GOAT Index

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Bill Tilden: the case for the GOAT

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    Bill Tilden: the case for the GOAT

    USA · Born 10 February 1893, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA · Died 1953 · Career 1912–1946

    Tall American who dominated 1920s tennis with a cannonball serve and an analytical, all-round game, and wrote influential books on tactics and technique.

    Career highlights

    Why Bill Tilden could be the GOAT

    Tilden was the first global tennis superstar, ranked No. 1 for six straight years and leading the US to seven consecutive Davis Cups. He won his third Wimbledon at 37, then helped build professional tennis. His writing on strategy shaped how the game was taught for generations.

    What fans say

    Bill Tilden is #15 of 20 in the fan ranking, with a 0–3 head-to-head record from 52 Men's tennis votes. See the full Men's tennis GOAT ranking

    Bill Tilden head to head

    How the ranking works. Every head-to-head vote is a result, like a game. The standings use a Bradley–Terry model, the same idea behind chess ratings: beating a highly rated legend counts for more than beating a long shot. Ratings are shown on a chess-style scale centred on 1500.

    One vote per matchup per person. If you see a pairing again in another session your new answer replaces the old one, so nobody can stuff the ballot by repeating a matchup.

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