Tennis/Catalogs/Famous players: Difference between revisions

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imported>Hayford Peirce
(am starting to alphabetize the list; have done the A's and B's. If you don't think it should be done this way, revert it back)
imported>Hayford Peirce
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|Davis info=On 6 consecutive winning teams, from 1927 through 1932;  
|Davis info=On 6 consecutive winning teams, from 1927 through 1932;  
|ProAm=Amateur only
|ProAm=Amateur only
|Trivia=Always wore a blue beret during his matches; intensely disliked by Bill Tilden, the consummate showman, master of gamesmanship, and show-off — Tilden considered ''Borotra'' to be a show-off "a charlatan, the greatest faker in tennis history";<ref>''Big Bill Tilden, The Triumphs and the Tragedy'' - Frank DeFord, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1976, page 139</ref> "Borotra [Tilden wrote] was what passes for 'typically' French. That is to say, he had all the charm, warmth, glamour and insincerity which is Paris." <ref>''Big Bill Tilden, The Triumphs and the Tragedy'' - Frank DeFord, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1976, page 139</ref>}}
|Trivia=Always wore a blue beret during his matches; intensely disliked by [[Bill Tilden]], himself a consummate showman, master of gamesmanship, and show-off—Tilden considered ''Borotra'' to be a show-off: "a charlatan, the greatest faker in tennis history";<ref>''Big Bill Tilden, The Triumphs and the Tragedy''—Frank DeFord, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1976, page 139</ref> "Borotra [Tilden wrote] was what passes for 'typically' French. That is to say, he had all the charm, warmth, glamour and insincerity which is Paris." <ref>''Big Bill Tilden, The Triumphs and the Tragedy''—Frank DeFord, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1976, page 139</ref>}}
{{Tennis player2
{{Tennis player2
|Name=Jacques Brugnon
|Name=Jacques Brugnon

Revision as of 17:30, 4 November 2007


This is a supplement, in alphabetical order, to the article about Tennis and to the articles about the individual players. Many of them were considered to be the World No. 1 player at some point in their career. Although other players will also be included, this list will, at a minimum, include all players who have ever been considered to be the World No. 1 player or Co-No. 1 for an entire year.

Male

Name Biographical Technique Record
Event S D MD Wins
Bunny Austin
(Henry Wilfred Austin)

Info: Bunny came from a character of that name in a comic strip called Wilfred

Nationality: British

Birth: August 20, 1906, South Norwood, London, England
Death: August 20, 2000,

right handed
Class: Amateur only
Strength:"Fluid, class strokes"[1]

Grand Slam        
Davis Cup  36-12    9 teams wins
World #1 player  
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Although British, he served in the United States Army during World War II, where he was diagonosed with Gilbert's Syndrome, a periodic liver misfunction that had previously caused mysterious, weakening illnesses; he lived, nevertheless to 94, dying on his birthday; the first player to wear shorts at Wimbledon and the United States amateur championships; used a split-shaft open-throat wooden racquet in 1936.
Jean Borotra
(Jean Robert Borotra)

Info: Called The Bounding Basque (le Basque bondissant in French); was also one of the iconic French Four Musketeers tennis players

Nationality: French

Birth: August 13, 1898, Domaine du Pouy, in the Basque Pyrenees country near Biarritz, France
Death: July 17, 1994, Arbonne, France

Right handed
Class: Amateur only
Strength:Attacking game and volleying; skillful gamesmanship; a great indoor player who won the French indoor title 12 times, the British 11, and the U.S. 4

Grand Slam  4  9  3  16
Davis Cup  19-12  17-6  17 teams wins
World #1 player  
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Always wore a blue beret during his matches; intensely disliked by Bill Tilden, himself a consummate showman, master of gamesmanship, and show-off—Tilden considered Borotra to be a show-off: "a charlatan, the greatest faker in tennis history";[2] "Borotra [Tilden wrote] was what passes for 'typically' French. That is to say, he had all the charm, warmth, glamour and insincerity which is Paris." [3]
Davis Cup info: On 6 consecutive winning teams, from 1927 through 1932;
Jacques Brugnon
(Jacques Brugnon)

