Bill Talbert
American tennis player and administrator
William Franklin Talbert (September 4, 1918, February 28, 1999) was an American tennis player and administrator.
01Tennis career
He was ranked in the U.S. top 10 from 1941 to 1954, and he was ranked World No. 3 in 1949 by John Olliff of The Daily Telegraph. He won nine Grand Slam doubles titles, and also reached the men's doubles finals of the U.S. National Championship nine times, mainly with Gardnar Mulloy, his favorite partner. He also was a Davis Cup player and one of the more successful Davis Cup captains in U.S. history.
Talbert was a Type 1 diabetic, one of the few known to be in sports at a highly competitive level, and for many years he was held up as an example of how this disease could be surmounted.
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Talbert still holds records at the Cincinnati Open in his hometown. His records are for most doubles titles (six), most total finals appearances (14), and most singles finals appearances (seven). He won three singles titles (in 1943, 1945 and 1947), and his six doubles titles came in 1943, 1944, 1945, 1947, 1951 and 1954.
Talbert reached the final of the U.S. Championships in 1944 and 1945 (losing both finals to Frank Parker). He also reached the semifinals of the French championships in 1950, losing to Budge Patty 13-11 in the fifth set).
Talbert also won the singles title at the U.S. Clay Court Championships in 1945 defeating Pancho Segura in a five set final, and was a finalist in 1946 and 1943. He won the Eastern Clay Court Championships in 1949. In 1950 he won the Paris International Championships.
Before starting on the international tour, he played for the University of Cincinnati and won an Ohio State singles title in 1936 while at Cincinnati's Hughes High School.
Talbert was enshrined into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1967 and was in the first class, along with his former protégé Tony Trabert, enshrined into the Cincinnati Tennis Hall of Fame in 2002. After his playing career, he wrote tennis books, including the best seller The Game of Doubles in Tennis with Bruce Old in 1977; served as a tennis commentator for NBC Sports; and was the tournament director of the US Open.
02Grand Slam finals
Singles (2 runners-up)
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1944 | U.S. Championships | Grass | Frank Parker | 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 3-6 |
| Loss | 1945 | U.S. Championships | Grass | Frank Parker | 12-14, 1-6, 2-6 |
Doubles (5 titles, 5 runners-up)
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1942 | U.S. Championships | Grass | Gardnar Mulloy | Ted Schroeder Sidney Wood | 9-7, 7-5, 6-1 |
| Loss | 1943 | U.S. Championships | Grass | David Freeman | Jack Kramer Frank Parker | 2-6, 4-6, 4-6 |
| Loss | 1944 | U.S. Championships | Grass | Pancho Segura | Don McNeill Bob Falkenburg | 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 1-6 |
| Win | 1945 | U.S. Championships | Grass | Gardnar Mulloy | Bob Falkenburg Jack Tuero | 12-10, 8-10, 12-10, 6-2 |
| Win | 1946 | U.S. Championships | Grass | Gardnar Mulloy | Don McNeill Frank Guernsey | 3-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, 20-18 |
| Loss | 1947 | U.S. Championships | Grass | Bill Sidwell | Jack Kramer Ted Schroeder | 4-6, 5-7, 3-6 |
| Win | 1948 | U.S. Championships | Grass | Gardnar Mulloy | Frank Parker Ted Schroeder | 1-6, 9-7, 6-3, 3-6, 9-7 |
| Win | 1950 | French Championships | Clay | Tony Trabert | Jaroslav Drobný Eric Sturgess | 6-2, 1-6, 10-8, 6-2 |
| Loss | 1950 | U.S. Championships | Grass | Gardnar Mulloy | John Bromwich Frank Sedgman | 5-7, 6-8, 6-3, 1-6 |
| Loss | 1953 | U.S. Championships | Grass | Gardnar Mulloy | Rex Hartwig Mervyn Rose | 4-6, 6-4, 2-6, 4-6 |
Mixed Doubles (4 titles, 3 runners-up)
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1943 | U.S. Championships | Grass | Margaret Osborne | Pauline Betz Pancho Segura | 10-6, 6-4 |
| Win | 1944 | U.S. Championships | Grass | Margaret Osborne | Dorothy Bundy Don McNeill | 6-2, 6-3 |
| Win | 1945 | U.S. Championships | Grass | Margaret Osborne | Doris Hart Bob Falkenburg | 6-4, 6-4 |
| Win | 1946 | U.S. Championships | Grass | Margaret Osborne | Louise Brough Robert Kimbrell | 6-3, 6-4 |
| Loss | 1948 | U.S. Championships | Grass | Margaret Osborne duPont | Louise Brough Tom Brown | 4-6, 4-6 |
| Loss | 1949 | U.S. Championships | Grass | Margaret Osborne duPont | Louise Brough Eric Sturgess | 6-4, 3-6, 5-7 |
| Loss | 1950 | French Championships | Clay | Patricia Canning Todd | Barbara Scofield Enrique Morea | w.o. |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Bill Talbert”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Bill Talbert 1949 (cropped).jpg by Unknown, Public domain
Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.