WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.839 Welcome to our deep dive. I want you to imagine 00:00:03.839 --> 00:00:06.099 a scenario for a second. Just picture the sheer 00:00:06.099 --> 00:00:09.439 chaos of a devastating, catastrophic, natural 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:13.099 disaster. Buildings are falling. Fires are burning. 00:00:14.500 --> 00:00:17.300 An entire city is just completely paralyzed. 00:00:17.899 --> 00:00:19.899 Now ask yourself, how could an environment like 00:00:19.899 --> 00:00:23.949 the 1906 San Francisco earthquake inadvertently 00:00:23.949 --> 00:00:26.949 create one of the greatest world champion tennis 00:00:26.949 --> 00:00:29.730 players of the early 20th century. It's it is 00:00:29.730 --> 00:00:31.230 entirely counterintuitive. I mean, when you think 00:00:31.230 --> 00:00:33.350 of widespread urban destruction, the absolute 00:00:33.350 --> 00:00:36.229 last thing that comes to mind is the refined, 00:00:36.229 --> 00:00:39.469 highly structured world of early tennis. Exactly. 00:00:39.509 --> 00:00:41.210 It's a collision of two completely different 00:00:41.210 --> 00:00:43.229 realities. And that is exactly the collision 00:00:43.229 --> 00:00:45.909 we are exploring today. Our mission for this 00:00:45.909 --> 00:00:48.810 deep dive is to unpack a comprehensive set of 00:00:48.810 --> 00:00:52.210 historical archives, mostly centered around a 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:55.240 detailed Wikipedia entry exploring the life of 00:00:55.240 --> 00:00:57.060 William R. Quick's Johnston. Though most people 00:00:57.060 --> 00:00:58.700 who know tennis history probably know him better 00:00:58.700 --> 00:01:00.740 as Little Bill Johnston. Right, Little Bill. 00:01:01.159 --> 00:01:03.899 So we are going to track his rise to world number 00:01:03.899 --> 00:01:06.280 one, examine the actual physical mechanics of 00:01:06.280 --> 00:01:08.859 how he played, and dig deep into the psychology 00:01:08.859 --> 00:01:13.319 of his bittersweet legendary rivalry with another 00:01:13.319 --> 00:01:16.200 titan of the era. Big Bill Tilden. Big Bill Tilden, 00:01:16.260 --> 00:01:18.340 yes. And to give you a framework for just how 00:01:18.340 --> 00:01:21.260 dominant Johnston was, we really should establish 00:01:21.469 --> 00:01:24.049 the statistical scale of his legacy right away. 00:01:24.489 --> 00:01:26.769 We're looking at an athlete who retired with 00:01:26.769 --> 00:01:31.409 an 87 .3 % career win record. Which is just absurd. 00:01:31.530 --> 00:01:34.390 It really is. That breaks down to 350 wins and 00:01:34.390 --> 00:01:37.390 only 51 losses over his entire career. He claimed 00:01:37.390 --> 00:01:41.530 42 career titles. But the numbers, as impressive 00:01:41.530 --> 00:01:43.269 as they are, they're really just the surface. 00:01:43.750 --> 00:01:46.069 His actual life story fundamentally challenges 00:01:46.069 --> 00:01:48.629 our assumptions about sports rivalries and the 00:01:48.629 --> 00:01:50.629 environments that produce champions. Yeah, because 00:01:50.629 --> 00:01:52.790 if you look at the typical tennis champion from 00:01:52.790 --> 00:01:55.650 the 1910s and 1920s, you're almost always looking 00:01:55.650 --> 00:01:58.609 at a very specific pedigree. It's the era of 00:01:58.609 --> 00:02:02.189 manicured grass courts, country clubs, pristine 00:02:02.189 --> 00:02:05.370 white outfits and generational wealth. But Johnston's 00:02:05.370 --> 00:02:07.689 background completely shatters that mold. Born 00:02:07.689 --> 00:02:11.229 in 1894 in San Francisco, he came from a distinctly 00:02:11.229 --> 00:02:14.409 working class family of Irish origin. His father, 00:02:14.650 --> 00:02:16.830 Robert Johnston, worked as an electrical plant 00:02:16.830 --> 00:02:20.659 mechanic. So young Bill was not exactly being 00:02:20.659 --> 00:02:23.379 groomed in elite exclusive tennis academies. 