Info: Called Toto; was also one of the iconic French Four Musketeers tennis players

Nationality: French

Birth: May 11, 1895, Paris, France
Death: March 20, 1978, Paris, France

Right handed
Class: Amateur only as a player; for a while was a teaching professional in California
Strength:Doubles—was the doubles specialist of the Musketeers; "A player of rare stroke variety and delicacy of touch." [4]

Grand Slam  10  2    12
Davis Cup  4-2  22-9  11 teams wins
World #1 player  
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Oldest and smallest of the Musketeers; nearly made the finals of the 1926 Wimbledon championship, having 5 match points in the semi-finals against Bob Kinney without winning any of them
Davis Cup info: On 6 consecutive winning teams, from 1927 through 1932, but actually played in only 4 of them
Don Budge
(John Donald Budge)

Nationality: American

Birth: June 13, 1915, Oakland, California
Death: January 26, 2000, Poughkeepsie, New York

Right handed
Class: Amateur through 1938, then a touring professional through the early-1950s
Strength:Universally considered to have had the greatest backhand of all time, at least until Ken Rosewall; very powerful serve; powerful all-court game; also considered to be a great doubles player
Weakness:Hurt his shoulder during military service, which eventually rendered his overhead less effective
Grand Slam  6  4  4  14
Davis Cup  19-2  6-2  4 teams wins
World #1 player  1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1942
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: In 1938 was the first man to achieve the singles Grand Slam by winning the four major tournaments: Australian, French, United States, and Wimbledon championships
William Renshaw
(William Charles Renshaw)

Info: Called Willie

Nationality: British

Birth: January 3, 1861, Leamington, England
Death: August 12, 1904, Swanage, England

Right handed
Class: Amateur only
Strength:Aggressiveness; serve and overhead smash

Grand Slam  7  5    12
Davis Cup       teams  wins
World #1 player  Played before rankings; also before Davis Cup was initiated
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Was the younger, by 15 minutes, to his twin, Ernest Renshaw, also a Wimbledon singles champion; together they won Wimbledon doubles 5 times
Tony Wilding
(Anthony Frederick Wilding)

Nationality: NZ

Birth: October 31, 1883, Christchurch, New Zealand
Death: May 9, 1915, near Neuve Chapelle, Pas de Calais, France

Right handed
Class: Amateur only
Strength:Hit his drives with great pace and overspin; defense and baseline play

Grand Slam  6  5    11
Davis Cup  15-6  6-3  6 teams wins
World #1 player  1913
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Joined the Royal Marines in World War I, rose to Captain; along with the American Joe Hunt, probably the most prominent tennis player ever killed on active service
Maurice McLoughlin
(Maurice Evans McLoughlin)

Info: Called Red or The California Comet

Nationality: American

Birth: January 7, 1890, Carson City, Nevada
Death: December 10, 1957, Hermosa Beach, California

Right handed
Class: Amateur only
Strength:"Cannonball" serve; overhead smash; volleying
Weakness:Retired at 29, perhaps worn out from his violent on-court exertions
Grand Slam  2  3    5
Davis Cup  9-4  3-4  4 teams wins
World #1 player  1914
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: The first of the great serve-and-volley attackers
Richard Williams
(Richard Norris Williams)

Info: Known variously as Richard, Dick, and R. Norris

Nationality: American

Birth: January 29, 1891, Geneva, Switzerland
Death: June 2, 1968, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania

Right handed
Class: Amateur only
Strength:Took ball on the rise using the Continental grip, going for winners on every shot; unbeatable when his game was "on"
Weakness:Extremely erratic, could lose to much inferior players
Grand Slam  2  3  1  6
Davis Cup  6-3  4-0  6 teams wins
World #1 player  Was the U.S.A. No. 1 in 1916, when there were no world rankings because of World War I
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Was a Titanic survivor, nearly had his legs amputated after being rescued from the near-freezing waters.
Bill Tilden
(William Tatem Tilden, Jr., changed to William Tatem Tilden II in the 1910s)
Info: Called Big Bill; also Tillie, disrespectfully, by some players
Tilden hitting forehand.jpg

