Nathaniel Niles (sportsman)
American figure skater and tennis player
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Nathaniel William "Nat" Niles (July 5, 1886 – July 11, 1932) was an American tennis player and figure skater who competed in single skating, pair skating, and ice dancing between 1914 and 1932. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and died in Brookline, Massachusetts.[3]
United States | |
| Full name | Nathaniel William Niles |
|---|---|
| Country (sports) | United States |
| Born | July 5, 1886 |
| Died | July 11, 1932 (aged 46) |
| Turned pro | 1904 (amateur tour) |
| Retired | 1921 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 316-130 (70.8%) [1] |
| Career titles | 19 [2] |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| US Open | F (1917) |
| Other tournaments | |
| WHCC | 2R (1920) |
| Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |
| US Open | W (1908) |
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| Figure skating career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skating club | SC of Boston | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Niles won the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in men's single skating three times and nine national pair skating titles with his partner Theresa Weld Blanchard. Blanchard and Niles also won a five national titles in ice dancing.
Nathaniel W. Niles also excelled at tennis, and was inducted into the New England Tennis Hall of Fame in 2000. While a student at Harvard, he was an NCAA champion for the sport. He competed in 23 successive U.S. National Championships.[4] With Edith Rotch, he won the 1908 mixed doubles title, and in 1917, he reached the singles final, losing to Robert Lindley Murray in four sets. He also reached the semifinals in 1913 and the quarterfinals in 1904, 1911 and 1918.
Niles died in 1932 at the age of 46. His last figure skating competition, with Blanchard, had been the pairs event at the 1932 World Figure Skating Championships earlier the same year.
Figure skating results
Singles career
| Event | 1914 | 1918 | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olympic Games | 6th | 6th | 15th | ||||||||
| World Championships | 10th | ||||||||||
| North American Championships | 2nd | ||||||||||
| U.S. Championships | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | WD | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 1st | |
Pairs career
(with Theresa Weld Blanchard)
| Event | 1914 | 1918 | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | 1930 | 1932 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olympic Games | 4th | 6th | 9th | |||||||||||
| World Championships | 7th | 6th | 8th | |||||||||||
| North American Championships | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | ||||||||||
| U.S. Championships | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | ||
Tennis Grand Slam finals
Singles (1 runner-up)
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1917 | U.S. Championships | Grass |  Robert Lindley Murray | 7–5, 6–8, 3–6, 3–6 |
Mixed doubles (1 title)
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1908 | U.S. Championships | Grass |  Edith Rotch | Louise Hammond Raymond Raymond Little | 6–4, 4–6, 6–4 |
Tennis performance timeline
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
Events with a challenge round: (WC) won; (CR) lost the challenge round; (FA) all comers' finalist
| 1904 | 1905 | 1906 | 1907 | 1908 | 1909 | 1910 | 1911 | 1912 | 1913 | 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919 | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | SR | W–L | Win % | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| French | Only for French club members | Not held | Only for French club members | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | Not held | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | |||||
| U.S. | QF | 1R | 1R | 4R | 2R | 4R | 3R | QF | 4R | SF | 5R | 1R | 3R | F | QF | 4R | 3R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 0 / 23 | 39–23 | 62.9 | ||
| Australian | NH | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | Not held | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | ||||
| Win–loss | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 2–1 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 5–1 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0 / 23 | 39–23 | 62.9 | ||
| National representation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympics | A | Not held | A | A | Not held | A | A | Not held | A | Not held | A | Not held | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | |||||||||||||
Note: The U.S. National Championships from 1908 to 1914 had 5 rounds before the quarter finals.