Howard Kinsey

Howard Kinsey
	Kinsey in Paris (1926)
Full name	Howard Oreon Kinsey
Country (sports)	United States
Born	December 3, 1899; St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Died	July 26, 1966 (aged 66); San Francisco, California, United States
Turned pro	1927 (amateur from 1920)
Retired	1931
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Singles
Highest ranking	No. 7 (1924, A. Wallis Myers)
Grand Slam singles results
French Open	QF (1926)
Wimbledon	F (1926)
US Open	QF (1924, 1925)
	Professional majors
US Pro	F (1927)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
French Open	W (1926)
Wimbledon	F (1926)
US Open	W (1924)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Wimbledon	F (1926)

Howard Oreon Kinsey (December 3, 1899 – July 26, 1966) was an American tennis player in the 1920s. He was originally from California.^[2]

Playing record

His significant championships were the 1926 French National men's doubles championship, where he and Vincent Richards beat Henri Cochet and Jacques Brugnon (a pairing who went on to win three other French National doubles titles) in the final, and the 1924 U.S. National men's doubles championship with his brother Robert Kinsey.

Bill Tilden wrote of the pair that he had "seldom seen a team work together more smoothly than the Kinseys."^[3] In 1926, he reached the Wimbledon final, losing to Jean Borotra.^[4]

Kinsey was ranked world No. 7 in 1924 by A. Wallis Myers in his amateur rankings for The Daily Telegraph.^[1] As a pro, American Lawn Tennis Magazine ranked Kinsey as world No. 6 in 1930.^[5]

Later in 1926, he was one of the early players signed by the promoter Charles C. Pyle to play in his professional tennis league. After a split with Pyle, he joined Richards in forming an association of professional tennis players.^[6]

In 1936, he and Helen Wills Moody volleyed a tennis ball back and forth 2,001 times without missing. The feat took them 1 hour and 18 minutes. They only stopped the exchange so that Kinsey could go teach a lesson that he had scheduled.

Kinsey is a member of the USTA Northern California Hall of Fame.^[7]

Grand Slam finals

Singles: (1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1926	Wimbledon	Grass	Jean Borotra	6–8, 1–6, 3–6

Doubles: (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1924	U.S. National Championships	Grass	Robert Kinsey	Pat O'Hara Wood Gerald Patterson	7–5, 5–7, 7–9, 6–3, 6–4
Win	1926	French Championships	Clay	Vincent Richards	Jacques Brugnon Henri Cochet	6–4, 6–1, 4–6, 6–4
Loss	1926	Wimbledon	Grass	Vincent Richards	Jacques Brugnon Henri Cochet	5–7, 6–4, 3–6, 2–6

Mixed Doubles (1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1926	Wimbledon	Grass	Mary Browne	Kitty McKane Leslie Godfree	3–6, 4–6

References

^ ^a ^b United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). Official Encyclopedia of Tennis (First Edition), p. 424.
^ "Howard Kinsey, 66, a tennis champion". New York Times. July 28, 1966. Retrieved July 11, 2008.
^ Tilden, William T. (1922). The Art of Lawn Tennis. New York: Garden City. p. 151. OL 24183166M.
^ Collins, Bud (2010). The Bud Collins History of Tennis (2nd ed.). New York: New Chapter Press. pp. 399, 418, 458, 477. ISBN 978-0942257700.
^ K. De Lang, ed. (January 14, 1930). "Lawntennis" (PDF). Het Vaderland (in Dutch). 61. C.M. Schilt: 15. Retrieved July 5, 2013.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Collins, Bud (2010). The Bud Collins History of Tennis (2nd ed.). New York: New Chapter Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0942257700.
^ "USTA Northern California Tennis Hall of Fame". USTA. Archived from the original on April 7, 2020.