Nationality: American

Birth: February 10, 1893, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Death: June 5, 1953, Los Angeles, California

Right handed
Class: Amateur through 1930; thereafter a touring professional
Strength:"Cannonball" serve; all-court game; speed and court coverage; intelligence and analytic ability to change strategy and tactics during matches
Weakness:Initially, his backhand; possibly his overhead smash
Grand Slam  10  6  5  21
Davis Cup  25-5  9-2  11 teams wins
World #1 player  1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1931, second most to Pancho Gonzales
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: In his professional debut beat Karel Koželuh before 14,000 at Madison Square Garden on February 18, 1931; thereafter toured for many years against other top professionals. Served two periods of incarceration near Los Angeles for morals charges involving underage males
Davis Cup info: On 7 consecutive winning teams, 1920 through 1926, still a record
Bill Johnston
(William M. Johnston)

Info: Called Little Bill

Nationality: American

Birth: November 2, 1894, San Francisco, California
Death: May 1, 1946, San Francisco, California

Right handed
Class: Amateur only; retired from competition in 1927
Strength:Topspin forehand drive hit shoulder-high with a Western grip; volleying from the service line
Weakness:Backhand, which he hit with the same face of the racquet as his forehand; occasional physical fraility
Grand Slam  3  3  1  7
Davis Cup  14-3  4-0  8 teams wins
World #1 player  1919
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Died of tuberculosis at age 51
Davis Cup info: On 7 consecutive winning teams, 1920 through 1926, still a record
Karel Koželuh
(Karel Koželuh)

Nationality: Czech

Birth: March 7, 1895, Prague
Death: April 27, 1950, Prague

right handed
Class: Professional only, first as a coach, then as a touring pro; won top professional tournaments into his 40s
Strength:Tireless baseliner; court coverage; passing shots
Weakness:Never hit the ball particularly hard; needed ample running room behind the baseline for his game to be effective: was handicapped playing on some of the tighter indoor courts; seldom approached the net
Grand Slam        
Davis Cup       teams  wins
World #1 player  Never played amateur tournaments or Davis Cup matches
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Along with Hans Nüsslein, probably the best player never to have been a top amateur; won numerous professional championships; the American tennis player Vinnie Richards described Koželuh as "Seamy-faced, cadaverous-looking and, in general, resembled a cigar-store Indian;" was killed in an automobile crash outside Prague at age 55
Gerald Patterson
(Gerald Leighton Patterson)

Info: Sometimes called The Human Catapul in Australia because of his hard serve

Nationality: Australian

Birth: December 17, 1895, Melbourne, Australia
Death: June 13, 1967, Melbourne, Australia

Right handed
Class: Amateur only
Strength:Very hard serve, both flat and twist; smash; volleying; forehand

Grand Slam  3  5  1  9
Davis Cup  21-10  11-4  6 teams wins
World #1 player  1919
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Won the Military Cross with Australian army in World War I; nephew of diva Dame Nellie Melba


Ray Casey
(Raymond John Casey)

Nationality: American

Birth: February 15, 1900, San Francisco, California
Death: January, 1982, Palo Alto, California

Left handed
Class: Amateur into the 1940s, then became a successful tennis coach
Strength:Very hard serve, one of the fastest in the world at the time
Weakness:Lack of mobility compared to many other top players
Grand Slam        
Davis Cup       teams  wins
World #1 player  Never had a national ranking because he played exclusively on the West Coast
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Was sometimes mistakenly called "Roy" Casey in New York Times articles; most famous pupil was Bob Lutz
Henri Cochet
(Henri Jean Cochet)

Info: Called The Ballboy of Lyons, also The Magician; was also one of the iconic French Four Musketeers tennis players

Nationality: French

Birth: December 14, 1901, Lyons, France
Death: April 1, 1987, St. Germain-en-Laye, France

