Tag Archives: Tennis
Patricia Canning Todd
Patricia Canning Todd (Tennis. Born, Alameda, CA, July 22, 1922.) Though never the best of the women’s players of the 1940s, Patricia Canning Todd was always among the top challengers, particularly adept on clay. Mrs. Todd was ranked in the world’s Top 10 seven times from 1946-52, rated fourth in 1950. Among U.S. women, she […]
Bill Tilden
Bill Tilden (Tennis. Born, Germantown, PA, Feb. 10, 1893; died, Los Angeles, CA, June 5, 1953.) During the “Golden Age of Sports,” Bill Tilden was one of the great names of the age, ranking with Babe Ruth (q.v.), Jack Dempsey (q.v.), and Bobby Jones (q.v.). Known as “Big Bill,” Tilden in comparison to his smaller […]
Billy Talbert
Billy Talbert (Tennis. Born, Cincinnati, OH, Sept. 4, 1918; died, New York, NY, Feb. 28, 1999.) William F. Talbert was a man of many parts. A tireless campaigner for a diabetes cure, a former U.S. Davis Cup captain, one of the leading doubles players in American tennis history, twice a national singles finalist and the […]
Ken Rosewall
Ken Rosewall (Tennis. Born, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, Nov. 2, 1934.) One of the most popular men’s singles triumphs in the long history of national championship tennis on the lawns of the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills came in 1970. That was the year when Kenneth R. Rosewall won his second title. […]
Bobby Riggs
Bobby Riggs (Tennis. Born, Los Angeles, CA, Feb. 25, 1918; died, Leucadi, CA, Oct. 25, 1995.) At age 12, Robert Larimore Riggs began taking tennis lessons and, within six years, was the fourth-ranked player in the U.S. In 1938, Riggs made the U.S. Davis Cup team. The next year, he won the U.S. singles title […]
Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King (Tennis. Born, Long Beach, CA, Nov. 22, 1943.) Long in the forefront of women’s tennis, Billie Jean King was a pioneer among women pro players and accomplished many significant breakthroughs for women in the sport. She was the finest player of her day, being ranked as the U.S. No. 1 woman in […]
Jack Kramer
Jack Kramer (Tennis. Born, Monticello, CA, Aug. 1, 1921; died, Bel Air, CA, Sept. 12, 2009.) Rated as the brightest star in men’s tennis in the years immediately following World War II, John Albert Kramer later became a successful promoter of the professional sport. Kramer might have had an even more dominant career as a […]
Bill Johnston
Bill Johnston (Tennis. Born, San Francisco, CA, Nov. 21, 1894; died, San Francisco, CA, May 1, 1946.) When the U.S. national tennis championship moved to New York in 1915, William M. Johnston was the first to win the men’s singles title at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills. Johnston was later to become […]
Helen Hull Jacobs
Helen Hull Jacobs (Tennis. Born, Globe, AZ, Aug. 6, 1908; died, East Hampton, NY, June 2, 1997.) A dominating force in women’s tennis for 15 years leading up to World War II, Helen Hull Jacobs was a four-time U.S. singles champion. Jacobs made the singles final at Forest Hills eight times in 13 years (1928-40), […]
Helen Wills Moody
Helen Wills Moody (Tennis. Born, Centerville, CA, Oct. 6, 1905; died, Carmel, CA, Jan. 1, 1998.) By far the most impressive female sports personality of her time and a seven-time champion of the U.S. national singles at Forest Hills, Helen Newington Wills was the lone woman classed among the greats in the “Golden Age of […]
