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Fred Perry on Modern Tennis and Bill Tilden
9 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
One of the most memorable and fascinating passages of tennis journalism I have ever read was about the meeting of author Eliot Berry and tennis legend Fred Perry. Berry, for those who don’t know, is the author of “Topspin” – one of the most enjoyable books ever written about tennis, in my opinion.
Berry interviewed the then 85-year-old Perry at Wimbledon in 1994.
Berry had to work for it though. “Look. I’m sorry. I just can’t talk to you know,” said Perry. “SKY TV wants me this afternoon. This German TV crew thinks I can open the door for them at Wimbledon if I let them interview me this morning but I can’t and I won’t. I’m doing BBC radio at noon for the rest of the day. It’s just not a good time to talk.”
“I smiled,” wrote Berry. “And I think that smile, while he was trying to blow me away with his verbal serve and volley, got to him. Then he stared at my blue shirt: a Fred Perry.”
“Oh, all right,” Fred Perry said. “But I can give you five minutes. No more. Let’s go down to the BBC studios, if we can find one down there that’s free.”
Here is some of what Fred Perry told Eliot Berry during that interview…
“Look. This game is not complicated. If there is no footwork, there is no tennis. If you’re not secure in your footwork, you’re in trouble.”
“I played over 300 matches with (Bill Tilden).”
“To me…when you talk about the best player I ever saw…I say Bill Tilden. These professional boys today do not realize how much they owe to Tilden. He WAS tennis. He won this tournament (Wimbledon) three times. He only played here four times. The first professional, about 1928, was Suzanne Lenglen, the French girl, who got $25,000. They toured in the U.S. with Murray K. Brown, Vincent Richards, who had won the Olympics in Paris in 1924, and the Tinsey Brothers. They first year they made money. The second year they broke even and the promoter said, That’s it. It was 1929 and the stock market crashed. The next year Tilden turned pro anyway after winning Wimbledon, and he really started the pro circuit as it is known today.”
Outstanding feature of Tilden’s game?
“His head. When you played Tilden, you had to think,” said Perry without hesitation. “I learned a great deal from him. See, when you played Bill, you never got anything you wanted. If you wanted it low, he gave it to you high. If you wanted it wide, he gave it to you close. If you wanted it fast he gave it to you slow. If you wanted to talk, he shut up. If you wanted to play silently, he talked. You were always thinking, and you had to think against Tilden.”
Thoughts on modern tennis?
“Today’s game, because of the equipment which limits them to certain things, is lacking a bit of thought. They use the technology to the absolute utmost for their own game, which is wonderful in its way. They play extremely well. But there are certain things they just cannot do any more with this equipment. We could never play like they do with our equipment, but they can’t play like we did with our equipment because we had to work for the opening much more. They can force it. Now when you force something and you make mistakes, you fall over. We never used to fall over. We never knew where the ball was going to come back; we knew where it wasn’t going to come back. See, we had the fellow on the run by the time he moved in. It’s a different ballgame completely. The tournament tennis played today is show business. You’re advertising this, you’re advertising that. At the age of 20 you have a manager, you’ve got a lawyer, you’ve got a coach and a trainer, you’ve got a mother, you’ve got a father, a girlfriend. It’s an absolute business. They are extremely lucky today. And basically they owe it all to Bill Tilden.”
Stay tuned for Part 2 where Perry tells Berry about how an ankle sprain wrecked his grand slam achievement, how Tilden was still perfecting his game at age 53, Don Budge insights, and more…
Excerpts from “Topspin” by Eliot Berry, Henry Holt & Company, 1996.
(Note: Both Perry and Berry are deceased. Berry received a Ph.D. from King’s College in London and taught literature as a Fulbright Lecturer in American Literature. He also taught tennis at Connecticut’s Greenwich Field Club and squash in Munich and Monte Carlo. He won New York State 16 & unders in singles and doubles and competed three times at National Juniors in Kalamazoo.)
"Tournament tennis today is show business"
Andrew Miller · February 12, 2011 at 9:57 pm
“Today’s game, because of the equipment which limits them to certain things, is lacking a bit of thought.”
