Bill Tilden

[artstarr2011]

MrPernell27: i must respectfully disagree; Tilden was the greatest; and he will always be the greatest; when it comes to our beloved sport of tennis, his is THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES.

[mrmjbeid]

No way could he serve 165 mph. That's just a myth. Your legs weren't even allowed to leave the ground back then.

[DexterHaven49]

the best evahh!! ;)

[MrPernell27]

people need to get over thgis silly idea of bill tilden being the greatest player of all time. You cannot seriously think that given the same racquets/equipment that he would have any chance in hell against Federer, Sampras, Nadal, Mcenroe. Like boris becker said" if you wore pants while playing, it no longer counts"

[BCNbananas]

THANKS! Please post anything you can on Bill Tilden...very rare indeed.

[Nigelxman]

Back before Bill started raping teenage boys.

[stirthesalad1]

Bill would destroy my friend drakulie 6-0, 6-0, 6-0

[Anaconda43VR]

@stirthesalad1

Drakulie? HAHAHA.

I still don't think Tilden should be allowed to be in the Tennis HOF for his off-court 'antics'. Good tennis player but a sad story.

[JGmartinezJr]

@Anaconda43VR Granted, what he did was reprehensible but it was off the court. Therefore, I don't feel it should affect what he did on the court. Apples and oranges. He deserves to be in.

[climz1989]

looks like he needs more legs in his serve

[BeemerryNYC]

By the way, back then, unlike the highly paid pampered players of today, people like Tilden were multi-faceted; his only real pay for a time came from his hard work as a writer for a PA newpaper. he was also acting and involved in other enterprises along with staying on the top in tennis. He wrote books and was a pioneer in the development of the game. They said when he died at age 60 in his rented quarters he had about $100.

[BeemerryNYC]

The period between 1920--1930 was the "golden age of sports" because that is a time in history when the promoters realized that the general public had an interest and that money could be made (until the Depression). Each sport had a hero or it was favorable to have one--boxing had Jack Dempsey, baseball Babe Ruth and Bill Tilden emerged for tennis, but he really was already a hurt person by this time having lost both parents and an older brother. The USLTA treated him terribly in my opinion.

[y11971alex]

Yeah, but you see,

there are a few frames missing!

[Isawthemwhen]

A serve just to get the ball into play. This may or may not be a typical serve. Tilden was a server and volley player often-- You can't even compare it to today, so what is the point? It wasn't about muscle ball as hard as you can

Thanks for posting this historical clip.

[y11971alex]

Yeah, but you see,

there are a few frames missing!

[theriokid]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but he doesn't get any drive, or lift from his legs on his serve. So much of it's arm. It doesn't look very intimidating. Also, his backhand looks fairly good, but he hits it with an open stance and he doesn't use his left arm at all.

[spacecowboy95]

Bill was probably the first to categorise the various kinds of spin you could put on a serve, i have an instructional video of him demonstrating the slice serve and its pretty obvious watching it how much work he put into the game.

His books "Matchplay and the Spin of the Ball" and "Tennis A - Z" are still relevent today in terms of tactics (more or less). And he dominated most of the later greats with his knowledge of the game, Budge, Riggs, Vines, Perry, even a young Kramer, all in his 40's!

[Bobby61189]

He is warming up. He is listed in the guiness book of world records in 1992 as having the fastest serve of 160 mph. If you knew anything about Rene Lacoste and the French musketers you would know Bill Tilden was their biggest challenge to beat. He beat Don Budge among others. By the way, I would like to see Gasquet return to the top of men's tennis as I love his game.

[Johncar435]

People have said he served 160mph, but this cannot be proven. There was no equipment that recorded speed at the time.

[y11971alex]

In fact, it can. Ask yourself, how did they measure the peak speed of the 999 locomotive in 1899.

[fsdagsgfbsb]

LOL they didn't even have the technology back then to track anything close to 169mph. 169mph is a pure myth and anybody believing in it has no fucking clue

[aardvaark069]

It's just nuts to suppose that Tilden would stand a chance in todays game. Games change over time. He was the greatest in his time.

[deadcalledpark]

much more style and class back then

[zchab2b]

Show me a player in the modern era who could pick up four balls in one hand, then serve four aces at will to take the game. Bill was so great because, at his peak, he was on a different planet to the rest of the field (and this was a spectacularly talented field - the 'golden generation'). He would play with his opponents, losing sets on purpose to give himself more of a challenge. Sportsmen should be judged relatively on how great they were in their era. Bill was definitely the best

[MMilon]

Dude, you need medication.

1. There was no big deal serving aces back than? Have you ever seen the "speed" of those players? I could have got myself a coffee until those guys reached the ball.

