William Tilden II, who was born on February 10, 1883, is considered to be first superstar of tennis.
He was also known as Big Bill Tilden.
He was the number one player in the world for years and he continued to show his prowess at the tennis court till the age of 38.
In the 20s and 30s, Tilden was a formidable force to reckon with.
It was his physical strength, skill and dexterity on a tennis court that changed the image of tennis from a country club sport played by rich white people to a major sport played by world class athletes.
Tilden was one of the five sports figures who were star status in 1920s.
The others were Babe Ruth, Red Grange, Bobby Jones and Jack Dempsey.
Tilden was the only tennis player on this elite list of five.
From 1920 to 1955, Tilden completely dominated the sport.
There has never been a player in tennis history who has dominated an entire era like Tilden did.
In the 1920s, Tilden never lost a single important match for seven straight years.
He won the United States Amateur Championship six times in a row and seven times in total.
He also led the United States to seven consecutive wins at the Davis Cup from 1920 to 1926.
It was revealed much later that in the mid 1920s, Tilden's middle finger on his playing hand developed an infection which led to the amputation of his finger.
This fact did nothing to lessen his performance on court.
Unfortunately now, Tilden is seldom remembered though he was an iconic figure during his time.
He was considered to be flamboyant and was under constant public eye.
Tilden also tried his hand in acting.
He acted in some films and stage plays.
In 1950, William Tilden was named as the greatest tennis player of the half century by poll conducted by Associated Press.