Bill Tilden

With this change he became the world no. The shy self-absorbed sometimes arrogant young man dropped out of the University of Pennsylvania and began to practice his game against a backboard and he also became a dedicated student of the game. Death
Although Tilden had been born to wealth and earned large sums of money during his long career particularly in his early years on the pro tour he spent it lavishly keeping a suite at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City.

William Tatem Tilden II (February 10 1893 – June 5 1953) nicknamed "Big Bill" was an American tennis player. He dominated the world of international tennis in the first half of the 1920s and during his 18-year amateur period of 1912–30 he won 138 of 192 tournaments and had a match record of 907–62 a winning percentage of 93.