Bitsy Grant
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Bryan Morel "Bitsy" Grant, Jr (December 25, 1909 Atlanta, Georgia - June 5, 1986) was an American professional Tennis champion. At 5 feet 4 inches (162 cm) and 120 lbs (54 kg), Grant was the smallest American man to win a championship on the international tennis circuit. A right-handed retriever, he was able to beat heavy-hitting greats such as Don Budge and Ellsworth Vines even when playing on grass.
At a young age, Grant was already a star in football, basketball and tennis at local Atlanta schools. In 1929, he won the Georgia state (GIAA) tennis title. Grant had gained national stature in tennis long before his graduation from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1933. During World War II, he served in the Pacific Islands around New Guinea. His letters to his future wife attest that he fought out of a foxhole for several months, and saw heavy and repeated firefights.
Grant was also a member of the Piedmont Driving Club and had the privilege of escorting Olivia de Havilland to the Atlanta opening of Gone with the Wind.
Grant died of cancer at the age of 75.
[edit] Tennis career
Between 1930 and 1941, Grant was ranked nine times in the U.S Top Ten (USLTA). He was third in 1935 and second in 1936 (USLTA). Grant won 8 of 11 tournaments entered in 1935, and did not lose one match on clay courts. He won the U.S. title on clay thrice (1930, 1934, 1935). Grant reached the U.S. semifinals in 1935 by defeating second-seated Budge, but in 1936, he lost to eventual champion Fred Perry. He was a quarterfinalist in 1937, losing to Gottfried von Cramm, and reached the same round a year later.
Grant was a standout on the Davis Cup team in 1935, 1936 and 1937, helping the U.S. regain the prize in 1937 after a 10-year slump. At this time he also defeated in major tournaments Don Budge, Frank Shields, and Wilmer Allison. He reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 1936 and 1937, losing to Fred Perry and Bunny Austin. Also in 1937, Grant and Wayne Sabin were the 3rd-ranked U.S. doubles team. He also won the singles and the doubles titles at the tournament in Cincinnati in both 1939 and 1933.
Grant continued to compete as a senior, winning 19 U.S. singles titles on the four surfaces: grass court-45s (1956 and 1957), 55s (1965, 1966, 1967 and 1968); indoor 55s (1966); clay court-45s (1959, 1960, 1961 and 1963), 55s (1965, 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969), 65s (1976 and 1977); and hard court-65s (1976).
[edit] Trivia
- When greeting the Queen Elizabeth II, he greeted her as "ma'am" instead of as "your majesty", which charmed the Queen.[citation needed]
- He is also rumored to have played Wimbledon barefoot, as there were no shoes in sizes suitable for his foot. They just would not slide properly over the grass.[citation needed]
- His nickname was "Itsy Bitsy the Giant Killer".
- Atlanta's largest tennis center was named for him in 1954.
