Big Bill Tilden

Ever since the days of the gladiator, athletes have been pitted against each other in single combat, the ultimate challenge. Today, there are only two sports which preserve this ancient legacy, the consummate test of all the resources an athlete can bring to bear.

One is boxing, the other sport is tennis. Very few practitioners of tennis, this most demanding of sports, have achieved a level of proficiency that can be defined as mastery. These articles tell the stories of some of these divinely gifted few.

Big Bill Tilden was the first king of the court. .Big Bill Tilden stood atop the tennis world like a colossus.

At the start of his career, Big Bill was one half of the first great rivalry in tennis history--a rivalry with the " other" Bill, Little Bill Johnston.

Little Bill defeated Big Bill in the finals of the U.S. Championships with a devastating western forehand, which Johnston developed in his native California .

Click here to read about Little Bill's Forehand

In order to counter Johnston , Tilden went back to the drawing board. He developed and refined the eastern grip, the only grip allowing a player to hit slice, top spin and flat on all shots. After that, Big Bill never looked back.

Tilden mastered every shot on every surface. It's been said that Big Bill only did two things: he either hit the ball where you least liked it, or he put it away.

Big Bill was a complete all court player. He also felt that he could walk on water, which doesn't hurt an athlete in any sport.

In 1920, his first serve was clocked at 150 miles an hour. Witnesses tell the story of how at times Big Bill would deliberately decide to serve four consecutive aces.

First he would pick up four tennis balls, place them between his thumb and fingers, then go to the baseline, and serve an ace.

He would then move over about six inches, and serve a second ace. Then he would move back, serve the third ace and move back again another six inches and serve the fourth ace. Afterwards he would look around to make sure that everyone had caught his intention.

In his prime, Tilden was universally acknowledged as the world's

greatest singles player. However, since he seldom entered doubles events, his ability as a doubles player was sometimes questioned

Finally, Tilden had enough. He entered the U.S. Doubles Championships with an up and coming American, Vinnie Richards, as his partner. They won the tournament. At the time, Richards was 15 years old!

Even toward the end of his long career, Tilden had the physique of a player. He looked like a player even in to his late 40s and 50s. He was Mr. Tennis.

He was always very willing to play with anybody that he thought wanted to play. All he really wanted was to have a couple of tennis jackets, an armful of racquets in the trunk of his car and travel around and play. He smoked, he loved to play bridge. He was a fantastic character.

The argument as to who is the greatest tennis player in history will never be settled. But there is absolutely no doubt which player maintained the highest level of excellence for the longest period. Big Bill, hands down.

Tilden won Wimbledon in both 1920 and 21. Then after a 6 year absence from the tournament, he returned and won again in 1930. At the time he was 37 years old.

Alice Marble, the American women's champion who toured with Tilden and the great Ellsworth Vines, believed Big Bill was the greatest player of all time.

At the time, Tilden was 40 and Vines was 22. On opening night at Madison Square Garden , Tilden defeated Vines in 4 sets.

Vines, the reigning Wimbledon champion, recovered and eventually went on to win the tour. But on numerous occasions, Tilden would come to visit Marble prior to taking the court and proclaim: " Alice , tonight, I will teach the young man a lesson." On each and every occasion, Tilden won the match.

In 1943, at the age of 50, Big Bill played Jack Kramer in a Los Angeles charity event. Kramer was 22 and entering the prime of his career. Spurred on by Bobby Riggs, the betting was fast and furious, with Kramer the prohibitive favorite.

Before a sell out crowd and a galaxy of Hollywood stars, the Old Master came through one last time, defeating Kramer in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.

Tilden was the sport's first superstar, in a class all by himself. He can't really be compared to any other player. It was Bill Tilden and nobody but Bill Tilden.