00:02:23.419 --> 00:02:26.300 Far from it. His entry into the sport was a product 00:02:26.300 --> 00:02:30.240 of public infrastructure and honestly sheer historical 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:32.979 accident. Which brings us back to 1906. Here's 00:02:32.979 --> 00:02:35.580 where it gets really interesting. Bill is just 00:02:35.580 --> 00:02:38.180 11 years old when the massive San Francisco earthquake 00:02:38.180 --> 00:02:40.960 hits. Yeah. The damage is unimaginable, leveling 00:02:40.960 --> 00:02:44.620 huge swaths of the city. And in the aftermath, 00:02:45.020 --> 00:02:47.419 as a basic matter of public safety and recovery, 00:02:47.979 --> 00:02:49.659 the local schools are shut down. Right, they 00:02:49.659 --> 00:02:51.719 have to be. So suddenly you have this 11 -year 00:02:51.719 --> 00:02:54.199 -old kid with endless free time in the middle 00:02:54.199 --> 00:02:56.560 of a city trying to rebuild itself from the rubble. 00:02:56.919 --> 00:02:59.629 So he heads to Golden Gate Park. and he spends 00:02:59.629 --> 00:03:01.909 his days hitting tennis balls on their public 00:03:01.909 --> 00:03:04.250 asphalt courts. What's fascinating here is how 00:03:04.250 --> 00:03:06.949 that specific physical environment dictated the 00:03:06.949 --> 00:03:09.830 biomechanics of his game. Grass courts, which 00:03:09.830 --> 00:03:11.729 were the standard for all elite tournaments at 00:03:11.729 --> 00:03:14.469 the time, dictate a very specific style of play. 00:03:14.590 --> 00:03:17.370 Because the surface is so soft. Exactly. Grass 00:03:17.370 --> 00:03:20.169 is soft. The ball skids and bounces very low, 00:03:20.469 --> 00:03:22.550 which naturally encourages players to bend their 00:03:22.550 --> 00:03:25.569 knees, slice the ball to keep it low, and immediately 00:03:25.569 --> 00:03:28.289 rush the net. Asphalt is the exact opposite. 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:31.020 It's basically a parking lot. Right. It is completely 00:03:31.020 --> 00:03:33.479 unforgiving. It's gritty. It's fast. And most 00:03:33.479 --> 00:03:36.000 importantly, the ball bites into the surface 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:39.080 and bounces incredibly high and hard. So an 11 00:03:39.080 --> 00:03:41.180 year old kid who is already small for his age 00:03:41.180 --> 00:03:43.659 is dealing with a ball that is constantly exploding 00:03:43.659 --> 00:03:45.939 off the pavement up around his chest and shoulders. 00:03:46.580 --> 00:03:49.080 Precisely. Learning the game on the public asphalt 00:03:49.080 --> 00:03:51.979 of Golden Gate Park forced Johnston to develop 00:03:51.979 --> 00:03:55.560 a rugged, relentless style of play. He couldn't 00:03:55.560 --> 00:03:57.879 rely on the low slices used by the country club 00:03:57.879 --> 00:03:59.819 players. He'd just get run right off the court. 00:03:59.900 --> 00:04:02.240 He would. He had to be exceptionally quick, his 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:04.240 footwork had to be perfect on that hard surface, 00:04:04.520 --> 00:04:06.840 and he had to generate his own power to counter 00:04:06.840 --> 00:04:09.819 that high bounce. That gritty environment became 00:04:09.819 --> 00:04:13.099 his greatest asset. It directly shapes his technique, 00:04:13.900 --> 00:04:16.120 leading to his very first tournament victory 00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:18.980 just four years after the earthquake. Wow. Yeah, 00:04:19.060 --> 00:04:21.720 when he won the 1910 Bay County's junior singles 00:04:21.720 --> 00:04:24.399 competition. It's just a brilliant example of 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:26.639 environmental constraints forcing innovation. 