Cary Leeds

{{Short description|American tennis player}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2023}}

{{Infobox tennis biography

| name = Cary Leeds

| image =

| fullname = Laurence C. Leeds III

| country_represented = {{Flagu|United States}}

| birth_date = {{birth date|1957|4|16}}

| birth_place = New York City, United States

| death_date = {{death date and age|2003|1|30|1957|4|16}}

| death_place =

| plays = Right-handed

| careerprizemoney =

| singlesrecord = 1–9

| singlestitles = 0

| highestsinglesranking =

| USOpenresult = 2R (1982)

| doublesrecord = 27–37

| doublestitles = 0

| highestdoublesranking =

| FrenchOpenDoublesresult = 2R (1981)

| WimbledonDoublesresult = 2R (1982)

| USOpenDoublesresult = 2R (1981, 1982)

| FrenchOpenMixedresult = 1R (1981)

| WimbledonMixedresult = SF (1981)

| USOpenMixedresult = 2R (1980)

}}

Laurence C. "Cary" Leeds III (April 16, 1957 – January 30, 2003) was an American professional tennis player.

Leeds was the son of New York City banker Larry Leeds and Tel Aviv-born Dalia Benary.{{cite web |title=Dalia Leeds Obituary (2016) |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/nytimes/name/dalia-leeds-obituary?pid=179768456 |website=Legacy.com |publisher=New York Times |date=April 28, 2016}} A varsity tennis player while at Yale University, Leeds won a national indoor doubles title with Matt Doyle in 1977 and graduated in 1979 with a B.A.{{cite news |title=Head coach post endowed in honor of late Yale tennis star |url=http://archives.news.yale.edu/v33.n30/story20.html |work=Yale Bulletin & Calendar |date=June 10, 2005}}

Active on the professional tour in the 1980s, Leeds featured most prominently in doubles and made three Grand Prix finals. He was a mixed doubles semi-finalist at the 1981 Wimbledon Championships, partnering Sherry Acker.{{cite web |title=Wimbledon 1981 Tennis Tournament |url=https://www.itftennis.com/en/tournament/wimbledon/gbr/1981/m-sl-gbr-01a-1981/draws-and-results/ |website=itftennis.com}}

The Cary Leeds Center in the South Bronx, New York is named in his honor, set up by his family as a way to memorialize him after his death in 2003. It was opened in 2015.{{cite news |last1=Wilson |first1=Colleen |title=Tennis Center to Serve New York's Youth |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/tennis-center-to-serve-new-yorks-youth-1414547034 |work=Wall Street Journal |date=October 29, 2014}}