The Accidental Volley

Big Bill with his protege and future doubles partner Sandy Weiner.

Accidents sometimes prove a blessing in disguise. One could hardly recommend the loss of a finger as a definite asset to a tennis player. Yet, strange as it sounds, I owe a marked improvement in my net game, volley and smash to the accident of the loss of my middle finger of my right hand. I had been too soft in my volley game and overhead. I always knew that. Yet somehow or other, in the days when I had all my fingers, I never could drive myself to kill. (Editor’s Note: Tilden lost the tip of his second finger to a severe infection that almost cost him his life.)

In 1922 I met Sandy Wiener, and the boy and I started to play doubles together. Then, late that year, came my accident and the resultant loss of my finger and what, for a time, seemed to be the end of my tennis. Finally, with the Spring of 1923, I began my attempt to come back. I quickly discovered that certain soft shots of finesse that I had formerly relied upon at the net were gone from my game…