View source for Bryan Grant

{{Short description|American tennis player (1909–1986)}}
{{For|those of a similar name|Brian Grant (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox tennis biography
|name                              = Bryan Grant
|image                             = Bryan Grant 1937.jpg
|caption                           = Grant at the 1937 Wimbledon Championships
|fullname                          = Bryan Morel Grant Jr.
|country                           = {{USA}}
|residence                         =
|birth_date                        = {{birth date|1909|12|25}}
|birth_place                       = [[Atlanta, Georgia]], US
|death_date                        = {{death date and age|1986|06|05|1909|12|25}}
|death_place                       = Atlanta, Georgia, US
|height                            = {{convert|5|ft|4|in|abbr=on}}
|college                           = 
|turnedpro                         = 
|retired                           = 
|plays                             = Right-handed
|careerprizemoney                  = 
|tennishofyear                     = 1977
|tennishofid                       = bitsy-grant
|website                           =
|singlesrecord                     = 
|singlestitles                     = 
|highestsinglesranking             = No. 6 (1937<small>, [[A. Wallis Myers]]</small>)<ref name="USLTAEncyclopedia">United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). ''Official Encyclopedia of Tennis'' (First Edition), p. 425.</ref>
|currentsinglesranking             = 
|AustralianOpenresult              = 
|FrenchOpenresult                  = 
|Wimbledonresult                   = QF ([[1936 Wimbledon Championships – Men's singles|1936]], [[1937 Wimbledon Championships – Men's singles|1937]])
|USOpenresult                      = SF ([[1935 U.S. National Championships – Men's singles|1935]], [[1936 U.S. National Championships – Men's singles|1936]])
|Othertournaments                  = 
|Olympicsresult                    = 
|doublesrecord                     = 
|doublestitles                     = 
|highestdoublesranking             = 
|currentdoublesranking             = 
|AustralianOpenDoublesresult       = 
|FrenchOpenDoublesresult           = 
|WimbledonDoublesresult            = 3R (1936)
|USOpenDoublesresult               = 
|OthertournamentsDoubles           = 
|OlympicsDoublesresult             = 
|Mixed                             = 
|mixedrecord                       = 
|mixedtitles                       = 
|AustralianOpenMixedresult         = 
|FrenchOpenMixedresult             = 
|WimbledonMixedresult              = 
|USOpenMixedresult                 = 
|OthertournamentsMixedDoubles      =
|OlympicMixedDoublesresult         =
}}

'''Bryan Morel "Bitsy" Grant Jr.''' (December 25, 1909 – June 5, 1986) was an American amateur [[tennis]] champion. At {{convert|5|ft|4|in|cm}} and {{convert|120|lb|kg}}, Grant was the smallest American man to win a championship on the international tennis circuit. A right-handed retriever, he was able to beat heavy-hitting greats such as [[Don Budge]] and [[Ellsworth Vines]] even when playing on grass. His nickname was "Itsy Bitsy the Giant Killer".

At a young age, Grant was already a star in [[American football|football]], basketball and tennis at local Atlanta schools. In 1929, he won the Georgia state (GIAA) tennis title. Grant had gained national stature in tennis long before his graduation from the [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]] in 1933.

During World War II, he served in the [[Pacific Islands]] as a US Army rifleman in and around Papua [[New Guinea]]. His letters to his future wife attest that he fought out of a [[Defensive fighting position|foxhole]] for several months, and saw heavy and repeated firefights.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}

Grant died at the age of 76 at his home in Townsend Place.

