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“Vamos, Del Po!” says Bill Tilden’s ghost.  “My record of six in a row will live for 100 years and more.”

Roger Federer broke Pete Sampras’ record of 14 grand slams this summer, but today has the chance to tie a major American tennis landmark if he wins his sixth straight U.S. Open.   William T. “Big Bill” Tilden II won the U.S. Championships six straight years, three times at Forest Hills in 1920, ‘24 and ‘25, [...]

In golf announcers usually know and have respect for the history of Bobby Jones, and in baseball Babe Ruth’s legend is well known.  But in tennis, the history of the game is as murky to the McEnroes as the $8 beers the U.S. Open sells. Here’s a rundown of John and  Patrick McEnroe’s errors when discussing [...]

Few things I have written have evoked as many responses as my essay in the August 2008 Tennis magazine about searching for Bill Tilden’s almost invisible grave in his home city of Philadelphia.
 
Some wrote in praise on my blog and in old-fashioned letters to my home for my delving into the forgotten story of a [...]