Amusing quote from Perry. I think he’d like Dolgo – never know what you’re getting. There’s not just a little bit of space for a Dolgo – there’s enough space in men’s tennis, and WTA tennis, for MANY Dolgo’s and many Dolga’s. There’s space for clever tennis – Nadal and Federer both show that.
Scoop Malinowski · February 12, 2011 at 10:06 pm
Fred Perry would love Dolgopolov. I seriously don’t see how anybody does not like the way he plays. He plays like nobody ever has and this is the best thing to see, a new creative style of play.Fred Perry, what he tells to Eliot Berry in this five minute conversation, is very good reading IMO. So sharp as an octegenarian, Berry called him an “85 yr old Tiger.” Can’t wait to post the rest of it. If you haven’t read “Topspin” Andrew I am more than sure you will absolutely adore it.
Michael · February 13, 2011 at 3:34 am
“It’s an absolute business. They are extremely lucky today. And basically they owe it all to Bill Tilden”
Exactly how does tennis becoming a business owe it all to Tilden ? He doesn’t say other then Tilden started the pro tour. Where it languished, small time, until what the 60s at least ?
I think credit for making tennis a business goes to the marketeers and the agents. Not to Bill Tilden. People like (and I’m just throwing out names) Donald Dell, Mark McCormack, those types. (And many other people of course.)
They saw the potential to turn it into big business that they could sell to the public and to sponsors and TV. But my point is it took business people not a player from the 20s to make the game a business. I would suggest someone like Billie Jean King has more claim to making tennis a business then Bill Tilden if we want to look at players that made a huge change in the way the sport was sold to the public.
That said, I’ve read Tilden’s “Match Play and the Spin of the Ball” when I was a kid. It had no particular relevance to how the game was played even then but it was a good read anyway, if you were into tennis.
Scoop Malinowski · February 13, 2011 at 2:28 pm
I think what Perry meant was tennis’ popularity exploded because Tilden transcended the sport. The best businessmen in the world can’t make a sport a successful business without a star like Tilden.
Michael · February 13, 2011 at 11:04 pm
I think Henry VIII caused an explosion in tennis popularity too. Henry, being King, transcended sport.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/tennis/04/14/history.of.tennis.federer.henryIII/index.html
But if you’re going to point a finger at who the modern players should thank for the paychecks and the endorsements. I think you have to look way after both Henry and Bill, as transcendent as they both were. And there would be a host of people that played a role. It’s just silly to me to say they should all be thanking Big Bill.
Andrew Miller · February 14, 2011 at 3:38 am
Hi Scoop Topspin definitely sounds like a great book. I have enjoyed Pat McEnroe’s book, Agassi’s book and Blake’s book (I have read some of Dan’s book and found it a great read).
In terms of Dolgo’s creativity – it’s special. I think Rios was the best of all time in terms of creativity. The reason I like Federer/Nadal is they do things with the ball that Rios did. All these guys play tennis a special way, it upends the conventional wisdom on how to play the sport.
I dont think we’ve seen this on the WTA side – a creative player who confuses opponents with slices, spins, junk and exploits all court dimensions. Serena does to some extent but I think think there’s a magician on the WTA.
Maybe Rios’ daughter…
Andrew Miller · February 14, 2011 at 3:42 am
Scoop – there you have it…Raonic beat Verdasco 7-6, 7-6 (Verdasco probably kicking himself). Ominous – the tour indeed has another player threatening to win big.
Scoop Malinowski · February 14, 2011 at 4:03 am
Great win for Raonic. Andrew you say kicking himself, almost right. Verdasco had a break point at 4-4 in second set and missed and proceeded to punch himself in his head three times with right hand, even had a bit of a red mark on side of his eyebrow. Verdasco was very frustrated to lose 76 76 and has to play this gentle giant against in Memphis. Futre Wimbledon champ. Maybe even this year if he keeps up these heroics at this rate.
Scoop Malinowski · February 14, 2011 at 4:05 am
Thanks for sharing this article Michael, looks like the photo is of court tennis, I saw a court like that at Newport. Many pioneers built tennis to be what it is today, But gotta respect Fred Perry when he says all the players should be thanking Big Bill. Fred Perry was pretty adamant about that, Fred Perry would know.