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William Augustus Larned (December 30, 1872 – December 16, 1926) was an American tennis player who was active at the beginning of the 20th century. He won seven singles titles at the U.S. National Championships.
An all-around athlete, Larned captained the St. Nicholas Hockey Club in 1896–97 and was also a horseman, golfer, and rifle shot. He invented the steel-framed racquet in 1922 and founded a company to manufacture it.
Larned won the title seven times, as did Richard Sears before him and Bill Tilden after. Larned was a member of the U.S. Davis Cup Team in 1902–03, 1905, 1908–09 and 1911–12. Larned achieved a career-high U.S. ranking of No. 1. He twice participated in the Wimbledon Championships, in 1896 and 1905, but could not match his success at home, losing on both occasions in the quarterfinals.
Larned also won other tournaments multiple times including the Longwood Challenge Bowl eleven times (1894–1897, 1901, 1903–1909), the Middle States Championships six times (1894–95, 1897, 1899, 1906–1907), and the Southampton Invitation three times (1902, 1904, 1906).
He was inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1956.
Larned in 1898 had served in the Spanish–American War as one of Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders. While serving in the war, Larned developed rheumatism in Cuba; rheumatoid arthritis later deteriorated his health forcing him to retire from tennis after losing the Davis Cup challenge round in early 1912. Partially paralyzed by spinal meningitis, he was unable to do any of the activities he loved most, and became depressed. On the evening of December 15, 1926, inside the private chambers of the exclusive Knickerbocker Club in Manhattan, the 53-year-old Larned committed suicide by shooting himself.
| 4–6, 6–1, 2–6, 2–6 |
| 6–2, 6–8, 6–4, 6–4 |
| 4–6, 6–2, 6–4, 8–6 |
| 0–6, 3–6, 8–10 |
| 6–2, 6–2, 6–4 |
| 6–1, 6–2, 8–6 |
| 6–1, 6–2, 5–7, 1–6, 6–1 |
| 6–1, 5–7, 6–0, 6–8, 6–1 |
| 6–4, 6–4, 6–2 |
| French Open | only for French club members | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | A | A | QF | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | QF | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 5–2 | 71.43 |
| U.S. | 3R | FA | A | FA | FA | FA | SF | A | A | CR | W | WC | CR | SF | SF | 2R | W | WC | WC | WC | WC | 7 / 18 | 61–12 | 83.56 |
| Australian Open | not held | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | |||||||||||||
| Win–loss | 2–1 | 5–1 | 4–1 | 5–1 | 5–1 | 7–2 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 6–1 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 7–2 | 0–1 | 7–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | |||
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