00:04:27.240 --> 00:04:29.800 And as he transitioned from those junior competitions 00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:32.839 into the adult circuit, his physical stature 00:04:32.839 --> 00:04:36.379 really became the dominant narrative. Even fully 00:04:36.379 --> 00:04:38.819 grown, he was only five feet eight inches tall 00:04:38.819 --> 00:04:42.019 and weighed around 120 pounds. In a sport that 00:04:42.019 --> 00:04:45.800 was increasingly rewarding, towering long -limbed 00:04:45.800 --> 00:04:49.279 athletes, that lack of size earned him the famous 00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:52.500 nickname Little Bill. But his opponents learned 00:04:52.500 --> 00:04:55.339 very quickly not to underestimate him. Oh, definitely. 00:04:55.519 --> 00:04:57.839 Because despite his frame, he possessed an absolute 00:04:57.839 --> 00:05:00.959 cannon of a shot. He generated a level of force 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:03.319 that just baffled the players across the net 00:05:03.319 --> 00:05:05.899 from him. He had this deadly, devastating forehand 00:05:05.899 --> 00:05:08.019 drive. And the key to unlocking that power goes 00:05:08.019 --> 00:05:10.439 right back to those asphalt courts in San Francisco. 00:05:10.540 --> 00:05:12.699 Yeah. He utilized what is known in tennis as 00:05:12.699 --> 00:05:15.240 a Western grip, and he hit the ball shoulder 00:05:15.240 --> 00:05:17.920 high. And we should clarify what that means mechanically, 00:05:17.959 --> 00:05:20.120 because it's crucial to understanding his dominance. 00:05:20.279 --> 00:05:22.620 Yeah. If you don't play tennis, the traditional 00:05:22.620 --> 00:05:25.120 grip at the time, the Eastern grip, is essentially 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:27.199 like shaking hands with the racket. Right. It 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:30.300 keeps the racket face relatively flat. But a 00:05:30.300 --> 00:05:32.339 Western grip requires you to rotate your hand 00:05:32.339 --> 00:05:34.240 so your palm is essentially under the handle. 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:37.339 It naturally tilts the strings downward. Which 00:05:37.339 --> 00:05:39.220 sounds like you just hit the ball straight into 00:05:39.220 --> 00:05:41.800 the dirt. It does. Unless you are hitting a ball 00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:44.519 that is bouncing very high. With a Western grip, 00:05:44.579 --> 00:05:46.699 you have to violently brush up the back of the 00:05:46.699 --> 00:05:49.879 ball as you hit it. This generates massive topspin. 00:05:50.100 --> 00:05:53.160 So the ball arcs. Exactly. The ball clears the 00:05:53.160 --> 00:05:55.639 net safely, then dips sharply into the court 00:05:55.639 --> 00:05:57.620 before kicking up aggressively at the opponent. 00:05:57.800 --> 00:06:00.600 Think about young Johnston on the asphalt. The 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:03.040 ball is bouncing to his shoulder. He takes that 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:06.180 Western grip, steps in, and throws his entire 00:06:06.180 --> 00:06:09.100 120 pound body weight into a sweeping shoulder 00:06:09.100 --> 00:06:11.750 -high swing. It's pure kinetic linking. He's 00:06:11.750 --> 00:06:14.610 using his entire body, not just his arm, to create 00:06:14.610 --> 00:06:17.129 this heavy spinning ball that players use to 00:06:17.129 --> 00:06:19.870 the polite flat bounces of grass courts had absolutely 00:06:19.870 --> 00:06:22.329 no idea how to handle. None at all. And it didn't 00:06:22.329 --> 00:06:24.910 take long for that asphalt -bred power to translate 00:06:24.910 --> 00:06:28.250 onto the national stage. His initial ascent is 00:06:28.250 --> 00:06:32.160 basically a rocket ship. In 1915, at just 20 00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:35.000 years old, Johnston enters the U .S. championships. 