Curtis was born in
Adelong, New South Wales, and attended
Newington College (1889–1892) where as a boarding student he was a noted sportsman. He matriculated in 1893 and became a first year medical student at the
University of Sydney. In 1896, with
David Edwards, Curtis won the Queensland Doubles Championship. In 1897 he was part of the University A Team in Tennis that included fellow
Old Newingtonians David Edwards and
Percy Colquhoun. In that year he won the
NSW Championship. Curtis was at the University of Sydney until 1902 but was only in third year in 1896 and remained there until 1899. He finally passed the deferred third year exam in 1900. Curtis moved to South Australia and graduated in medicine from the
University of Adelaide in 1905. He finished runner-up to
Rodney Heath in the singles final of the inaugural
Australasian Championships, the future
Australian Open, in
1905. Curtis was medical superintendent of the
Beechworth Asylum before his death in Melbourne on 12 September 1933, aged 58. ==Grand Slam finals==