Sears, Eleonora

Eleonora Randolph Sears “Eleo”
Born: September 28, 1881
Died: March 16, 1968
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Citizenship: United States
Handed: Right
Inducted: 1968

Grand Slam Record
U.S.     Singles finalist     1912
Doubles     1911, 1915-17
Doubles finalist     1919
Mixed     1916
Mixed finalist     1912

Eleonora Randolph Sears, though of a proper Bostonian background, was noted for her athleticism and vigor. She was an equestrian, golfer and determined walker (frequently striding 40 miles between her Boston home and Providence, RI), and maintained a trim, healthful figure into old age.

The right-handed Eleo was from a playing family. Her father, Fred Sears, was the first (if not the first) to play tennis in the U.S. with Dr. James Dwight in 1874. Her uncle, Dick Sears, was the original U.S. champion.

Eleo made it to the U.S. singles 1912, losing to Mary K. Browne, and won four U.S. doubles, two with Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman (1911 and 1915) and Molla Bjurstedt Mallory (1916 and 1917), as well as the Willis Davis (1916). She ranked in the U.S. Top Ten twice, 1914 and 1916, No. 6 in the first year. She was born September 28, 1881, in Boston, died March 16, 1968, in Palm Beach, FL, and entered the Hall of Fame in 1968.

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