00:06:35.319 --> 00:06:38.060 The biggest stage. He makes it to the final and 00:06:38.060 --> 00:06:40.699 defeats Maurice McLaughlin in a grueling four 00:06:40.699 --> 00:06:43.639 -set match, taking the final set 10 -8. And he 00:06:43.639 --> 00:06:46.000 proves he's not just a single specialist winning 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:48.300 the doubles title that same year. And he defends 00:06:48.300 --> 00:06:51.180 it the very next year in 1916 alongside his partner 00:06:51.180 --> 00:06:53.420 Clarence Griffin. Right. He essentially conquered 00:06:53.420 --> 00:06:56.060 the American tennis establishment. But if we 00:06:56.060 --> 00:06:58.720 look at the broader historical timeline, His 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:01.040 momentum hits a wall that had nothing to do with 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:04.600 sports. World War I. Yes. The outbreak of World 00:07:04.600 --> 00:07:07.779 War I paused global athletic competition and 00:07:07.779 --> 00:07:10.819 Johnston, true to his character, stepped away 00:07:10.819 --> 00:07:12.800 from the court to serve his country in the U 00:07:12.800 --> 00:07:15.459 .S. Navy. Which really contextualizes the era. 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:17.800 These athletes were not living in an insulated 00:07:17.800 --> 00:07:20.620 sports bubble. He puts his prime athletic years 00:07:20.620 --> 00:07:23.240 completely on hold. But the time away didn't 00:07:23.240 --> 00:07:25.879 erode his skills at all. After his Navy service 00:07:25.879 --> 00:07:28.439 concludes, he makes a triumphant return to the 00:07:28.439 --> 00:07:31.519 sport post -WWI. And what a return it was. In 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:34.220 1919, he enters the US Championships again. And 00:07:34.220 --> 00:07:36.100 he doesn't just win, he puts on a masterclass. 00:07:36.579 --> 00:07:38.819 He sweeps the final in three straight sets, 6 00:07:38.819 --> 00:07:42.120 -4, 6 -4, 6 -3. And the man he beats in that 00:07:42.120 --> 00:07:45.519 final is none other than Bill Tilden. The first 00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:48.519 major clash. Following that absolute domination, 00:07:48.899 --> 00:07:51.339 Johnston is officially ranked number one by the 00:07:51.339 --> 00:07:54.100 United States Lawn Tennis Association. It's the 00:07:54.100 --> 00:07:56.660 perfect comeback narrative. To step away from 00:07:56.660 --> 00:07:59.540 military service, lose those crucial developmental 00:07:59.540 --> 00:08:02.339 years, and return to immediately reclaim the 00:08:02.339 --> 00:08:04.779 highest rank in the sport is a testament to his 00:08:04.779 --> 00:08:08.019 mental toughness. However, that 1919 victory 00:08:08.019 --> 00:08:10.959 over Tilden is really the inciting incident for 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:13.259 the defining drama of Johnston's entire career. 00:08:13.500 --> 00:08:15.769 OK, let's unpack this. because it is impossible 00:08:15.769 --> 00:08:17.949 to analyze the legacy of little Bill Johnston 00:08:17.949 --> 00:08:20.110 without deeply examining his relationship with 00:08:20.110 --> 00:08:22.790 Big Bill Tilden. It is arguably one of the most 00:08:22.790 --> 00:08:25.629 intense localized rivalries in the history of 00:08:25.629 --> 00:08:27.970 individual sports. Definitely. Johnston crushes 00:08:27.970 --> 00:08:30.610 Tilden in 1919. But when the calendar turns to 00:08:30.610 --> 00:08:33.169 1920, the entire tectonic plate of the sport 00:08:33.169 --> 00:08:36.190 shifts. Tilden overtakes Johnston, sparking a 00:08:36.190 --> 00:08:39.330 year long battle for supremacy. And it is a battle 00:08:39.330 --> 00:08:41.169 that results in one of the most psychologically 00:08:41.169 --> 00:08:44.669 punishing records in sports history. From 1920 00:08:44.669 --> 