William "Bill" Harris (January 14, 1947 – March 8, 2002) was an American tennis player in the mid-20th Century. Harris began playing tennis at the age of 8, and started playing tournaments at age 11. Harris was one of the best junior tennis players of the mid 20th century. Born in

West Palm Beach West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, he won the singles title at the

Cincinnati Masters The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...

in 1968. He knocked

Premjit Lall Premjit Lall (20 October 1940 – 31 December 2008) was an Indian professional tennis player from Kolkata, who was active during the 1960s and 70s. Tennis career Lall started his tennis career on the grass courts of the Calcutta South Club wher ...

of India out in the semifinals and

Allan Stone Allan Stone (born 14 October 1945) is a former tennis player from Australia. He played amateur and professional tennis in the 1960s and 1970s. He was ranked as high as world No. 36 in singles and world No. 12 in doubles on the ATP rankings. S ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in the final for the title. He also reached the singles final in Cincinnati in 1966. In junior tennis, Harris was the No. 1 ranked player in the World, and won the National Boys championship in the 14, 16 and 18 age divisions. He attended Trinity University in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Harris practiced with his brother Robert Harris during the summers for nine hours a day or more at Howard Park. "I won't leave this park until I hit the ball 500 times back and forth without missing," Bill would tell his brother Robert. Bill reached the world record to be No. 1 ranked player in the world with the highest number of tennis balls hit on the backboard without missing. Bill said, "I caught the ball at 966 and people were amazed and stared at me like I was crazy, but I just didn't want to take that little girl's world record away of 967." Harris was diagnosed with

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...

when he was eighteen and due to his illness retired from tennis at age twenty-two. With the incapability of living on his own, Bill lived with his mother for a long while. On March 8, 2002, Bill Harris, aged 55, died at Columbia Hospital, a mental institution, in West Palm Beach, Florida. The cause of death was an allergic reaction to a medication. Harris' father, Charles Harris, reached the Cincinnati singles final in 1936 before falling to

Bobby Riggs Robert Larimore Riggs (February 25, 1918 – October 25, 1995) was an American tennis champion who was the World No. 1 amateur in 1939 and World No. 1 professional in 1946 and 1947. He played his first professional tennis match on December ...

, 6–1, 6–3, 6–1.

References

Sources:
''From Club Court to Center Court'' by Phillip S. Smith, (2010 Edition, pages 28–29, 57)

External links

* * 1947 births 2002 deaths American male tennis players Sportspeople from West Palm Beach, Florida Tennis people from Florida Trinity Tigers men's tennis players {{US-tennisbio-stub