Long before Franklin D. Roosevelt became president, he was overshadowed by his cousin Ellen Roosevelt.
Ellen was an American national tennis champion and a first cousins of Franklin through their grandfather Issac Roosevelt.

The pair would often spend time together with their other relatives at a summer residence along the Hudson River in Hyde Park, New York.
Ellen rose to national prominence long before future president Franklin, when she won the US Open in 1890.
Franklin became president in 1933 and won four consecutive elections, serving until his death in 1945.
Roosevelt, who was the Governor of New York before becoming president, oversaw the Great Depression and World War II.
This made him one of American’s most famous leaders.
But until Franklin rose to political prominence, the most famous Roosevelt was Ellen.
Ellen Roosevelt’s 1890 US Open title
Records suggest Ellen was a fine tennis player and as a result she was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame posthumously in 1975.
Ellen captured the 1890 US Open at the age of 22, defeating defending champion Bertha Townsend, 6-6, 6-2.
Much of their success can be put down to their father John Roosevelt, who took the sport very seriously and insisted they ate and slept properly.
He accompanied them to events and coached them on private courts.


“Their father coached and treated them as if they were a pair of show ponies,” said Ellen Hansell, the first U.S. National Women’s Singles champion in 1887.
“We silly, non-serious-minded players giggled at their early-to-bed and careful food habits.”
The Williams sister emulated 109-year feat
While Serena and Venus Williams are rightly the most famous tennis siblings, long before they won their first US Open doubles together, there was the Roosevelt sisters.
Grace and Ellen Roosevelt picked up the 1890 US Open doubles champion, making them the first pair of sisters to win the championships at the time.
The Williams sister emulated this feat and became the second pair ever to do this at the US Open, 109 years later in 1999.
The Williams sisters won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles in total together cementing themselves as the one most successful pairings in tennis history.
Ellen Roosevelt’s accolades
Along with her 1890 US Open singles and doubles title, Ellen also won the 1893 mixed doubles title.
Her partner was Clarence Thomas, the 1891 US Open singles runner-up.
Her other career singles achievement was winning the Staten Island Ladies Club Open in 1890

Ellen’s achievements do come in the context of the extremely closed sport tennis was at the time.
The major tennis tournaments like the Grand Slams were not professional and remained amateur until 1968 to keep the ‘amateur ideal’.
This meant professional players were banned from major events and those who played tennis were able to because they didn’t need the money.
Ellen was born into wealth, with she and her sister able to play tennis because their father built a tennis court on their family estate.