At the 1900 Olympics in Paris, Reggie Doherty won the men’s doubles with his brother, Laurie, and then partnered Charlotte Cooper to win the mixed doubles without dropping a set in either event. The successes of the brothers as a doubles pairing have been noted in the biography on Laurie Doherty and although they shared much good fortune together it was also their tragic lot to share the burden of indifferent health.
After winning four successive Wimbledon singles titles, Reggie faced an agonizing decision in the 1901 Challenge Round. He was again in poor health and his doctor had forbidden him to play but as Laurie had been beaten in an earlier round, Reggie felt that if the Wimbledon title was to leave the family it should not be by default. Against all advice, he decided to play and after winning his first set and leading 5-2 in the second he simply did not have the strength left to copy with the relentless baseline game of Arthur “Wentworth” Gore who sent on to win by three sets to one. Despite this warning, the Doherty’s did not end their career as major championship contenders until five years later in 1906. Seeking their ninth successive Wimbledon doubles title, they came up against the Gloucestershire pair, Sidney Smith and Frank Riesel, in the final. After taking an early lead, Reggie and Laurie were too fail to maintain their challenge and their mother, who had watched the match in tears, mad her sons promise to never overtax their strength again. Laurie immediately turned to golf but Reggie continued to play in selected major events. In 1908, with George Hillyard as his partner, he won his second Olympic gold medal in the men’s doubles and in 1909 he won the titles of the South African Championships. The following year he died at his home at Albert Hall Mansions just a few hours after turning from a Swiss nursing home.
Great Britain