Right handed
Class: Amateur until 1934; had an undistinguished professional career; reinstated as an amateur in 1945
Strength:Taking the ball on the rise to make volleys and half-volleys; overhead; successful shots from apparently impossible positions; winning matches that apparently had been lost
Weakness:"A weak serve, he seldom bothered to lob, and he had a backhand which Tilden characterized as 'a little too cramped and defensive.' "[5]
Grand Slam  7  5  3  15
Davis Cup  34-8  10-6  11 teams wins
World #1 player  1928, 1929, 1930
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: The only one of the Four Musketeers to turn professional, then was reinstated as an amateur in 1945
Vinnie Richards
(Vincent Richards)

Nationality: American

Birth: March 30, 1903, Yonkers, New York
Death: September 28, 1959, New York, New York

right handed
Class: Amateur until 1929, then became the first important player to turn professional; barnstormed for a few years, then played occasional pro tournaments throughout the 1930s
Strength:Superb volleyer, a great doubles player

Grand Slam    7  2  9
Davis Cup  2-0  2-1  4 teams wins
World #1 player  
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Won the United States doubles championship in 1918 with Bill Tilden at the age of 15 and remains the youngest male to have ever won a major championship; 27 years later, in 1945, when Tilden was 52, they won the United States Pro doubles title; in 1924 won 2 Olympic gold medals for singles and doubles and a silver for mixed doubles.
René Lacoste
(Jean René Lacoste)

Info: Called The Crocodile, mostly in France, or The Alligator, mostly in the United States; there are differing explanations for the origin of his nickname; was also one of the iconic French Four Musketeers tennis players

Nationality: French

Birth: July 2, 1904, Paris, France
Death: October 12, 1996, St. Jean-de-Luz, France

Right handed
Class: Amateur only
Strength:Relentless backcourt returning; passing shots and lobs
Weakness:Fragile health; retired in 1929 at age 25
Grand Slam  7  3    10
Davis Cup  32-8  8-3  6 teams wins
World #1 player  1926, 1927
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: For many years his polo shirts with the crocodile logo on the breast have been sold worldwide; developed the first successful metal racket, the Wilson T2000, used by Jimmy Connors; his daughter, Catherine Lacoste, won the U.S. Open gold title in 1967.
Jack Crawford
(John Herbert Crawford)

Info: Called Gentleman Jack

Nationality: Australian

Birth: March 22 1908, Albury, New South Wales, Australia
Death: September 10, 1991, Sydney, Australia

Right handed
Class: Amateur only
Strength:Graceful, effortless, but powerful baseline strokes; a fine serve
Weakness:Suffered from asthma, which sometimes affected his ability to play
Grand Slam  6  6  5  17
Davis Cup  23-16  13-5  8 teams wins
World #1 player  1933
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Came within 1 set of winning the Grand Slam in 1933, 5 years before Don Budge did it; with his wife, Marjorie Cox, won 3 straight Australian mixed doubles titles; as singles players, they also both made the 1931 Australian finals
Davis Cup info: During his long career, was on only 1 winning team, in 1939, but didn't play in the final round against the United States
Fred Perry
(Frederick John Perry)

Nationality: British

Birth: May 18, 1909, Stockport, Cheshire, England
Death: February 21, 1995, Melbourne, Australia

Right handed
Class: Amateur through 1936, then a touring professional through the mid-1940s
Strength:Extremely good footwork and great speed; played an all-court attacking game dominated by a superb forehand that, with a Continental grip, took the ball on the rise
Weakness:An "underslice" backhand;[6] was perceived as being selfish, sarcastic, and egotistical; Jack Kramer says that as a professional Perry frequently gave less than 100% in his matches, not caring whether he won or lost[7]
Grand Slam  8  2  4  14
Davis Cup  34-4  11-3  6 teams wins
World #1 player  1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1941
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Father was a Labour Party member of the House of Commons; Perry was a table tennis champion before taking up tennis.
Davis Cup info: Led Great Britain to 4 consecutive wins; Great Britain has never won since
Gottfried von Cramm
(Baron Gottfried Alexander Maximilian Walter Kurt Freiherr von Cramm)

