Bill Tilden

At 60 years old, Bill Tilden has this physical status:

William Tatem Tilden II (February 10, 1893 – June 5, 1953), nicknamed "Big Bill," was an American male tennis player.

He is often considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

Tilden was the World No. 1 player for six years from 1920 through 1925.

He won 15 Major singles titles including ten Grand Slam events, one World Hard Court Championships and four professional majors.

He was the first American to win Wimbledon in 1920.

He also won a record seven U.S. Championships titles (shared with Richard Sears and Bill Larned). Tilden dominated the world of international tennis in the first half of the 1920s, and during his 18-year amateur period of 1912–29, won 138 of 192 tournaments.

He owns a number of all-time tennis achievements including a career match winning record and a career winning percentage at the U.S. National Championships.

At the 1929 U.S. National Championships Tilden became the first player to reach 10 finals at a single Grand Slam event.

His ten finals at a grand slam tournament remained a record until 2017, when Roger Federer reached his eleventh Wimbledon final.

Tilden, who was frequently at odds with the rigid United States Lawn Tennis Association about his amateur status and income derived from newspaper articles, won his last Major title in 1930 at Wimbledon aged 37.

He turned professional on the last day of that year and toured with a handful of other professionals for the next 15 years.

Personal life

William Tatem Tilden Jr. was born on February 10, 1893, in Germantown, Philadelphia into a wealthy family bereaved by the death of three older siblings. His father was William Tatem Tilden, a wool merchant and local politician; and his mother, Selina Hey, was a pianist. His semi-invalid mother, who suffered from Bright's disease, died when he was 18; and, even though his father was still alive and maintained a large house staffed with servants, Bill was sent a few houses away to live with a maiden aunt. The loss at 22 of his father and an older brother Herbert marked him deeply. After several months of deep depression and, with encouragement from his aunt, tennis, which he had taken up at age six or seven at the family summer house in the Catskill Mountains, became his primary means of recovery. According to his biographer, Frank Deford, because of his early family losses, Tilden spent all of his adult life attempting to create a father-son relationship with a long succession of ball boys and youthful tennis protégés, of whom Vinnie Richards was the most noted. In spite of his worldwide travels, Tilden lived at his aunt's house until 1941, when he was 48 years old.

Tilden was initially home-schooled by his overprotective mother and a team of private tutors; but, in 1908, he went to Germantown Academy. In October 1910 he entered the University of Pennsylvania, where he joined Delta Kappa Epsilon, and enrolled at Peirce College but did not graduate.

Source

Early and amateur tennis career

Tilden went to the Germantown Academy, where he wasn't known for his tennis skills nor was he good enough to play for his college team. The shy, self-absorbed, often selfish young man dropped out of the University of Pennsylvania and began to play his game against a backboard, and he later became a lifelong student of the game. He won his first tournaments in the United States, and he took home the junior singles and doubles championships of Germantown. He rose to the top of the charts in just three years. In 1913, he won the mixed doubles championships with Mary Browne, who successfully defended the title in 1914.

Tilden was the Philadelphia champion from 1914 to 1917. He had won several Canadian doubles titles before 1920, but he lost the singles final to Robert Lindley Murray and "Little Bill" Johnston in straight sets, respectively. He has won six consecutive US singles titles from 1920 to 1925, including seven in total, making him the joint holder with Richard Sears and Bill Larned. He went to Rhode Island in 1919-1920, where he converted his ineffective backhand to a much more effective one. With this change, he became the world No. 1 in the world. The Wimbledon singles championship will be contested by 1 tennis player and the first male American to win the tournament. Tilden came into conflict with the USLTA over suspected amateur abuses, specifically over the monetary compensation he received for writing tennis articles in the mid-1920s.

The Davis Cup was finally wrested away from Tilden and the United States in the late 1920s, as well as his nomination of singles titles at Wimbledon and Forest Hills. In 1928, he dominated the Ojai Tennis Tournament in the men's singles. Tilden had long been at odds with the United States Lawn Tennis Association's strict amateur directors about his income derived from newspaper articles about tennis. He won his last major championship at Wimbledon in 1930 at the age of 37, but he was no longer eligible to win titles at will.

