Clarence Hobart


Clarence Hobart was a tennis player from the United States. He was a six-time champion at the U.S. National Championships, winning three titles in men's doubles in 1890, 1893 and 1894 and three others in mixed doubles in 1892, 1893 and 1905. Hobart also reached the Challenge Round in the Gentlemen's Singles in 1891, finishing runner-up.
In 1905 he won the mixed doubles title at the U.S. National Championship with Augusta Schultz whom he married in 1895.
In 1899 he won the Championship of Germany, played in Homburg, by defeating A.W. Gore in the final in three straight sets and subsequently winning against Irishman Harold Mahony in the challenge round in five sets. At the same venue he reached the final of the Homburg Cup but lost in five sets to Wimbledon champion Reggie Doherty after leading 2–0 in sets. During a 1903 tour in Europe he reached the finals of the Kent Championships and the Ostend International tournament in Belgium but was defeated by A.W. Gore and Paul de Borman respectively.
In 1907 Hobart competed in the Longwood tournament, at the time the most important tournament in the U.S. next to the national championship, and won the All-Comers tournament. This entitled him to play for the tournament title in the Challenge Round against Larned, the winner of the previous title, but he refused to play explaining "For many years I have opposed the practice of permitting the holders to stand out in our tournaments,... on the obvious ground that it is unjust to pit a tired man against a fresh one, and equally unjust to give the holder only one chance for defeat while the challenger must necessarily have several.". His refusal contributed to the abandonment in 1912 of the Challenge Round system at the U.S. National Championships.
Clarence Hobart died on August 2, 1930 as a result of an accident at a swimming pool in Asheville, NC.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 runner-up)

ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss1891U.S. National ChampionshipsGrass Oliver Campbell6–2, 5–7, 9–7, 1–6, 2–6

Doubles (3 titles, 5 runner-ups)

ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss1888U.S. National ChampionshipsGrass Edward MacMullen Oliver Campbell
Valentine Hall
4–6, 2–6, 2–6
Win1890U.S. National ChampionshipsGrass Valentine Hall Charles Carver
John Ryerson
6–3, 4–6, 6–2, 2–6, 6–3
Loss1891U.S. National ChampionshipsGrass Valentine Hall Oliver Campbell
Robert Huntington
3–6, 4–6, 6–8
Win1893U.S. National ChampionshipsGrass Fred Hovey Oliver Campbell
Robert Huntington
6–3, 6–4, 4–6, 6–2
Win1894U.S. National ChampionshipsGrass Fred Hovey Carr Neel
Sam Neel
6–3, 8–6, 6–1
Loss1895U.S. National ChampionshipsGrass Fred Hovey Malcolm Chace
Robert Wrenn
5–7, 1–6, 6–8
Loss1898Wimbledon ChampionshipsGrass Harold Nisbet Reginald Doherty
Laurence Doherty
4–6, 4–6, 2–6
Loss1899Wimbledon ChampionshipsGrass Harold Nisbet Reginald Doherty
Laurence Doherty
5–7, 0–6, 2–6

Mixed doubles (3 titles)

ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1892U.S. National ChampionshipsGrass Mabel Cahill Elisabeth Moore
Rodmond Beach
6–1, 6–3
Win1893U.S. National ChampionshipsGrass Ellen Roosevelt Ethel Bankston
Robert Willson
6–4, 4–6, 10–6
Win1905U.S. National ChampionshipsGrass Augusta Schultz Elisabeth Moore
Edward Dewhurst
6–2, 6–4