Info: Called The Baron

Nationality: German

Birth: July 7, 1909, Nettlingen, Hanover, Germany
Death: November 8, 1976, Cairo, Egypt

right handed
Class: Amateur only
Strength:Endurance and tenacity

Grand Slam  2  2  1  5
Davis Cup  58-10  24-11  9 teams wins
World #1 player  
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Along with Frank Sedgman and Lew Hoad, probably the best player never to be ranked the World No. 1 player; a homosexual who was persecuted by the Nazis, he was once married to the American socialite Barbara Hutton.
Davis Cup info: Lost in 5 sets to Don Budge in what has been called the greatest Davis Cup match of all time, the 5th and deciding match of the 1937 semi-finals.
Frank Shields
(Francis Xavier Shields)

Nationality: American

Birth: November 18, 1909, New York, New York
Death: August 19, 1975, New York, New York

Right handed
Class: Amateur only


Grand Slam        
Davis Cup  16-6  3-0  3 teams wins
World #1 player  
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Known for his exceptionally good looks, Shields was married three times, twice to socialites, appeared in a number of 1930s' movies, and was the grandfather of actress Brooke Shields; the only player to ever lose a Wimbledon final by default: he had sprained an ankle in his winning semi-final and was unable to appear
Bitsy Grant
(Bryan Morel Grant, Jr.)

Nationality: American

Birth: December 25, 1909, Atlanta, Georgia
Death: June 5, 1986, Atlanta, Georgia

right handed
Class: Amateur only
Strength:"A retriever supreme"[8]

Grand Slam        
Davis Cup  8-2    3 teams wins
World #1 player  
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: At 5 feet 4 inches (162 cm) and 120 lbs (54 kg), almost certainly the smallest of the great players, occasionally beating such heavy-hitters as Ellsworth Vines and Don Budge
Hans Nüsslein
(Hans Nüsslein)

Info: Called Hanne

Nationality: German

Birth: March 31, 1910, Nuremberg, Germany
Death: June 28, 1991, Altenkirchen, Germany

right handed
Class: A professional at an early age, joined the pro tour at 21 or 22 and toured regularly throughout the 1930s
Strength:A very speedy, tireless baseliner with "excellent groundstrokes"[9]
Weakness:Not known for his ability at the net
Grand Slam        
Davis Cup       teams  wins
World #1 player  Never played amateur tournaments or Davis Cup matches
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Along with Karel Koželuh, probably the best player never to have been a top amateur; won numerous professional championships; a regular opponent of the charismatic Bill Tilden, whom he played hundreds of times—at one point in 1934, had beaten Tilden 47 times while losing 116 matches.[10]
Ellsworth Vines
(Henry Ellsworth Vines, Jr.)

Info: Called Elly

Nationality: American

Birth: September 29, 1911, Los Angeles, California
Death: March 17, 1994

Right handed
Class: Amateur until 1933, then a touring professional through 1939
Strength:Tremendously hard serve and forehand, both hit flat with no spin, "murderous" overhead,[11] good volleying
Weakness:Very erratic, played with no margin of safety when hitting shots
Grand Slam  3  2  1  6
Davis Cup  13-3  0  2 teams wins
World #1 player  1932, 1935, 1936, 1937
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Lost interest in tennis and at 28 became a professional golfer; won one professional golf tournament and reached the semi-finals of the 1951 PGA championship.
Sidney Wood
(Sidney Burr Beardsley Wood)

Nationality: American

Birth: November 1, 1911, Black Rock, Connecticut
Death: Still living as of November, 2007

Right handed
Class: Amateur only


Grand Slam        1
Davis Cup  5-6  3-0  2 teams wins
World #1 player  
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Won his sole Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 1931 at age 19 when his scheduled opponent, frequent doubles partner Frank Shields, defaulted because of a sprained ankle
Davis Cup info: In a "Tennis Courts" column for The New Yorker, James Thurber once slipped "I'm tired of seeing our tennis hopes brought back home on our Wood Shields" past his celebrated editor, Harold Ross, who was both pun-hating and sports illiterate.[12]


Bobby Riggs
(Robert Larimore Riggs)