00:08:48.669 onward, Johnston remained an elite, world -class 00:08:48.669 --> 00:08:51.789 player. He was consistently tearing through tournament 00:08:51.789 --> 00:08:54.230 brackets, reaching the finals of the most prestigious 00:08:54.230 --> 00:08:56.929 events. But time and time again, he found himself 00:08:56.929 --> 00:09:00.289 blocked by the exact same person. Yes. Johnston 00:09:00.289 --> 00:09:02.230 was the runner -up at the U .S. Championships, 00:09:02.610 --> 00:09:06.190 a record six times. Six times he made it to the 00:09:06.190 --> 00:09:09.559 ultimate match, only to fall to Tilden. That 00:09:09.559 --> 00:09:12.879 is a record for futility in a single major final 00:09:12.879 --> 00:09:15.639 that still stands today. You really have to pause 00:09:15.639 --> 00:09:17.860 and consider the psychological weight of that 00:09:17.860 --> 00:09:20.519 block. You are unequivocally one of the two best 00:09:20.519 --> 00:09:22.860 tennis players on the planet. You spend weeks 00:09:22.860 --> 00:09:25.240 grinding through a brutal draw of international 00:09:25.240 --> 00:09:27.320 competitors. Exhausting weeks. You reach the 00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:29.580 biggest stage in American tennis year after year, 00:09:29.879 --> 00:09:31.960 and the same towering figure is standing across 00:09:31.960 --> 00:09:34.480 the net, ready to deny you the trophy. But it's 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:36.659 vital to understand the texture of these matches. 00:09:37.159 --> 00:09:39.139 It wasn't as though Tilden figured out Johnston's 00:09:39.139 --> 00:09:40.980 game and just started blowing him off the court. 00:09:41.139 --> 00:09:43.789 Not at all. The nuance of the rivalry is what 00:09:43.789 --> 00:09:46.350 makes it so compelling. The margins between them 00:09:46.350 --> 00:09:48.909 were razor thin. They were fundamentally peers. 00:09:49.470 --> 00:09:52.309 A perfect illustration of that is the 1922 season. 00:09:52.610 --> 00:09:54.690 Over the course of that year, Johnston and Tilden 00:09:54.690 --> 00:09:57.330 played each other four separate times. Johnston 00:09:57.330 --> 00:09:59.970 actually won three of those matches. He had the 00:09:59.970 --> 00:10:02.289 tactical blueprint to dismantle Tilden's game. 00:10:02.809 --> 00:10:05.330 But when they met in the final of the U .S. championships 00:10:05.330 --> 00:10:08.450 that September, Tilden manages to survive an 00:10:08.450 --> 00:10:11.620 exhausting five set thriller. Johnston drops 00:10:11.620 --> 00:10:14.159 the first two sets, fights all the way back to 00:10:14.159 --> 00:10:16.460 win the third and fourth, and then loses the 00:10:16.460 --> 00:10:18.879 fifth. It highlights a fascinating aspect of 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:22.220 elite athletic psychology. Johnston had the physical 00:10:22.220 --> 00:10:24.679 tools and the strategy to beat Tilden as he proved 00:10:24.679 --> 00:10:27.200 on other courts. But Tilden seemed to possess 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:30.379 a localized aura of invincibility when it came 00:10:30.379 --> 00:10:32.580 to the finals of the US Championships during 00:10:32.580 --> 00:10:34.720 that specific stretch. It's like a mental block. 00:10:34.909 --> 00:10:37.029 It became less about forehands and backhands 00:10:37.029 --> 00:10:39.730 and more about who could endure the immense atmospheric 00:10:39.730 --> 00:10:42.470 pressure of that specific tournament. But Johnston 00:10:42.470 --> 00:10:45.210 was far too talented to be defined solely by 00:10:45.210 --> 00:10:48.389 his runner up finishes. He was still a global 00:10:48.389 --> 00:10:51.629 force. Look at 1923, which has to be considered 00:10:51.629 --> 00:10:53.730 an absolute peak of his international career. 