Bill Talbert

{{Infobox tennis biography

|name = Bill Talbert

|fullname = William Franklin Talbert

|image = Bill Talbert 1949 (cropped).jpg

|caption = Talbert, circa 1949

|country = {{USA}}

|birth_date = {{birth date|1918|9|4}}

|birth_place = Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.

|death_date = {{death date and age|mf=yes|1999|2|28|1918|9|4}}

|death_place = New York City, U.S.

|height =

|weight =

|turnedpro =

|retired =

|plays = Right-handed

|tennishofyear = 1967

|tennishofid = bill-talbert

|singlesrecord = 651-201 (76.4%) {{cite web|last1=Garcia|first1=Gabriel|title=Bill Talbert: Career match record|url=https://app.thetennisbase.com/?enlace=playern&player_input_enc=TALBERT%2C+BILL&player_input=TALBERT%2C+BILL&sub=2#aSubmenu|website=thetennisbase.com|publisher=Tennismem SL|access-date=20 November 2017|location=Madrid, Spain}}

|singlestitles = 49 {{cite web|last1=Garcia|first1=Gabriel|title=Bill Talbert: Career tournament results|url=https://app.thetennisbase.com/?enlace=playern&player_input_enc=TALBERT%2C+BILL&player_input=TALBERT%2C+BILL&sub=4&idjugador=40918&year=&surface=&tipo_de_torneo=&tipo_de_cuadro=W&tm_category=&tm_torneo=&rondaplus=#aSubmenu|website=thetennisbase.com|publisher=Tennismem SL|access-date=20 November 2017|location=Madrid, Spain}}

|highestsinglesranking = No. 3 (1949, John Olliff)United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). Official Encyclopedia of Tennis (First Edition), p. 426.

|AustralianOpenresult = 2R (1947)

|FrenchOpenresult = SF (1950)

|Wimbledonresult = QF (1950)

|USOpenresult = F (1944, 1945)

|Othertournaments =

|Olympicsresult =

|doublesrecord =

|doublestitles =

|highestdoublesranking =

|currentdoublesranking =

|grandslamsdoublesresults =

|AustralianOpenDoublesresult = QF (1947, 1954)

|FrenchOpenDoublesresult = W (1950)

|WimbledonDoublesresult =

|USOpenDoublesresult = W (1942, 1945, 1946, 1948)

|OthertournamentsDoubles =

|OlympicsDoublesresult =

|Mixed =

|mixedrecord =

|mixedtitles =

|AustralianOpenMixedresult =

|FrenchOpenMixedresult = F (1950)

|WimbledonMixedresult =

|USOpenMixedresult = W (1943, 1944, 1945, 1946)

|OthertournamentsMixedDoubles =

|OlympicMixedDoublesresult =

|updated =

}}

William Franklin Talbert (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 1999) was an American tennis player and administrator.{{cite news|title=Bill Talbert, Tennis Champion, Is Dead at 80|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/02/sports/bill-talbert-tennis-champion-is-dead-at-80.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 2, 1999}}

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.{{cite magazine|title=What Price Independence?|url=https://www.si.com/vault/issue/42721/82/2tm|magazine=Sports Illustrated|author=William F. Talbert|author2=John Sharnik|pages=76–88|volume=10|issue=18|date=May 4, 1959}}

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Talbert still holds records at the Cincinnati Masters 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).{{cite web|title=French Open 1950|url=http://www.tennis.co.nf/FRENCH%20OPEN%201950.htm|website=www.tennis.co.nf|access-date=October 5, 2017|archive-date=June 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190624183450/http://www.tennis.co.nf/FRENCH%20OPEN%201950.htm|url-status=dead}}

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.{{Cite news |date=9 May 1950 |title=TALBERT WINS TITLE BEATING PATTY |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Indian_Express.html?id=nLw-AAAAIBAJ#v=onepage&q=Paris%20International%20Championships%20tennis&f=false |access-date=30 January 2025 |work=The Indian Express via Google News Archive |pages=8}}

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)=

class='sortable wikitable'

!style="width:40px"|Result

!style="width:35px"|Year

!style="width:180px"|Championship

!style="width:50px"|Surface

!style="width:180px"|Opponent

!style="width:180px" class="unsortable"|Score

style="background:#ccf;"

| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss

1944

U.S. Championships

Grass

{{flagicon|USA|1912}} Frank Parker

4–6, 6–3, 3–6, 3–6

style="background:#ccf;"

| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss

1945

U.S. Championships

Grass

{{flagicon|USA|1912}} Frank Parker

12–14, 1–6, 2–6

= Doubles (5 titles, 5 runners-up)=

class="sortable wikitable" !style="width:40px"\|Result !style="width:35px"\|Year !style="width:180px"\|Championship !style="width:50px"\|Surface !style="width:180px"\|Partner !style="width:180px"\|Opponents !style="width:180px" class="unsortable"\|Score
style="background:#ccf;" \| style="background:#98fb98;"\|Win	1942	U.S. Championships	Grass	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Gardnar Mulloy	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Ted Schroeder {{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Sidney Wood	9–7, 7–5, 6–1
style="background:#ccf;" \| style="background:#ffa07a;"\|Loss	1943	U.S. Championships	Grass	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} David Freeman	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Jack Kramer {{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Frank Parker	2–6, 4–6, 4–6
style="background:#ccf;" \| style="background:#ffa07a;"\|Loss	1944	U.S. Championships	Grass	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Pancho Segura	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Don McNeill {{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Bob Falkenburg	5–7, 4–6, 6–3, 1–6
style="background:#ccf;" \| style="background:#98fb98;"\|Win	1945	U.S. Championships	Grass	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Gardnar Mulloy	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Bob Falkenburg {{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Jack Tuero	12–10, 8–10, 12–10, 6–2
style="background:#ccf;" \| style="background:#98fb98;"\|Win	1946	U.S. Championships	Grass	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Gardnar Mulloy	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Don McNeill {{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Frank Guernsey	3–6, 6–4, 2–6, 6–3, 20–18
style="background:#ccf;" \| style="background:#ffa07a;"\|Loss	1947	U.S. Championships	Grass	{{flagicon\|AUS}} Bill Sidwell	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Jack Kramer {{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Ted Schroeder	4–6, 5–7, 3–6
style="background:#ccf;" \| style="background:#98fb98;"\|Win	1948	U.S. Championships	Grass	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Gardnar Mulloy	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Frank Parker {{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Ted Schroeder	1–6, 9–7, 6–3, 3–6, 9–7
style="background:#ebc2af;" \| style="background:#98fb98;"\|Win	1950	French Championships	Clay	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Tony Trabert	{{flagicon\|EGY\|1922}} Jaroslav Drobný {{flagicon\|RSA\|1928}} Eric Sturgess	6–2, 1–6, 10–8, 6–2
style="background:#ccf;" \| style="background:#ffa07a;"\|Loss	1950	U.S. Championships	Grass	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Gardnar Mulloy	{{flagicon\|AUS}} John Bromwich {{flagicon\|AUS}} Frank Sedgman	5–7, 6–8, 6–3, 1–6
style="background:#ccf;" \| style="background:#ffa07a;"\|Loss	1953	U.S. Championships	Grass	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Gardnar Mulloy	{{flagicon\|AUS}} Rex Hartwig {{flagicon\|AUS}} Mervyn Rose	4–6, 6–4, 2–6, 4–6

=Mixed Doubles (4 titles, 3 runners-up)=

class="sortable wikitable" !style="width:40px"\|Result !style="width:35px"\|Year !style="width:180px"\|Championship !style="width:50px"\|Surface !style="width:180px"\|Partner !style="width:180px"\|Opponents !style="width:180px" class="unsortable"\|Score
style="background:#ccf;" \| style="background:#98fb98;"\|Win	1943	U.S. Championships	Grass	{{flagicon\|USA}} Margaret Osborne	{{flagicon\|USA}} Pauline Betz {{flagicon\|USA}} Pancho Segura	10–6, 6–4
style="background:#ccf;" \| style="background:#98fb98;"\|Win	1944	U.S. Championships	Grass	{{flagicon\|USA}} Margaret Osborne	{{flagicon\|USA}} Dorothy Bundy {{flagicon\|USA}} Don McNeill	6–2, 6–3
style="background:#ccf;" \| style="background:#98fb98;"\|Win	1945	U.S. Championships	Grass	{{flagicon\|USA}} Margaret Osborne	{{flagicon\|USA}} Doris Hart {{flagicon\|USA}} Bob Falkenberg	6–4, 6–4
style="background:#ccf;" \| style="background:#98fb98;"\|Win	1946	U.S. Championships	Grass	{{flagicon\|USA}} Margaret Osborne	{{flagicon\|USA}} Louise Brough {{flagicon\|USA}} Robert Kimbrell	6–3, 6–4
style="background:#ccf;" \| style="background:#ffa07a;"\|Loss	1948	U.S. Championships	Grass	{{flagicon\|USA}} Margaret Osborne duPont	{{flagicon\|USA}} Louise Brough {{flagicon\|USA}} Tom Brown	4–6, 4–6
style="background:#ccf;" \| style="background:#ffa07a;"\|Loss	1949	U.S. Championships	Grass	{{flagicon\|USA}} Margaret Osborne duPont	{{flagicon\|USA}} Louise Brough {{flagicon\|RSA\|1928}} Eric Sturgess	6–4, 3–6, 5–7
style="background:#ebc2af;" \| style="background:#ffa07a;"\|Loss	1950	French Championships	Clay	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Patricia Canning Todd	{{flagicon\|USA}} Barbara Scofield {{flagicon\|ARG}} Enrique Morea	w.o.