Eleonora "Eleo" Randolph Sears was born into wealth and fortune, and was commonly referred to as a “Boston Society Girl.” The sports of society were squash, golf, polo, horseback riding, and tennis – all of which Sears played with great expertise. Sears, whose tennis lineage was significant – her father Fred Sears was one of the first to play tennis in the United States and her uncle Richard Sears was the U.S. Nationals Champion in 1881 who won seven straight championships (1881-87)– became a championship player in her own right.
She won the U.S. National Women’s Doubles Championships four times and three consecutively (1911, 1915-17). Sears added the U.S. National Mixed Doubles Championship in 1916 and was finalist in the 1912 U.S. National Singles Championship. Sears won two doubles championships with Hazel Hotchkiss (1911, 1915) and two with Molla Bjurstedt (1916, 1917). She was a finalist with Hotchkiss in 1919. A finalist in mixed doubles play in 1912, the same year she advanced to the singles final but was beaten by Mary K. Browne 6-4, 6-2, Sears won the 1916 mixed doubles crown alongside Willis E. Davis over Florence Ballin and Bill Tilden, 6-4, 7-5.
Sears was ranked twice in the U.S. Top 10 in 1914 and 1916, reaching No. 3 in 1916. A true athlete, she was the epitome of health and wellness, endurance and strength, traits that were maintained throughout her life.