Nationality: American

Birth: February 25, 1918, Los Angeles, California
Death: October 25, 1995, Leucadia, California

Right handed
Class: Amateur through 1941, then a touring professional for a few years after World War II
Strength:Return of serve; lob; dropshot; passing shots; overhead smash; court coverage; all-round defensive game; calm temperament
Weakness:Smaller than many of his opponents such as Budge and Kramer, and not as powerful, but no noticeable weaknesses
Grand Slam  3  1  2  6
Davis Cup  2-2    2 teams wins
World #1 player  1941, 1946, 1947
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Played women's champion Billie Jean King in "The Battle of the Sexes" in 1975, a match televised worldwide; was notorious as a highly successful hustler in both tennis and golf, particularly after his retirement from top-level tennis; generally thought of as a defensive player, but had a fine serve and volley and frequently played a very agressive game
Frank Kovacs
(Frank Kovacs)

Info: called Frankie; also The Clown Prince of Tennis

Nationality: American

Birth: 1919
Death: 1990

Right handed
Class: Amateur through 1941, then an occasional touring professional for a number of years after World War II
Strength:His best shot, says Kramer, was "a hard, angled backhand crosscourt, but he could never figure out how to set it up so he could take advantage of it." [13]
Weakness:"Kovacs had picture strokes, but the reason he could never win anything is because he didn't have any idea how to go about winning. He never had a set plan for a match. Hell, he never had a set plan for a shot. He could sort of decide what to do with it halfway through the stroke." [14]
Grand Slam        
Davis Cup       teams  wins
World #1 player  
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Known for his on-court eccentricities, such as chewing tennis balls; one source says that as of October, 1951, Kovacs held a remarkable 14-3 lead over Jack Kramer, the world's best player, in their head-to-head meetings, which is difficult to credit;[15] his cousin was the entertainer Ernie Kovacs.
Pancho Segura
(Francisco Olegario Segura)

Info: called Segoo

Nationality: Ecuadorian/American

Birth: June 20, 1921, Guayaquil, Ecuador

right handed
Class: Amateur through 1947, then a touring professional for two decades
Strength:Two-handed forehand, which Jack Kramer once called "the greatest single shot ever produced in tennis"; exceptional quickness; lob; dropshot
Weakness:Relatively ordinary backhand; over-reliance on his forehand
Grand Slam        
Davis Cup       teams  wins
World #1 player  1950, 1951, 1952
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Small and bandy-legged, suffered from hernias, malaria, and rickets as a child; according to Kramer, probably played "more matches against top players than anyone in history"; never won any major amateur titles but was, for 3 years, the World Co-No. 1 as a professional
Jack Kramer
(John Albert Kramer)
Info: Called Jake or Big Jake
Jack Kramer plaque cropped.jpg

Nationality: American

Birth: August 1, 1921, Las Vegas, Nevada

Right handed
Class: Amateur through 1947, thereafter a touring professional and promoter
Strength:Serve; second serve; volley; overhead; forehand; ability to pace himself and play "percentage tennis"; also considered to be a great doubles player
Weakness:no noticeable ones except physical infirmities, particularly in his back, that eventually curtailed his career
Grand Slam  3  6  1  10
Davis Cup  6-0  1-2  3 teams wins
World #1 player  1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: The first great player to use serve-and-volley with every point; an important tennis figure in four separate categories: as a player; as a promoter of the professional tour; as a powerful advocate for Open Tennis; as a broadcaster and tennis spokesman
Frank Sedgman
(Frank Arthur Sedgman)

Info: Called Sedge

Nationality: Australian

Birth: October 29, 1927, Mont Albert, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Right handed
Class: Amateur through 1952, thereafter a touring professional for many years
Strength:Superb fitness; exceptional quickness, particularly at the net; fine serve and a great volley; also considered to be a great doubles player
Weakness:According to Jack Kramer, his slice backhand, plus an inability to win at the very highest level "because he couldn't keep the heat on."
Grand Slam  5  9  8  22
Davis Cup  16-3  9-0  4 teams wins
World #1 player  
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: The first of the great post-War Australians who went on to nearly dominate world tennis for three decades; competing first against Jack Kramer, then Pancho Gonzales, was probably the greatest player except for Gottfried von Cramm or Lew Hoad never to be ranked as World No. 1; in 1953 is said to have been the first professional to earn more than $100,000 in a single year.
Pancho Gonzales
(Ricardo Alonso González, or Richard Alonso Gonzalez)

