 6-2, before a crowd of nearly 2,000 |
|---|---|
| 1890 US doubles | Won with her sister Grace, beating Bertha Townsend and Margarette Ballard 6-1, 6-2; the first sisters to win a major title, followed by Juliette and Kathleen Atkinson in 1897 and 1898 |
| 1891 US finals | Lost the singles Challenge Round to Mabel Cahill 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, and with Grace lost the doubles final to Cahill and Emma Leavitt-Morgan 2-6, 8-6, 6-4 |
| 1893 US mixed | Won with Clarence Hobart, beating Ethel Bankson and Robert Willson in the final |
| US Championships | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1890 | Women's doubles | with Grace Roosevelt |
| 1890 | Women's singles | |
| 1893 | Mixed doubles | with Clarence Hobart |
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
"Their father coached and treated them as if they were a pair of show ponies."
The person behind the player.
Rosedale, 1870s
Her father built a tennis court on the family estate, Rosedale, on the North Road between Hyde Park and the Town of Poughkeepsie, and Ellen and Grace learned to play there in the 1870s.
Source: Poughkeepsie Public Library DistrictHudson River, 1889
A year before their national titles, the sisters met in the final of the second Hudson River Lawn Tennis Association tournament. Ellen won 6-1, 6-2.
Source: Poughkeepsie Public Library DistrictPhiladelphia, 1890
John Roosevelt was a strict coach who made his daughters go to bed early, watched what they ate and went with them to events. Ellen Hansell recalled: "We silly, non-serious-minded players giggled at their early-to-bed and careful food habits."
Source: International Tennis Hall of FamePhiladelphia, June 1890
The Philadelphia Inquirer's report of the Challenge Round said that Townsend soon tried some brilliant shots which failed, "while her opponent was the personification of steadiness." Ellen won 6-2, 6-2.
Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer, 13 June 1890, quoted on WikipediaThe Hudson, winters
She was a keen ice yachter and sailed her father's boat, Icicle, and her cousin Franklin's, Hawk. Her father told the Poughkeepsie Journal in 1903 that she had often beaten him.
Source: Poughkeepsie Public Library DistrictHyde Park, to 1954
She never married and stayed at Rosedale after her parents died. Grace, widowed in 1930, came home to live with her. The sisters supported St James' Church in Hyde Park and the Red Cross in both world wars. Grace died in 1945 and Ellen in 1954.
Source: Poughkeepsie Public Library DistrictFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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