Club Times: July/August

A AC HA L L O F FAM E H I G H L I G H T

B i t sy G ran t The Mighty Atom WR I T T EN BY J E F F CHANDL EY, D I R ECTOR OF T ENN I S

Known as the “Mighty Atom” Bitsy dominated tennis in the south during the Depression. He began playing tennis at the age of 9 years old and watched his father win numerous southern titles with another AAC member and Hall of Famer Nat Thornton. At 5 feet 4 inches he was the smallest American to win a championship on the international circuit. A right hand retriever, he was able to beat heavy-hitting greats such as Don Budge. After beating Don Budge, he became known as “Itsy Bitsy the Giant Killer”. Between 1930 and 1941, Grant was ranked nine times in the U.S. Top Ten. In 1937 was ranked 6th in the world. In 1935 he never lost a match on clay and won 8 out of 11 tournaments that year. Grant won the U.S. Clay Court Championships in 1930, 1934 and 1935. Grant was a stand out on the U.S. Davis Cup team 1935 – 1937, helping the U.S. regain the prize in 1937. During WWII he served in the Pacific and letters to his wife indicated he fought many months out of a foxhole. After returning home from the war he dedicated his time to providing for his wife and knew that being a high level tennis player would take too much time away from his wife.

Grant continued to compete as a senior, winning 19 U.S. singles titles on all four surfaces. His last title came at the age of 65 in the 1976 Hard Court Nationals. Bitsy Grant was inducted into the AAC Hall of Fame in 1995, and will remain one of our most prominent tennis members. The Bitsy Grant Tennis Center was named for him in 1954 and is one of the largest public centers in the Atlanta area. Grant was inducted in the “International Tennis Hall of Fame” in 1972.