Takeichi Harada

Takeichi Harada was Japanese but played tennis world-wide, and was likely one of the first players to compete at all four recognized Grand Slam Championships. He started playing “soft tennis” at elementary school. In 1917, he enrolled in Keio University and switched to the Western “hard tennis,” but he neglected his lessons and led a hedonistic lifestyle rather than concentrating on his tennis. He played his first All-Japan Tennis Championship in 1922, winning the tournament for the first time one year later. Harada was also Japanese doubles champion in 1923 and then moved to the United States to study at Harvard. He won titles in 1926 at the Florida State Championships and the 1929 Koshien Invitational (in Japan), and was 1929 Japanese champion in singles and doubles. Harada also made the finals of the 1926 Jamaican Championships and the 1930 Japan International.

Harada played at Wimbledon in 1924, 1927, and 1930, making the third round of singles in 1924 and 1930, and the third round of doubles in 1927. He played the US Championships from 1924-27, with a best finish in singles of the third round in 1925. He also competed at Roland Garros in 1930 and the Australian Championships in 1932. In 1926, Harada held his highest rankings, as he was third in the United States and seventh in the world ranking.

Harada played Davis Cup for Japan in 16 ties between 1924-30. He won 27 (19 in singles and 8 in doubles) of 39 matches. When Japan lost in the America zone final in 1925 to Australia 4-1, Harada won the only match for his team. In the following year, Japan even reached the Interzone final playing against the “Four Musketeers” from France. Harada defeated both René Lacoste and Henri Cochet in his singles, which made him world-famous although Japan eventually lost 3-2. In 1927, Harada lost his match against Lacoste in the Interzone final. After World War II, Harada served as coach of the Japanese Davis-Cup team in 1955 and 1956.

In his professional career, Harada was the first president of Mitsubishi Okayama Motor Sales.