00:10:53.929 --> 00:10:56.429 He travels to London and wins Wimbledon. And 00:10:56.429 --> 00:10:58.750 he does it emphatically. Crushing Frank Hunter 00:10:58.750 --> 00:11:02.830 in the final in straight sets. 6 -0, 6 -3, 6 00:11:02.830 --> 00:11:06.000 -1. But he didn't stop there. That same year, 00:11:06.100 --> 00:11:08.940 he won the World Hardcourt Championships in Paris. 00:11:09.320 --> 00:11:11.299 And we should clarify the terminology there, 00:11:11.559 --> 00:11:13.240 because historical tennis names can be quite 00:11:13.240 --> 00:11:16.200 misleading. When we hear hardcore today, we think 00:11:16.200 --> 00:11:19.259 of the acrylic concrete courts used at the modern 00:11:19.259 --> 00:11:21.899 US Open or Australian Open. Right, like cement. 00:11:22.139 --> 00:11:25.289 But in 1923, Europe... Hard court was the term 00:11:25.289 --> 00:11:27.029 used to distinguish a court from traditional 00:11:27.029 --> 00:11:29.809 grass. The tournament in Paris was actually played 00:11:29.809 --> 00:11:32.389 on crushed earth, or clay. Which completely changes 00:11:32.389 --> 00:11:34.669 the physics of the game again. Exactly. Clay 00:11:34.669 --> 00:11:37.590 is a slow surface. It grabs the ball, reducing 00:11:37.590 --> 00:11:39.710 its speed, but massively exaggerating the height 00:11:39.710 --> 00:11:42.370 of the bounce. Remember Johnston's Western grip 00:11:42.370 --> 00:11:44.909 forehand, homed on the high -bouncing asphalt 00:11:44.909 --> 00:11:47.149 of San Francisco? It was perfect for it. That 00:11:47.149 --> 00:11:50.440 stroke was tailor -made for European clay. His 00:11:50.440 --> 00:11:53.539 ability to hit heavy, looping topspin made him 00:11:53.539 --> 00:11:56.480 devastating on the surface. By winning Wimbledon 00:11:56.480 --> 00:11:59.419 on lightning fast grass and the World Hardcore 00:11:59.419 --> 00:12:02.440 Championships on slow clay in the same year, 00:12:02.570 --> 00:12:06.049 He proved an incredible, almost unmatched versatility. 00:12:06.350 --> 00:12:08.570 He essentially held the two most prestigious 00:12:08.570 --> 00:12:10.750 international titles in the sport simultaneously. 00:12:11.269 --> 00:12:13.870 He is the king of Europe, but he sails back to 00:12:13.870 --> 00:12:17.350 America in late summer of 1923, reaches the final 00:12:17.350 --> 00:12:19.629 of the U .S. championships. And who is waiting 00:12:19.629 --> 00:12:22.070 for him? Big Bill Tilden. And Tilden beats him 00:12:22.070 --> 00:12:24.409 again. It really is a Shakespearean dynamic. 00:12:24.509 --> 00:12:27.009 No matter what he achieves globally, he returns 00:12:27.009 --> 00:12:30.029 home to face this insurmountable wall. It is 00:12:30.029 --> 00:12:32.070 a frustrating dynamic for Johnston individually. 00:12:31.850 --> 00:12:34.049 But if we connect this to the bigger picture, 00:12:34.470 --> 00:12:36.250 the story of the two Bills takes a brilliant 00:12:36.250 --> 00:12:38.649 turn when we look at international team competition. 00:12:39.230 --> 00:12:41.049 Because while they were fierce, bitter rivals 00:12:41.049 --> 00:12:43.490 constantly denying each other instantly glory, 00:12:43.990 --> 00:12:46.210 the structure of the sport required them to figure 00:12:46.210 --> 00:12:48.210 out how to coexist. They had to become teammates. 00:12:48.529 --> 00:12:50.509 They represented the United States in the Davis 00:12:50.509 --> 00:12:54.190 Cup. And when the United under one flag, they 00:12:54.190 --> 00:12:57.129 formed perhaps the greatest dynasty in the history 00:12:57.129 --> 00:13:00.389 of the event. Together, Little Bill and Big Bill. 00:13:00.539 --> 00:13:03.960 won seven consecutive Davis Cup trophies from 00:13:03.960 --> 00:13:08.340 1920 to 1926. Seven in a row. It is another monumental 00:13:08.340 --> 00:13:10.899 record that still stands today. I often think 00:13:10.899 --> 00:13:13.320 about the psychological whiplash of that locker 00:13:13.320 --> 00:13:16.700 room. You spend 11 months of the year analyzing 00:13:16.700 --> 00:13:18.860 this guy's weaknesses, trying to figure out how 00:13:18.860 --> 00:13:20.620 to mentally break him so you can win the U .S. 