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Bill Talbert

American tennis player and administrator

Field	Value
name	Bill Talbert
fullname	William Franklin Talbert
image	Bill Talbert 1949 (cropped).jpg
caption	Talbert, circa 1949
country
birth_date
birth_place	Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
death_date
death_place	New York City, U.S.
plays	Right-handed
tennishofyear	1967
tennishofid	bill-talbert
singlesrecord	651-201 (76.4%)
singlestitles	49
highestsinglesranking	No. 3 (1949, John Olliff)
AustralianOpenresult	2R (1947)
FrenchOpenresult	SF (1950)
Wimbledonresult	QF (1950)
USOpenresult	F (1944, 1945)
AustralianOpenDoublesresult	QF (1947, 1954)
FrenchOpenDoublesresult	W (1950)
USOpenDoublesresult	W (1942, 1945, 1946, 1948)
Mixed
FrenchOpenMixedresult	F (1950)
USOpenMixedresult	W (1943, 1944, 1945, 1946)

William Franklin Talbert (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 1999) was an American tennis player and administrator.

Tennis 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.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (2 runners-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1944	U.S. Championships	Grass	USA Frank Parker	4–6, 6–3, 3–6, 3–6
Loss	1945	U.S. Championships	Grass	USA Frank Parker	12–14, 1–6, 2–6

Doubles (5 titles, 5 runners-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents
Win	1942	U.S. Championships	Grass	USA Gardnar Mulloy	USA Ted Schroeder
USA Sidney Wood	9–7, 7–5, 6–1
Loss	1943	U.S. Championships	Grass	USA David Freeman	USA Jack Kramer
USA Frank Parker	2–6, 4–6, 4–6
Loss	1944	U.S. Championships	Grass	USA Pancho Segura	USA Don McNeill
USA Bob Falkenburg	5–7, 4–6, 6–3, 1–6
Win	1945	U.S. Championships	Grass	USA Gardnar Mulloy	USA Bob Falkenburg
USA Jack Tuero	12–10, 8–10, 12–10, 6–2
Win	1946	U.S. Championships	Grass	USA Gardnar Mulloy	USA Don McNeill
USA Frank Guernsey	3–6, 6–4, 2–6, 6–3, 20–18
Loss	1947	U.S. Championships	Grass	AUS Bill Sidwell	USA Jack Kramer
USA Ted Schroeder	4–6, 5–7, 3–6
Win	1948	U.S. Championships	Grass	USA Gardnar Mulloy	USA Frank Parker
USA Ted Schroeder	1–6, 9–7, 6–3, 3–6, 9–7
Win	1950	French Championships	Clay	USA Tony Trabert	EGY Jaroslav Drobný
RSA Eric Sturgess	6–2, 1–6, 10–8, 6–2
Loss	1950	U.S. Championships	Grass	USA Gardnar Mulloy	AUS John Bromwich
AUS Frank Sedgman	5–7, 6–8, 6–3, 1–6
Loss	1953	U.S. Championships	Grass	USA Gardnar Mulloy	AUS Rex Hartwig
AUS Mervyn Rose	4–6, 6–4, 2–6, 4–6

Mixed Doubles (4 titles, 3 runners-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents
Win	1943	U.S. Championships	Grass	USA Margaret Osborne	USA Pauline Betz
USA Pancho Segura	10–6, 6–4
Win	1944	U.S. Championships	Grass	USA Margaret Osborne	USA Dorothy Bundy
USA Don McNeill	6–2, 6–3
Win	1945	U.S. Championships	Grass	USA Margaret Osborne	USA Doris Hart
USA Bob Falkenburg	6–4, 6–4
Win	1946	U.S. Championships	Grass	USA Margaret Osborne	USA Louise Brough
USA Robert Kimbrell	6–3, 6–4
Loss	1948	U.S. Championships	Grass	USA Margaret Osborne duPont	USA Louise Brough
USA Tom Brown	4–6, 4–6
Loss	1949	U.S. Championships	Grass	USA Margaret Osborne duPont	USA Louise Brough
RSA Eric Sturgess	6–4, 3–6, 5–7
Loss	1950	French Championships	Clay	USA Patricia Canning Todd	USA Barbara Scofield
ARG Enrique Morea	w.o.

References

"Bill Talbert: Career match record". Tennismem SL.
"Bill Talbert: Career tournament results". Tennismem SL.
United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). ''Official Encyclopedia of Tennis'' (First Edition), p. 426.
(March 2, 1999). "Bill Talbert, Tennis Champion, Is Dead at 80". The New York Times.
William F. Talbert. (May 4, 1959). "What Price Independence?".
"French Open 1950".
(9 May 1950). "TALBERT WINS TITLE BEATING PATTY". [[The Indian Express]] via Google News Archive.

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american-male-tennis-players united-states-national-champions-(tennis) french-championships-(tennis)-champions international-tennis-hall-of-fame-inductees american-tennis-commentators tennis-players-from-ohio american-color-commentators tennis-players-from-cincinnati 1918-births 1999-deaths grand-slam-(tennis)-champions-in-mixed-doubles grand-slam-(tennis)-champions-in-men's-doubles people-with-type-1-diabetes 20th-century-american-sportsmen

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