The early years
Great Britain · born Wimbledon, 1872 · died 1910 · four times Wimbledon champion · eight times doubles champion
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4
Consecutive Wimbledon singles titles, 1897 to 1900
8
Wimbledon doubles titles with his brother Laurence
11
Wimbledon doubles finals in a row
3
Olympic gold medals, 1900 and 1908
7-1
Davis Cup match record, 1902 to 1906
Reginald Frank Doherty, known as Big Do, was born at Wimbledon in 1872, the elder brother of Laurence, and went to Westminster School and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He won the Wimbledon singles four years running from 1897 to 1900 and, with Laurence, the doubles eight times between 1897 and 1905. In 1902 he reached the US singles challenge round, losing to William Larned, and the brothers won the US doubles in 1902 and 1903. He won Olympic gold in the doubles and mixed at Paris in 1900 and in the doubles with George Hillyard in London in 1908, and was part of the British Isles side that held the Davis Cup from 1903 to 1906. He won the South African Championships in 1909, died in London in 1910, aged 38, and entered the Hall of Fame with Laurence in 1980.
| Major singles titles | 4: Wimbledon (1897, 1898, 1899, 1900) |
|---|---|
| Major singles finals lost | 2: Wimbledon 1901, US 1902 |
| Other grass singles titles | 6: Irish Championships 3 (1899, 1900, 1901); Scottish Championships 3 (1895, 1896, 1897) |
| Major doubles titles | 10 doubles (Wimbledon 8, US 2) |
| Other grass doubles titles | 7: Irish Championships 6 (1898, 1899, 1900, 1900, 1901, 1902); London Olympics (outdoor) (1908) |
| Titles kept in a challenge round | 10: US doubles (1903); Wimbledon (1898, 1899, 1900); Wimbledon doubles (1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1904, 1905). Scored as a final won, not a full draw (-26 points). |
| Wimbledon singles finals | 1897: beat the holder Harold Mahony 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. 1898: beat Laurence Doherty 6-3, 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1. 1899: beat Arthur Gore 1-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. 1900: beat Sidney Smith. 1901: lost to Gore 6-4, 5-7, 4-6, 4-6 |
| Wimbledon doubles | Won 1897, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1903, 1904 and 1905 with Laurence; runner-up 1896 with Harold Nisbet, 1902 and 1906 with Laurence |
| US doubles | With Laurence: 1902, beat Dwight Davis and Holcombe Ward 11-9, 12-10, 6-4; 1903, beat Kreigh Collins and Harry Waidner 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 |
| London Olympics 1908 | Doubles gold with George Hillyard |
| Davis Cup | British Isles 1902 to 1906: 7-1 in matches, 5-0 in doubles; won the deciding singles against Robert Wrenn in 1903 as the Cup was won for the first time |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1897 | Men's doubles | with Laurence Doherty |
| 1897 | Men's singles | |
| 1898 | Men's doubles | with Laurence Doherty |
| 1898 | Men's singles | |
| 1899 | Men's doubles | with Laurence Doherty |
| 1899 | Men's singles | |
| 1900 | Men's doubles | with Laurence Doherty |
| 1900 | Men's singles | |
| 1901 | Men's doubles | with Laurence Doherty |
| 1903 | Men's doubles | with Laurence Doherty |
| 1904 | Men's doubles | with Laurence Doherty |
| 1905 | Men's doubles | with Laurence Doherty |
| Irish Championships | ||
| 1898 | Men's doubles†| with Laurence Doherty |
| 1899 | Mixed doubles†| with Charlotte Cooper Sterry |
| 1899 | Men's singles | |
| 1900 | Men's doubles†| with Laurence Doherty |
| 1900 | Mixed doubles†| with Charlotte Cooper Sterry |
| 1900 | Men's singles | |
| 1901 | Men's doubles†| with Laurence Doherty |
| 1901 | Men's singles | |
| 1902 | Men's doubles†| with Laurence Doherty |
| Scottish Championships | ||
| 1895 | Men's singles | |
| 1896 | Men's singles | |
| 1897 | Men's singles | |
| US Championships | ||
| 1902 | Men's doubles | with Laurence Doherty |
| 1903 | Men's doubles | with Laurence Doherty |
| Olympic Games | ||
| 1908 | Men's doubles†| with George Hillyard |
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
"Held at various times every important championship the world of tennis has for a man to win."
The person behind the player.
Wimbledon 1898
Reginald defended his title in the challenge round against Laurence, three years younger and three inches shorter. He led by two sets, was pegged back to two sets all, then took the fifth 6-1. The Hall of Fame calls it a bittersweet triumph. Laurence had to wait until 1902 for his own first title.
Source: International Tennis Hall of FameWimbledon 1899
Against Arthur Gore in the challenge round he lost the first two sets 6-1, 6-4. He then won three in a row, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, to keep the title for a third year. Gore would have his revenge two years later.
Source: International Tennis Hall of FameWimbledon 1901
Laurence had already gone out, and Reginald's doctor had forbidden him to play. He decided that if the Wimbledon title was to leave the family, it should not be by default. He won the first set against Gore and led 5-2 in the second, but lost in four sets to Gore's baseline game.
Source: OlympediaParis 1900
The brothers refused to play each other before a final, so at the Paris Olympics Reginald withdrew from the singles semi-final against Laurence and took a bronze. He then won the men's doubles with Laurence and the mixed with Charlotte Cooper, both without dropping a set.
Source: OlympediaOn court
Big Do and Little Do wore their dark hair alike, parted in the centre, and spectators found the brothers hard to tell apart on court. In 1903 they wrote a book together, R.F. and H.L. Doherty on Lawn Tennis, and a year later both appeared in Ernest Elliott's Fifty Leaders of British Sport.
Source: International Tennis Hall of FameLondon 1908
After Laurence turned to golf in 1906, Reginald kept playing selected events. At the 1908 London Olympics, aged 35, he partnered George Hillyard to the men's doubles gold, his third Olympic title after the doubles and mixed of 1900. The following year he travelled to South Africa and won the South African Championships.
Source: OlympediaFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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