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:22.559 championship. And then a few weeks later, you 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:24.679 are sitting next to him on a bench, strategizing 00:13:24.679 --> 00:13:27.279 together, sharing tactics and high -fiving as 00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:29.759 you dismantle the British or the Australian national 00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:33.440 teams. It requires a profound level of compartmentalization 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:36.419 and mutual respect. They might have been individually 00:13:36.419 --> 00:13:38.759 competitive, but they were also pragmatic enough 00:13:38.759 --> 00:13:41.559 to realize that their combined talents were an 00:13:41.559 --> 00:13:44.409 unstoppable force of nature. They monopolized 00:13:44.409 --> 00:13:46.490 the sport. Completely. But as with all great 00:13:46.490 --> 00:13:48.409 sports dynasties, the era eventually reached 00:13:48.409 --> 00:13:51.190 its twilight. The turning point arrives in 1927. 00:13:51.750 --> 00:13:53.990 The United States Davis Cup team, anchored by 00:13:53.990 --> 00:13:57.029 Johnston, finally suffers a defeat. They lose 00:13:57.029 --> 00:13:59.090 to the legendary French team, famously known 00:13:59.090 --> 00:14:02.090 in tennis history as the Four Musketeers. Right, 00:14:02.169 --> 00:14:06.190 Lacoste, Barotra, those guys. Exactly. That loss 00:14:06.190 --> 00:14:08.889 signaled a changing of the guard. The European 00:14:08.889 --> 00:14:11.590 game was rising, a new younger generation was 00:14:11.590 --> 00:14:14.269 taking over, and Johnston recognized the shift. 00:14:14.789 --> 00:14:17.889 In September of 1927, he announces his retirement 00:14:17.889 --> 00:14:20.289 from competitive play, officially confirming 00:14:20.289 --> 00:14:23.690 it the following year in 1928. And the decisions 00:14:23.690 --> 00:14:26.610 he makes upon retiring offer a really clear window 00:14:26.610 --> 00:14:29.870 into his core values. At this time, professional 00:14:29.870 --> 00:14:31.970 tennis was just beginning to organize into a 00:14:31.970 --> 00:14:34.470 touring circuit. Promoters were desperate for 00:14:34.470 --> 00:14:36.850 star power, and they offered Johnston a substantial 00:14:36.850 --> 00:14:39.350 sum of money to turn professional in play exhibitions. 00:14:39.549 --> 00:14:41.750 But he turns it down. He completely walks away 00:14:41.750 --> 00:14:44.289 from the money and the professional tour. Instead, 00:14:44.309 --> 00:14:46.509 he chooses to enter the brokerage industry. You 00:14:46.509 --> 00:14:48.350 have to view this through the lens of his background. 00:14:48.830 --> 00:14:51.590 The early professional tours were chaotic. Barnstorming, 00:14:51.590 --> 00:14:54.009 essentially. Yeah, often playing in dimly lit 00:14:54.009 --> 00:14:57.070 gymnasiums, constantly traveling with no real 00:14:57.070 --> 00:15:00.309 prestige. For a working class kid from San Francisco 00:15:00.309 --> 00:15:03.409 whose father was a mechanic, Achieving the pinnacle 00:15:03.409 --> 00:15:05.590 of the gentleman's amateur sport was the ultimate 00:15:05.590 --> 00:15:08.450 validation. Transitioning into the financial 00:15:08.450 --> 00:15:11.350 markets represented stability, respectability, 00:15:11.789 --> 00:15:14.090 and a very grounded approach to his post -athletic 00:15:14.090 --> 00:15:16.750 life. He leaves behind the international spotlight 00:15:16.750 --> 00:15:18.950 for the quiet reality of the financial sector. 