2. GOLDEN GENERATION??? LOOOOOOL !!!! Are you out of your mind? The only noticeable player was Tilden! The rest of them were all crap! That was the lowest standard of tennis ever! A new generation is almost every time better than the previous one.

[zchab2b]

You should have some respect for the people who built the game. Also, i'm not sure i need lessons on tennis in the 1930's from someone who exclaims 'GOLDEN GENERATION??? LOOOOOOL !!!'

[thebroker13]

Tilden holds the record . Serving at 169.....Roddick isn't even close with modern equipment

[MMilon]

If you actually believe that you must be insane. Who the fuck do you thing had the technology of measuring the serves back then?

Anyway, we all should pay respect to the former legends. But to compare them with the actual players in terms of athletic performance, competition, technical abilities and other similar aspects, is absolutely ridiculous.

[mysteriekiller]

Agreed

[MMilon]

There is a big difference between a great player and a good player. Tilden was definitely a great player, but compared to today's standards, he was not a good player.

[mysteriekiller]

Roddick is technically so much better, technique has developed over the years. also, he is much fitter and stronger. You have to be absolutely retarded to think that he was at 169, since they couldn't even measure it properly.

[RockyPeeters008]

And don't forget: He was at 907 career matches won, only lost 62 times. That's a .936 average. Insane.

[MMilon]

Because he was pretty much the only one around.

[bhoang927]

above comment = summarization of bill tilden on wikipedia lol

[pancrack14]

didnt he have the fastest serve ever recorded

[JGmartinezJr]

@pancrack14 it was 165 MPH or so, with WOODEN rackets...

[pancrack14]

@JGmartinezJr thats incredible



[Cervicconstruction]

I worked for Harry Hopman who till the day he passed belived that Tilden was the best he had ever seen.Take a look at the players he had on his Davis Cup teams from 39 to 69 quite a talented crew so I have to lean towards the greatest Dais Cup Captain of all time in his opinion of who could and who couldn't play the game.

[tlp27tx]

harry hopman ne3ver saw pete sampras and roger federer, If he had, he would have a different opinon of who the greatest of all time was. HEll, Mcenore would have owned tilden

[Cervicconstruction]

Yes I understand.He was very familiar with Mac as he attended his place on the Island.Tony Palofox was working for or with Mr. Hopman when he was working with Mac.I just think of the unbeliveable talent the Hop was so close to,Rosewall,Laver,Emerson,MacG­reggor.He won 17 out of 29 cups he captained players he coached won over 100 grand Slam titles in singles and doubles.The man knew a dimond fro a load of s--t.What makes me so happy is that Fedderer now must be considered ahead of Sampras.

[raulramonramiro]

to bad he is hiting a backhand... hes worst shot

[vicko77]

he was a pedofile???

[raulramonramiro]

yes he liked to fuck little boys

[tlp27tx]

that's not true. they neer caught him fucking anyone, just acqusatuins that he might have had an unappropriate relationship with a 14 yr old. none theless, he was a great player!!

[1yK3Y4]

And he admitted he was gay, too. In the 1920's! A period in which bigotry thrived. He's amazing

[spacecowboy95]

wow, the true father of modern tennis. he laid the foundation for many of the tactics and psychological rules that players still use today. more juniors ought to read his books on matchplay.

[mltr29]

I think you guys ought to show more respect.

Tennis is constantly evolving. During his era, he was the greatest player there was.

[LuCaRiOfan94]

exactly

all sports evolve over time

back then bill was the best

[AtobeTanhausser01]

From what ive heard, Tilden was the Roddick of old tennis, with his power game and all.

[tlp26atx]

well until 1969, this guy was easily one of the 3 greatest ever to play. before anyone did anything in tennis , he did everything. odviously, this wouldn't hold up ata ll in todays game. hell there's alot of juniors players that could probably beat him.

[notthelastword]

Yes but experts still regard him as one of the greatest of all time.

[tlp26atx]

well usually those so called experts are just old timers who like to remember the game as it was and not as it is. mentally he was very tough, but physically there's no way he'd be able to hang with any man in the top 1000. hell, he probably couldn't beat any woman inside the top 200.

[lytwielder]

give any man in the top 1000 a wooden beam racket. then we'll see how physically tough they are ;)

[notthelastword]

Steffi Graf or Serena Williams would handle this guy easily!

[notthelastword]

That serve is like a week end hackers!!!Modern woman pro's serve MUCH better! This vid dispels the nonsense about old timers being great!

[Anaconda43VR]

Modern women cannot beat challenger males. the women's game is so weak they wouldn't take a game off a top 1000 player.

[notthelastword]

No way he is a legit all time great based on his slappy style in this vid.

[LuCaRiOfan94]

more people need to remember bill

[johntcook]

This is my grandfathers cousin

[palpatine274]

and his backhand!

[LesNeiges]

Thank you *so much* for this opportunity to see Bill Tilden serve!