Career
Holden played on the Yale University tennis team, a tennis powerhouse in those years along with Harvard, Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania. All matches were best of five, and Holden lost one set during the entire tournament. Ironically, the week before the National Collegiate Athletic Association singles final, Sweetser reached the doubles final at the international tournament in Holden"s hometown: the tournament now known as the Cincinnati Masters.
Holden reached six doubles finals in Cincinnati, winning two titles—in 1912 and then again 10 years later in 1922.
His last doubles final came in 1932, when Holden was the remarkable age of 42. He also had success when he found himself alone on the court.
He was a singles finalist in Cincinnati in the all-comers round in 1912, and reached four singles semifinals: 1908, 1910, 1912 and 1913. Holden married Grace Bushnell Morgan (born January 22, 1891 in Cincinnati) and had two sons, John Morgan Holden (1922-1995) and Reuben Andrus Holden IV (1918-1995).
In 1934, just two years after he reached his last doubles final in Cincinnati, tragedy struck the Holden home.
The holiday liner Steamship Morro Castle, bound for home after a trip to Havana with 549 passengers and crew aboard, was engulfed in flames while off the coast of New Jersey. Grace was among the 137 who died in the fire.
