# 1881 U.S. National Championships – Singles

Richard Sears defeated William Glyn in the final 6–0 6–3 6–2 to win the inaugural men's singles tennis title at the 1881 U.S. National Championships. Each match was the best of three sets, except for the final which was best of five. Winner of a set was the player who won six games first; no two-game advantage was required. Participation was restricted to USNLTA club members.

## Draw
### Key

* Q = Qualifier
* WC = Wild card
* LL = Lucky loser
* Alt = Alternate
* SE = Special exempt
* PR = Protected ranking
* ITF = ITF entry
* JE = Junior exempt
* w/o = Walkover
* r = Retired
* d = Defaulted
* SR = Special ranking

### Finals

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals | |
| Richard Sears | Richard Sears | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Crawford Nightingale | Crawford Nightingale | 3 | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Crawford Nightingale | Crawford Nightingale | 3 | 5 | | Richard Sears | Richard Sears | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | Edward Gray | Edward Gray | 3 | 0 | | | | | | | |
| Edward Gray | Edward Gray | | | | Edward Gray | Edward Gray | 3 | 0 | | | | | | | |
| bye | bye | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| bye | bye | | | | | | | | Richard Sears | Richard Sears | 6 | 6 | 6 | | |
| | | | | | | | | | William Glyn | William Glyn | 0 | 3 | 2 | | |
| William Glyn | William Glyn | 6 | 4 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | William Glyn | William Glyn | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| William Gammell | William Gammell | 4 | 6 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| William Gammell | William Gammell | 4 | 6 | 4 | William Glyn | William Glyn | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | Samuel Shaw | Samuel Shaw | 2 | 2 | | | | | | | |
| Samuel Shaw | Samuel Shaw | 4 | 6 | 6 | Samuel Shaw | Samuel Shaw | 2 | 2 | | | | | | | |
| Kessler | Kessler | 6 | 3 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | |

### Top half

| First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals |
| RD Sears | RD Sears | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| HW Powell | HW Powell | 0 | 2 | | RD Sears | RD Sears | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| Anderson | Anderson | 6 | 6 | | Anderson | Anderson | 1 | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| Randolph | Randolph | 2 | 0 | | | | | | RD Sears | RD Sears | 6 | 6 | | | | |
| CA Nightingale | CA Nightingale | 6 | 6 | | | | | | CA Nightingale | CA Nightingale | 3 | 5 | | | | |
| Caldwell | Caldwell | 2 | 0 | | CA Nightingale | CA Nightingale | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| WH Barnes | WH Barnes | 6 | 1 | 6 | WH Barnes | WH Barnes | 4 | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| Miller | Miller | 2 | 6 | 1 | | | | | | | | | RD Sears | RD Sears | 6 | 6 |
| EH Gray | EH Gray | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | EH Gray | EH Gray | 3 | 0 |
| FJ Hines | FJ Hines | 5 | 3 | | EH Gray | EH Gray | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| Coggswell | Coggswell | 6 | 6 | | Coggswell | Coggswell | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | | |
| Congdon | Congdon | 4 | 5 | | | | | | EH Gray | EH Gray | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | bye | bye | | | | | | |

### Bottom half

| First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals |
| WE Glyn | WE Glyn | 1 | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| AL Rives | AL Rives | 6 | 1 | 1 | WE Glyn | WE Glyn | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | |
| RF Conover | RF Conover | 6 | 6 | | RF Conover | RF Conover | 5 | 2 | | | | | | | | | |
| EL Morse | EL Morse | 1 | 1 | | | | | | WE Glyn | WE Glyn | 6 | 4 | 6 | | | | |
| W Gammell | W Gammell | 1 | 6 | 6 | | | | | W Gammell | W Gammell | 4 | 6 | 4 | | | | |
| AE Newbold | AE Newbold | 6 | 3 | 1 | W Gammell | W Gammell | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | bye | bye | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | WE Glyn | WE Glyn | 6 | 6 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | S Shaw | S Shaw | 2 | 2 |
| | | | | | S Shaw | S Shaw | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | |
| Rathbone | Rathbone | 6 | 5 | 6 | Rathbone | Rathbone | 3 | 5 | | | | | | | | | |
| FN Saunders | FN Saunders | 5 | 6 | 5 | | | | | S Shaw | S Shaw | 4 | 6 | 6 | | | | |
| Kessler | Kessler | 6 | 6 | | | | | | Kessler | Kessler | 6 | 3 | 1 | | | | |
| F Eldridge | F Eldridge | 1 | 4 | | Kessler | Kessler | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | |
| WW Smith | WW Smith | | | | WW Smith | WW Smith | 1 | 2 | | | | | | | | | |
| Pruyn | Pruyn | w/o | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |