Henry Warner Slocum enjoyed a 29-year career, remarkably playing his last U.S. Nationals Championship at age 51 in 1913. Like many of his contemporaries, Slocum was an excellent athlete, starring in both football and tennis at Yale University, where he graduated in 1883. He reached four straight U.S. National Men’s Singles Championships (1887, 1888, 1889, 1890), capturing back-to-back titles in 1888 and 1889 in matches played at the Newport Casino. His first victory was routine, a 6-4, 6-1, 6-0 over collegiate singles and doubles champion Howard Taylor in 1888, which made him only the second U.S. singles champion in the tournament’s 8-year history.
The 1889 triumph was marginally tougher, a 6–3, 6–1, 4–6, 6–2 win over another collegiate standout, lefty Quincy Shaw. Slocum teamed with Taylor to win the 1889 U.S. National Men’s Doubles Championship in a 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 victory over fellow Americans Valentine Hall and Oliver Campbell. It was a reversal of fortune for Slocum, who lost the 1885 championship to Joseph Clark and Richard Sears in three uneventful sets.
Slocum was a tough competitor, perhaps fostered by his years playing football, but also through heritage. He was the son of Henry Warner Slocum, a Union general during the American Civil War and later a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York. A tennis devotee, Slocum was keen on advancing the sport, authoring the comprehensive Lawn Tennis in Our Own Country in 1889 and serving as President of the United States National Lawn Tennis Association (USNLTA) in 1892 and 1893.