Info: Called Gorgo

Nationality: American

Birth: May 9, 1928, Los Angeles, California
Death: July 3, 1995, Las Vegas, Nevada

right handed
Class: Amateur through 1949, then a touring pro for more than 2 decades
Strength:Overwhelming and relentless serve and volley game; speed and court coverage; physical strength and mental tenacity; unbreakable will-to-win
Weakness:Backhand was relatively less reliable than his other strokes
Grand Slam  2  2    4
Davis Cup  2-0    1 teams wins
World #1 player  1952, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Was once called a "cheese champ," hence his nickname, from Gorgonzola; was married 6 times, twice to Miss Rheingold of 1958, once to the sister of Andre Agassi; died in near penury; Agassi paid for his funeral.
Davis Cup info: Played only 1 year before turning pro; won both his singles matches in the finals
Ken Rosewall
(Kenneth Robert Rosewall)

Info: Called Muscles, or the Little Master; with Lew Hoad called The Sydney Twins, The Whiz Kids, The Gold-Dust Twins

Nationality: Australian

Birth: November 2, 1934, Sydney, Australia

Left handed by birth; played right handed
Class: Amateur through 1956, thereafter a touring pro for many years
Strength:Sliced backhand considered, along with Don Budge's topspin backhand, to be the greatest of all time; half-volley; volley; overhead smash; lob
Weakness:Forehand; weak serve
Grand Slam  8  9  1  18
Davis Cup  17-2  2-1  6 teams wins
World #1 player  1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1970
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: A natural left-hander, his father taught him to play right handed; was called Muscles because of his lack of them; was beaten by Pancho Gonzales 101 matches to 59; was beaten by Rod Laver either 72-61 or 75-66
Lew Hoad
(Lewis Alan Hoad)

Info: Called Hoadie;with Ken Rosewall called The Sydney Twins, The Whiz Kids, The Gold-Dust Twins

Nationality: Australian

Birth: November 3, 1934, Glebe, New South Wales, Australia
Death: July 3, 1994, Fuengirola, Spain

Right handed
Class: Amateur until 1957, thereafter a touring pro
Strength:Tremendous physical strength, could hit winners with any shot from any position; serve and volley
Weakness:Physical ailments, which curtailed his career; Jack Kramer considered him lazy and sometimes unmotivated
Grand Slam  4  8  1  13
Davis Cup  10-2  7-2  4 teams wins
World #1 player  
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Along with Gottfried von Cramm and Frank Sedgman, probably the greatest player never to be ranked as World No. 1; Kramer wrote: "Everybody loved Hoad, even Pancho Gonzales. They should put that on Lew's tombstone as the ultimate praise for the man.... Even when Hoad was clobbering Gonzales, Gorgo wanted his respect and friendship."; Gonzales considered him the greatest player of all time.