00:15:19.389 --> 00:15:21.690 So what does this all mean? Let's take a step 00:15:21.690 --> 00:15:23.909 back and look at the final tally of what William 00:15:23.909 --> 00:15:25.750 Little Bill Johnston accomplished on the court. 00:15:25.909 --> 00:15:28.659 The resume remains staggering. even a century 00:15:28.659 --> 00:15:31.080 later. He finishes his career with three Grand 00:15:31.080 --> 00:15:33.659 Slam singles titles too at the US Championships 00:15:33.659 --> 00:15:36.940 and that incredible 1923 Wimbledon victory. He 00:15:36.940 --> 00:15:39.419 captured three Grand Slam doubles titles all 00:15:39.419 --> 00:15:42.259 at the US Championships. He even secured a Grand 00:15:42.259 --> 00:15:45.460 Slam mixed doubles title winning in 1921 alongside 00:15:45.460 --> 00:15:48.059 Mary Brown. An incredible run. And the tennis 00:15:48.059 --> 00:15:50.320 world permanently recognized the magnitude of 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:52.320 his contributions when he was inducted into the 00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:54.990 International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1958. It 00:15:54.990 --> 00:15:57.509 was a vital enshrinement for a player who didn't 00:15:57.509 --> 00:16:00.809 just win trophies but actually evolved the biomechanics 00:16:00.809 --> 00:16:03.610 of the sport. His use of the Western grip to 00:16:03.610 --> 00:16:06.289 generate topspin was a precursor to the modern 00:16:06.289 --> 00:16:08.889 game we see today. Tragically, Johnston was not 00:16:08.889 --> 00:16:10.809 there to see his own Hall of Fame induction. 00:16:11.370 --> 00:16:14.230 His life after tennis was cut incredibly short. 00:16:14.409 --> 00:16:16.970 He contracted tuberculosis and passed away on 00:16:16.970 --> 00:16:20.889 May 1st, 1946. Yes. He was only 51 years old. 00:16:21.529 --> 00:16:24.730 It is a remarkably quiet and somber end for a 00:16:24.730 --> 00:16:27.110 man who brought such explosive energy to the 00:16:27.110 --> 00:16:30.230 courts of Paris, London, and New York. It is 00:16:30.230 --> 00:16:32.509 a sobering conclusion. But when you reflect on 00:16:32.509 --> 00:16:35.039 the totality of his career, particularly those 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:37.360 agonizing six runner -up finishes at the U .S. 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:39.419 Championships. This raises an important question. 00:16:39.580 --> 00:16:41.740 What's that? Well, if little Bill Johnston hadn't 00:16:41.740 --> 00:16:44.320 played in the exact same era as Big Bill Tilden, 00:16:44.580 --> 00:16:46.460 would history remember him as the undisputed 00:16:46.460 --> 00:16:48.559 greatest player of the early 20th century? It 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:51.019 makes you wonder how much of our own legacy in 00:16:51.019 --> 00:16:53.820 any field is defined not just by our own inherent 00:16:53.820 --> 00:16:56.700 talents, but by the specific rivals and peers 00:16:56.700 --> 00:16:59.509 we happen to meet along the way. That is a profound 00:16:59.509 --> 00:17:01.809 thought to carry with us. If Tilden had been 00:17:01.809 --> 00:17:03.730 born 10 years later, we might be talking about 00:17:03.730 --> 00:17:06.650 Johnston as a 10 -time US champion. We will never 00:17:06.650 --> 00:17:09.289 know, but it is a fascinating reminder of how 00:17:09.289 --> 00:17:11.730 timing shapes history. Thank you for joining 00:17:11.730 --> 00:17:14.609 us on this deep dive into the resilient, groundbreaking 00:17:14.609 --> 00:17:17.269 life of little Bill Johnston. We hope you walk 00:17:17.269 --> 00:17:19.329 away with a new perspective on the origins of 00:17:19.329 --> 00:17:21.650 greatness, and we encourage you to keep exploring 00:17:21.650 --> 00:17:24.170 the incredible human stories hiding just beneath 00:17:24.170 --> 00:17:26.990 the surface of the record books. Until next time, 00:17:27.369 --> 00:17:27.910 keep digging.