Tennis/Catalogs/Famous players

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.

Name	Biographical	Technique	Record
			Event	S	D	MD	Wins
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	4 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: 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	1 wins
			World #1 player	1914
			National #1 player	{{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: The first of the great serve-and-volley attackers
Richard Williams (R. 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	5 wins
			World #1 player	1916*
			National #1 player	{{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Was a Titanic survivor, nearly had his legs amputated after being rescued from the near-freezing waters. *No world rankings in 1916 due to World War I.
Bill Tilden (William Tatem Tilden, Jr., changed to William Tatem Tilden II in the 1910s) Info: Big Bill Tilden	Nationality: American Birth: February 10, 1893, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Death: June 5, 1953, Los Angeles, California	Right handed Class: 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	7 wins
			World #1 player	1920-5, 1931
			National #1 player	{{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Amateur until December 31, 1930; 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: Still holds record for Davis wins, 1920 through 1926
Bill Johnston (William M. Johnston) Info: Little Bill Johnston	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	7 wins
			World #1 player	1919
			National #1 player	{{{national rank years}}}
Trivia: Died of tuberculosis at age 51
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	1 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."	Grand Slam	10	2		12
			Davis Cup	4-2	22-9	11 teams	6 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 years teams	6 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"; "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." Davis Cup info: Still the record; on 6 consecutive winning teams, from 1927 through 1932;
Henri Cochet (Henri Jean Cochet) Info: Called The Ballboy of Lyons, 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.' "	Grand Slam	7	5	3	15
			Davis Cup	34-8	10-6	11 teams	6 wins
			World #1 player	1928, 1929
			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	2 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

• William Renshaw
• Karel Koželuh
• Ray Casey

• Ellsworth Vines
• Fred Perry
• Don Budge
• Bobby Riggs
• Frank Kovacs
• Pancho Segura
• Jack Kramer
• Frank Sedgman
• Pancho Gonzales
• Ken Rosewall
• Lew Hoad
• Boris Becker
• Rod Laver
• Arthur Ashe
• Jimmy Connors
• Björn Borg
• John McEnroe
• Pete Sampras
• Andre Agassi
• Juan Carlos Ferrero
• Lleyton Hewitt
• James Blake
• Roger Federer
• Rafael Nadal

Sources

• Big Bill Tilden, The Triumphs and the Tragedy - 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