temporary editing break

  • Adrian Quist Australian 4 August 1913, Medindie, South Australia Death: 17 November 1991, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  • Gardnar Mulloy American 22 November 1913, Washington, D.C., USA—still winning Senior events
  • Frank Parker American 31 January 1916 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA Death: 24 July 1997
  • Vivian McGrath Australian 17 February 1916, Merrendee, near Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia Death: 9 April 1978)
  • Bill Talbert American 4 September 1918, Cincinatti, Ohio, USA Death: 28 February 1999
  • John Bromwich 14 November 1918, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Death: 21 October 1999, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
  • Dinny Pails Australian 4 March 1921, Great Britain
  • Ted Schroeder American 20 July 1921, Newark, New Jersey, USA Death: 26 May 2006
  • Vic Seixas American 30 August 1923, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
  • Ken McGregor Australian 2 June 1929, Adelaide, Australia
  • Rex Hartwig Australian 2 September 1929, Culcairn, New South Wales, Australia
  • Mervyn Rose Australian 23 January 1930, Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia
  • Tony Trabert American 16 August 1930, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
  • Neale Fraser Australian 3 October 1933, Melbourne, Australia
  • Pierre Darmon French 14 January 1934, Tunis, Tunisia
  • Mal Anderson Australian 3 March 1935, Theodore, near Rockhampton in Queensland, Australia
  • Ashley Cooper Australian 15 September 1936, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  • Roy Emerson Australian 3 November 1936, Blackbutt, Queensland, Australia
  • Rod Laver Australian 9 August 1938, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia
  • Fred Stolle Australian 8 October 1938, Hornsby, New South Wales, Australia.
  • Ion Ţiriac Romanian 9 May 1939, Braşov, Romania
  • Martin Mulligan Australian 18 October 1940, Marrickville, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  • Cliff Drysdale South African 26 May 1941, Nelspruit, South Africa
  • Arthur Ashe American 10 July 1943, Richmond, Virginia Death: 6 February 1993
  • John Newcombe Australian 23 May 1944, Sydney, Australia
  • Tony Roche Australian 17 May 1945, Tarcutta, New South Wales, Australia
  • Ilie Năstase Romanian 19 July 1946, Bucharest, Romania
  • Jimmy Connors American 2 September 1952, East. St. Louis, Illinois, USA
  • Björn Borg Swedish 6 June 1956, Stockholm, Sweden
  • John McEnroe American 16 February 1959, Wiesbaden, Germany
  • Thomas Muster Austrian 2 October 1967, Leibnitz, Austria
  • Boris Becker German 22 November 1967, Leimen, Germany
  • Petr Korda Czech 23 January 1968, Prague, Czechoslovakia
  • Andre Agassi American 29 April 1970, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
  • Pete Sampras American 12 August 1971, Washington DC, USA
  • Marcelo Ríos Chilean 26 December 1975, Santiago, Chile
  • Gustavo Kuerten Brazilian 10 September 1976, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
  • James Blake American 28 December 1979, Yonkers, New York, USA
  • Marat Safin Russian 27 January 1980, Moscow, Russia, USSR
  • Juan Carlos Ferrero Spanish 12 February 1980, Onteniente, Spain
  • Lleyton Hewitt Australian 24 February 1981, Adelaide, South Australia
  • Nicolay Davydenko Russian, 2 June 1981, Severodonetsk, Ukraine, USSR
  • Roger Federer Swiss 8 August 1981, Binningen, Basel-Land, Switzerland
  • Rafael Nadal Spanish 3 June 1986, Manacor, Mallorca, Spain

Female

References

  1. Total Tennis, The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia, edited by Bud Collins, Sport Classic Books, Toronto, 2003, page 640
  2. Big Bill Tilden, The Triumphs and the Tragedy—Frank DeFord, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1976, page 139
  3. Big Bill Tilden, The Triumphs and the Tragedy—Frank DeFord, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1976, page 139
  4. Wallis Myers, quoted in Total Tennis, The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia, edited by Bud Collins, Sport Classic Books, Toronto, 2003, page 650
  5. Big Bill Tilden, The Triumphs and the Tragedy - Frank DeFord, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1976, page 142
  6. Kramer, pages 58
  7. Kramer, pages 59-61
  8. Total Tennis, The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia, edited by Bud Collins, Sport Classic Books, Toronto, 2003, page 677
  9. Total Tennis, The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia, edited by Bud Collins, Sport Classic Books, Toronto, 2003, page 780
  10. Bowers, Chapter V
  11. Total Tennis, The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia, edited by Bud Collins, Sport Classic Books, Toronto, 2003, page 753
  12. Thurber, page 136. Thurber goes on to say, "Ross had never heard of Sidney Wood or Frank Shields, then our two outstanding Davis Cup players, and I'm sure he didn't know about slain warriors being brought back home upon their shields."
  13. Kramer, page 51
  14. Kramer, page 51
  15. McCauley, page 198