Oliver
Campbell

At 19 years, 6 months, and 9 days old, Oliver Campbell became the youngest U.S. National Men’s Singles Champion in history, winning the 1890 title over Henry Slocum, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Remarkably, that mark lasted 100 years until Pete Sampras, then 19 years and 28 days old, won the 1990 US Open over Andre Agassi, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.

Campbell secured his place in tennis history by winning the 1890, 1891, and 1892 U.S. National Men’s Singles Championships. As a collegian at NYC's Columbia College, Campbell won Intercollegiate doubles titles in both 1888 and 1889, playing alongside Valentine Hall and Alfred Wright.  Campbell, widely regarded as the first American player to transition his playing style from the baseline to the net, captured three U.S. National Men’s Doubles Championship titles – two with Bob Huntington, the 1889 Intercollegiate champion from Yale University – and appeared in two other doubles finals. “I ran to the net behind every service until the day I retired,” Campbell once said. The tactic worked. He was ranked in the U.S. Top 10 five straight years (1888-1892), earning a No. 1 ranking from 1890-92. Campbell was posthumously elected into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1955, two years after his death.