Seattle's Early Tennis Stars
Local players Atkinson and Meserve claim victory at the Seattle Field Club tournament, defeating top competition from both Seattle and Tacoma.
The tennis tournament of the Seattle Field Club held yesterday afternoon at the Madison street grounds resulted in Atkinson and Meserve, of this city, winning the cups emblematical of the championship. Five teams entered, three from Seattle and two from Tacoma: Atkinson and Meserve (Seattle); Warner and Headman (Seattle); Saunders and Powers (Seattle); Thorne and Bull (Tacoma); and Anderson and Rice (Tacoma). Both Tacoma teams won their first rounds against Seattle teams and then both went down before Atkinson and Meserve.
“Atkinson and Meserve, of this city, winning the cups emblematical of the championship.”
Long before the modern professional tennis circuit, local sporting clubs like the Seattle Field Club were the center of civic social life. While the club and its Madison Street grounds have vanished into the city's urban grid, the intense municipal rivalry between Seattle and Tacoma remains a constant in Washington state identity.
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