Farewell to My Tennis Friend William J. (Bill) Tully

William J. Tully passed away on July 21, 2016 at 90 years of age. He was a unique tennis friend of mind. He played a few choice matches at the Meadow Club in Southampton when grass tennis ruled the National Championships. Years later "Bill" told me he fondly enjoyed playing tennis in Southampton sometimes against the legends of Tennis in the 1950’s while preparing for the championship grass matches at Forest Hills.

Bill and I were separated in age by 26 years; in fact 5 of his 9 children attended Catholic grammar with me at OLPH in Pelham Manor, NY in the early 1960’s. In later life when age was catching up with him he chose me to play tennis with him once week for almost 20 years. We played mostly on court 5 of the NYAC at 10 am sharp where he “schooled” me, mostly by defeating me consistently yet always convincing me afterwards that it was a “tough match.” When later as we both aged and I would win a set or match, the next time we played he would always come out and destroy me. He did not ever like to lose.

“Bill” who was an All-American in tennis and track at Notre Dame spent his whole life talking tennis as he watched almost every grand slam match on TV that he could. He was also the winner of the 1948 Canadian National Tennis Singles Championships. The few times that we spent a day at the US Open Tennis Championships together the legends of the sport would come over and greet “Bill” with great pleasure, and he always made them all chuckle because he was a positive witty guy whose passion for tennis was legendary.

He was the winner of 22 USTA National Titles, as well as dozens of Eastern, New York and Florida Championships. He played in the U.S. National Championships at Forest Hills, NY, for several years. I had the opportunity to play both with him and against him on the grass courts (recreationally) at the US Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport. The last time we played there he was well into his 70’s. He pointed to the stadium court at the facility and told me he loved playing there.

Bill represented the U.S. in the 1968 Olympics, and he won the International World Championships in singles while representing the U.S. in the 2002 Senior Davis Cup in Austria. “Bill” was an inducted into the Westchester County Sports Hall of Fame (1995) and the USTA Eastern Hall of Fame (1999).

However I believe what gave him his greatest joy was when he partnered with his children in numerous competitions, both locally and nationally and when he won the USTA “gold balls,” awarded to the champion of the National Grandfather-Grandson Championship, four times with three different grandsons.

He had his “Bill Tully” mannerisms, such as when he would see you ask, “So how are you hitting them?” Another was after you would miss a shot near the line he would walk over to it, then circle it, and announce, “ohhh just out!” He would also groan with a unique sound if you hit a good shot he knew he could not get to, then very meekly say, “nice shot.” He never uttered one swear word on a tennis court ever, something he was famously noted for.

I called “Bill” and spoke to him just last week to tell him that after a 5 year-period I was playing again. We spoke for about 40 minutes about many old matches, including one at the Pelham Country Club he played against tennis legend Don Budge. Bill also reminisced about the time as a high school senior he played Jack Kramer at the University of Miami. Bill said, “Kramer was a very humble man.”

So was William J. Tully, he was a humble, witty gentleman, and a great husband and dad, but most of all to me he was my friend.