Tilden, Bill

Bill Tilden, byname of William Tatem Tilden II, also called Big Bill, (born February 10, 1893, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.—died June 5, 1953, Hollywood, California), American tennis player who dominated the game for more than a decade, winning seven U.S. championships (now the U.S. Open), three Wimbledon Championships, and two professional titles. His overpowering play and temperamental personality made him one of the most colourful sports figures of the 1920s.

Tilden learned to play tennis at the Germantown Cricket Club in Philadelphia, where his wealthy parents were members. Although he won the 1913 U.S. mixed doubles with Mary Browne, he did not reach the finals of the U.S. singles championship until 1918. Considered a late bloomer, he won the U.S. title from 1920 to 1925 and again in 1929. He also won several doubles (1918, 1921–23, 1927) and mixed doubles (1913–14, 1922–23) for a record total of 16 U.S. titles.

Tilden became the first American player to win the men’s championship at Wimbledon in 1920 and repeated this victory in 1921 and 1930. Among his other titles were many indoor U.S. championships and Italian singles, men’s doubles and French mixed doubles, all in 1930. His Davis Cup play was outstanding, and his 21 victories in 28 cup matches helped the United States hold the trophy from 1920 to 1926. In 1931 Tilden turned professional and spent the next 15 years traveling the world and playing exhibition tennis matches. He was named the greatest tennis player of the first half of the 20th century in a 1950 Associated Press poll and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1959.

Tilden’s stellar accomplishments were often overshadowed by his controversial personal life. In 1946 he was arrested after he was discovered having sexual contact with a 14-year-old boy and was sentenced to a year in jail. He served a second one-year sentence in 1949 after making sexual advances to another young male. Tilden was shunned by the tennis community after his release, and he lived out the rest of his life impoverished and in relative anonymity.