Professional tennis career

On December 31, 1930, he became a professional and joined the fledgling pro tour, which had only existed in 1927. In a series of one-night stands, Tilden and a few other artists, such as Hans Nüsslein and Karel Koeluh, entertained audiences around the United States and Europe, with Tilden the player that most people wanted to see for the first 15 years. On the 1931 tour, Tilden defeated Koeluh 50-17. Well, with legends such as Ellsworth Vines, Fred Perry, and Don Budge as his opponents, no. 58 is current or recent world No. For a first set or even occasional match, it was often Tilden who made the box-office earnings—and who could also hold his own against the much younger players. Tilden was ranked world No. 1 in 2006. Ray Bowers in 1931 and 1932, and Ellsworth Vines in 1933.

Tilden said he reached the apogee of his entire career in 1934 at the age of 41, but Ellsworth Vines ruled the pro ranks for the first year. Vines had an edge of 11–9 in the first phase of their tour from January 10 to February 16 and Tilden led by 19 games after the second phase of their tour, which continued from March 21 to May 17. According to an Associated Press article, Tilden had won 17 times for the entire year, so there was a likely win-loss record at the tour's end of 36–17 in Vines' favour. Both players played at least six times in the year's absence (Ray Bowers has listed 5 tournament matches and a one-night tournament), but Tilden lost by Tilden.

Tilden won his first U.S. citation in 1931. In straight sets at the Forest Hill Stadium in New York, a pro title was defeated by Vincent Richards in the final. He captured his second US Pro title in 1935, defeating Kozeluh in the final. In 1934, Tilden won the French Pro championship for the fourth time. Tilden was in his mid-40s and past his prime in the 1930s, but he was still very good tennis in patches. In the 1941 World Series, Tilden defeated Don Budge equitably. "Bill will invariably have to keep things close for a while," Budge said of Tilden. I was never convinced that he'd be able to follow me to the end, but "I was flooded" him the entire tour.

The 52-year-old Tilden and his long-time doubles partner Vinnie Richards won the professional doubles championship in 1945; they had won the United States amateur championship two years ago in 1918.

The 53-year-old Tilden served a prison term for his participation in the pro tournament circuit in 1946. He returned to tennis for a brief period of matches against Wayne Sabin in 1948. In 1951, Tilden's last farewell was seen. In April and May, he met George Lyttleton Rogers on a tour. At the Cleveland tournament in June 1951, Tilden lost in the quarterfinals to Frank Kovacs. Tilden was 58 years old. He had made his singles debut at the US (Amateur) championships 35 years ago, in 1916.

In the 1937 Davis Cup, Tilden coached Germany's tennis team. After the decisive singles match between Gottfried von Cramm and Don Budge, the US team triumphed in the inter-zone finals, a match that has been described as "the Greatest Tennis Match Ever Played" is a tournament.

Career statistics

Tilden claimed 138 of 192 tournaments from 1912 to 1930, a 93 percent winning percentage. Despite the fact that he never competed in the Australian Championships, Tilden was the first male tennis player to win four consecutive Grand Slam titles. The Australian Championships were held in 1921 following the United States National Championships. He began playing professionally in 1931, but he was then ineligible to participate in Grand Slam tournaments. He has a string of all-time tennis championships, including an amateur record of 93.6%.

Tilden's career winning percentage at the US National Championships was 90.7%, placing him first ahead of Roger Federer, Fred Perry, and Pete Sampras, and Pete Sampras, who finished second, with a 42-match winning streak from 1920 to 1926, ahead of Roger Federer and Ivan Lendl. Don Budge and Roy Emerson's longest winning streak since 1924-1920, 78-1, puts him ahead of John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, who is his best win-loss single season since 1925. The only players to reach ten finals at a single Grand Slam event are He, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal. He set a new all-time record at the Wimbledon Championships, placing him 3rd all-time behind Björn Borg and Don Budge.

WC: The challenge round was successful; (CR) lost the competition round; (FA) All comers' finalists were finalists.

Source