This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 2/7/2014.
This “SPALDING” manufactured tennis racquet weighs approximately 13.5 oz. and measures 27-½” long with the racquet head measuring roughly 8-¼” x 12-½”. It was used by “Big” Bill Tilden in the U.S. National Championships and later given to “Little” Johnny Sylvester in the hopes that it would lift the boy’s spirits. On the bottom edge of the racquet head, Tilden wrote “To Johnnie - May you be a Champion - From Wm. Tilden II - OCT. 1926”. The message and signature appear in black fountain ink and rates a 7 overall. The right edge of the racquet has been stamped “THIS FRAME STRUNG BY SPALDING N.Y.” along with the number “62” adjacent to the left. The left edge reads “PATENT APPLIED FOR”. The nearly 90-year old racquet is in VG condition and shows signs of use, several strings have detached from the head. Tilden penned three hand-written letters to Johnny Sylvester, each is undated and appears on letterhead from the Hotel Algonquin in New York. In the first letter, Tilden references his friend Babe Ruth’s Game 4 home run heroics aiding the boy’s recovery, as well as “Red” Grange, who sent the youngster a football. Tilden goes on to say that he would send Johnny “an autographed racket [sic] I used in the National Tennis Championship”. In the year prior, Tilden was crowned the Champion of the men’s singles event of the National Championships (now known as the U.S. Open); the following year he and Alfred Chapin were the runners-up in the men’s doubles event. Tilden’s second letter was sent after the shipment of the racquet as it is referenced by “Big” Bill and the tennis champ says that he hopes the boy likes it. He goes on to invite Johnny to be his guests at his show, “The All Want Something”, in New York. Tilden also references the racquet in the third letter, saying “I hope the racket [sic] arrived safely.” The racquet and the three letters are accompanied by a Full JSA LOA as well as a letter from “Little” Johnny’s son, John Sylvester, Jr. A true piece of sports history from one of the greatest tennis players of all time.