Tilden and Wills.

During the 1920s Bill Tilden and Helen Wills largely dominated tennis in America and abroad. The pair provided models of athleticism and mastery that appealed to their fellow citizens who were flocking to private and public courts in unprecedented numbers. Alongside these two tennis giants of the decade were other talented players who won major championships and who provided Tilden and Wills with the competition they required to develop their own enormous talents. Moreover, these figures were intimately involved in the explosion of interest in team play that occurred in the 1920s, whether in the women's Wightman Cup competition or the men's Davis Cup matches.

Wightman and Mallory.

Among the best of the U.S. women players were Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman and Molla Bjurdstedt Mallory. Wightman, a fierce competitor, had won four U.S. Championships between 1909 and 1919 and in the course of...