Tennis/Catalogs/Famous players

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Revision as of 17:39, 15 August 2007 by imported>Hayford Peirce (added rest of info about Frank Kovacs)
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This is a supplement to the article about Tennis and to the articles about the individual players.

Under construction: this will be a list of famous players, in chronological order. 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
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:Agressiveness; 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

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: Beat Karel Koželuh before 14,000 in his professional debut 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
Death: April 27, 1950

right handed
Class: Professional only, first as a coach, then as a touring pro


Grand Slam        
Davis Cup       teams  wins
World #1 player  Never played amateur tournaments or Davis Cup matches
National #1 player  {{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: 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
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." [1]

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
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, 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";[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;
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.' "[4]
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 who turned professional
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
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;[5] 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[6]
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
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,[7] 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.
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 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
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: Frankie; 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." [8]
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." [9]
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;[10] his cousin was the entertainer Ernie Kovacs.


Female

  • Helen Wills Moody (USA) 10-6-05
  • Althea Gibson (USA) 8-25-27
  • Margaret Court (Australia) 7-16-42
  • Billie Jean King (USA) 11-22-43
  • Virginia Wade (England) 7-10-45
  • Evonne Goolagong Cawley 7-31-51 (Australia)
  • Martina Navratilova (Czechoslovakia/USA) 10-18-56
  • Chris Evert 3-21-54
  • Tracy Austin (USA) 12-12-62
  • Steffi Graf (Germany) 6-14-69
  • Monica Seles (Yugoslavia/USA) 12-2-73
  • Inmaculada Concepción ("Conchita") Martinez (Spain) 4-16-72
  • Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (Spain) 12-18-71
  • Mary Pierce (Canada/USA) 1-15-75
  • Jennifer Capriati (USA) 3-29-76
  • Lindsay Davenport (USA) 6-8-76
  • Amélie Mauresmo (France) 7-5-79
  • Venus Williams (USA) 6-17-80
  • Martina Hingis (Switzerland) 12-30-80
  • Serena Williams (USA) 12-26-81
  • Justine Henin - (Belgium) 6-1-82
  • Kim Clijsters (Belgium) 6-8-83
  • Maria Sharapova (Russia) 4-19-87

References

  1. Wallis Myers, quoted in Total Tennis, The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia, edited by Bud Collins, Sport Classic Books, Toronto, 2003, page 650
  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. Big Bill Tilden, The Triumphs and the Tragedy - Frank DeFord, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1976, page 142
  5. Kramer, pages 58
  6. Kramer, pages 59-61
  7. Total Tennis, The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia, edited by Bud Collins, Sport Classic Books, Toronto, 2003, page 753
  8. Kramer, page 51
  9. Kramer, page 51
  10. McCauley, page 198

Sources

  • Big Bill Tilden, The Triumphs and the Tragedy, by Frank DeFord, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1976, ISBN 0-671-22254-6
  • Total Tennis, The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia, edited by Bud Collins, Sport Classic Books, Toronto, 2003
  • The Game, My 40 Years in Tennis, by Jack Kramer with Frank Deford, G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1979, (ISBN 0-399-12336-9