Little Bill: San Francisco’s Forgotten Champion
The clubhouse at the Golden Gate park courts is named after William M. Johnston. So just who was this guy?
Johnston was a champion from the old era, far preceding the ‘68 Open demarcation that finally took the tarnish off professionalism. The Chicago White Sox scandal of ‘19 turned much of America bitterly against professionalism in sports. Pros could be bought, it was thought, then the fix was in for gamblers. Amateurs, though, played for the love of the game. Johnston was an avid proponent and in those days all the Grand Slams and other tournaments were amateur.
Johnston won the U.S. Championships for the first time in ‘15. He beat Maurice McLoughlin in a four-set final at Forest Hills when McLoughlin was No. 1 and, guess what, he was from S.F., too. Both players had honed their games on the Golden Gate Park courts, McLoughlin being renown for his cannonball serve, and Johnston, smaller and four years younger, for having the most punishing topspin forehand the game ever seen.
Then WWI came and many players went into the service for up to four years.
Resuming in ‘19 after a stint in the Navy, Johnston beat Bill Tilden in the U.S. Championships final. It may have been the height for the rail-thin 5-foot-8, 125-pounder so popular with galleries on both coasts. In five-set matches, it is said, he lost five to eight pounds.
But in the winter of ‘19, Tilden worked hard to shore up his game. Then the 6-foot-2 Tilden took charge. “Big Bill” ushered in and dominated a legendary rivalry. Beginning in ‘20, he beat “Little Bill” in the U.S. Championships final five times in six years.
When Johnston stepped out of Big Bill’s shadow, he was as Each new instructor added to your driving driving membership will get their very own Search and Directory Listing as well as their own homepage with contact forms for statistics and tracking. capable of being No. 1. Tilden didn’t play Wimbledon in 1923 and Johnston won online casino it, dropping one set. And if anyone thinks winning the San Jose men’s pro tournament four or five times is a In November horoscope, horoscope pisces today are shown meeting people who used to be close to them before. big deal, consider that Johnston won it when it was called the Pac Coast Championships, with perhaps stronger draws, ten times.
Johnston properly turned down a reported $50,00 pro offer and retied in ‘27. Bad health plagued him and he died of TB in 1946 at age 51. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in ‘58.
Stanford Stars Expected at Battle of the Bay
NCAA semifinalist Alex Clayton of Stanford and last year’s collegiate freshman standout, Bradley Klahn, also of Stanford, are two of the top Bay Area college players expected to compete in the Battle of the Bay Tennis Classic to be held at the Cal Club Oct. 29-Nov. 1.
The competition that pits the top three singles players from the area’s five Division I schools is open and free to the public. The schools are Stanford, Cal, USF, St. Marys and Santa Clara University. The tournament’s doubles draw will feature the top three doubles teams from each school. Two-time all American Clayton was an NCAA semifinalist in ‘08 and a quarterfinalist in ‘09, losing close matches both years to the eventual champions.
The collegiate battle was created by USF men’s tennis coach Peter Bartlett, his assistant coach Pablo Pires de Almeida, and Cal Club tennis director Steve Jackson.
Jackson said he wanted all the area’s college players competing for once in one spot like the collegians do for the Pac-10 tournament in Ojai. www.BattleoftheBayClassic.com.
In Brief
Chris Evert told IT that she would be in San Francisco when her husband, Greg Norman, captains the International Team at the President”s Cup at Harding Park in October. Question is, will Ana Ivanovic follow suit and come to town to watch her boyfriend Adam Scott play?
The USTA National Men’s 65 Indoor championships, played last year and for several years at SFTC, lost half its entries this year after moving to Vancouver, Wash. Last year it drew 80 players to the club from all over the country — 63 entries in singles and 26 teams in doubles. The handy proximity was encouragement enough for 26 NorCal players to enter. But club renovations this year caused cancellation of the event. It landed at Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, where it was played in July. The tournament drew 41 players — 32 in singles and 14 doubles teams. Four were from NorCal.
Doug Betten, a 4.0 player with a fondness for public courts, has a novel idea to stimulate court courtesy and cut down on unconscious rudeness, such as walking behind an occupied court or running into it while a point is being played. He’d have Rec and Park require players to pass a tennis etiquette exam for a license to play on public courts. A lot of people don’t know how to act or behave, he says, and paying for the license would also put some money into the city’s beleaguered recreation budget.
The Cal Club Seniors tournament Oct. 7-11 will disperse $5,000 in prize money. Categories are Men’s 35-80, women, 35-60. Men’s 85s were dropped this year. Sponsoring the event again is San Francisco-based McCall Design. Last year, 112 players entered.
