Introduction to
The Birth of Lawn Tennis

John Carpenter

I thought I was nearly finished researching my own book in 2018 when I opened The New York Times sports section and came across a review of a seven-pound, 562-page volume titled The Birth of Lawn Tennis (2018), co-authored by tennis historian Richard Hillway. Hillway had already published numerous articles revealing that many long-accepted tennis stories were actually myths or outright fabrications. Contemporary documents from the time of the events showed these narratives to be not just flawed, but often entirely false.

One striking example was his evidence challenging Frank DeFord's famous biography of Bill Tilden. Contrary to DeFord's claim that Tilden died broke, Hillway uncovered that Tilden had actually purchased two brand-new Ford automobiles—one of them paid for in cash—just months before his death.

Far from being destitute or inactive, Tilden remained remarkably busy in his final years: giving tennis lessons in the mornings, playing four or five sets in the afternoons, organizing a professional tour in 1951, and writing for magazines and newspapers. He still dressed smartly before going out to dinner—usually steak cooked rare with potatoes—played bridge regularly, and remained closely involved with the family of his protégé, Art Anderson, including Anderson's mother and grandmother.