==Tennis career==
Between 1930 and 1941, Grant was ranked nine times in the U.S. Top Ten (USLTA). He was third in 1935 and second in 1936 (USLTA). [[A. Wallis Myers]] of [[The Daily Telegraph]] ranked Grant World No. 6 in 1937 and World No. 8 in 1936.<ref name="USLTAEncyclopedia"/><ref name="TheAge1936">[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=s-tjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YJUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3693,2769776&dq=wallis-myers&hl=en "Wallis Myers' Rankings"], ''The Age'', 24th September 1936.</ref> Grant won 8 of 11 tournaments entered in 1935, and did not lose one match on clay courts. He won the [[U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships|U.S. Clay Court Championships]] thrice (1930, 1934, 1935). Grant reached the U.S. semifinals in 1935 by defeating second-seeded [[Don Budge]], before losing to [[Sidney Wood (tennis)|Sidney Wood]] and in 1936, he lost in the semifinals to eventual champion [[Fred Perry]].<ref name="talbert">{{cite book|last=Talbert|first=Bill|author-link=Bill Talbert|title=Tennis Observed|year=1967|publisher=Barre Publishers|location=Boston|pages=113–114|oclc=172306}}</ref> He was a quarterfinalist in 1937, losing to [[Gottfried von Cramm]], and reached the same round a year later.

Grant was a standout{{Vague|date=March 2011}} on the Davis Cup team in 1935, 1936 and 1937, helping the U.S. regain the prize in 1937 after a 10-year slump. At this time he also defeated in major tournaments [[Don Budge]], [[Frank Shields]], and [[Wilmer Allison]]. He reached the quarterfinals at [[The Championships, Wimbledon|Wimbledon]] in 1936 and 1937, losing to [[Fred Perry]] and [[Bunny Austin]]. Also in 1937, Grant and Wayne Sabin were the 3rd-ranked U.S. doubles team. He also won the singles and the doubles titles at the tournament in [[Cincinnati Masters|Cincinnati]] in both 1939 and 1933.

[[Frank Shields]], who had had his issues both with interactions with other players, and with alcohol,<ref name="TS3">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hs_EScJYr3YC&dq=Frank+Shields&pg=PA190 |title=A Terrible Splendor: Three ... |isbn=9780307393951 |accessdate=March 27, 2011|last1=Fisher |first1=Marshall |year=2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t5d1AAAAMAAJ&q=tennis+drunk+%22frank+shields%22 |title=From this moment on: America in 1940 |date=September 16, 2008 |isbn=9780517557419 |accessdate=March 27, 2011|last1=Hart |first1=Jeffrey Peter }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/848475692.html?dids=848475692:848475692&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jul+24%2C+1937&author=&pub=Hartford+Courant&desc=Writer+Lauds+Film+Starring+Irene+Dunne&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120507162038/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/848475692.html?dids=848475692:848475692&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jul+24%2C+1937&author=&pub=Hartford+Courant&desc=Writer+Lauds+Film+Starring+Irene+Dunne&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 7, 2012 |title=Proquest |publisher=Courant.com |date=July 24, 1937 |accessdate=March 27, 2011}}</ref> was known for making fun of Grant, saying "the little shaver" was hiding behind the net. Once a drunk Shields held Grant upside down, outside a hotel window.<ref name="TS3" />

Grant continued to compete as a senior, winning 19 U.S. singles titles on the four surfaces: grass court-45s (1956 and 1957), 55s (1965, 1966, 1967 and 1968); indoor 55s (1966); clay court-45s (1959, 1960, 1961 and 1963), 55s (1965, 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969), 65s (1976 and 1977); and hard court-65s (1976).

Atlanta's largest tennis center, the Bitsy Grant Tennis Center, was named for him in 1954.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rives|first1=Robert Anthony|title=Tennistown USA|date=2011|publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform|isbn=978-1461132806|page=15}}</ref> Grant was inducted into the [[International Tennis Hall of Fame]] in 1972.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Tennis Hall of Fame}}
* {{ITF}}
* {{Davis Cup player}}
* [http://www.bitsytennis.com Bitsy Grant Tennis Center website]
* [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2031 The New Georgia Encyclopedia article]

{{International Tennis Hall of Fame members}}
{{Portal bar|Tennis}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Bitsy}}
[[Category:American male tennis players]]
[[Category:North Carolina Tar Heels men's tennis players]]
[[Category:Tennis players from Atlanta]]
[[Category:International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Tennis players from Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:1910 births]]
[[Category:1986 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]