Bryan Grant
Bryan Morel "Bitsy" Grant Jr. (December 25, 1909 – June 5, 1986) was an American amateur tennis champion. At 5 feet 4 inches (163 cm) and 120 pounds (54 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".
Grant at the 1937 Wimbledon Championships | |
| Full name | Bryan Morel Grant Jr. |
|---|---|
| Country (sports) | United States |
| Born | December 25, 1909 Atlanta, Georgia, US |
| Died | June 5, 1986 (aged 76) Atlanta, Georgia, US |
| Height | 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) |
| Plays | Right-handed |
| Int. Tennis HoF | 1977 (member page) |
| Singles | |
| Highest ranking | No. 6 (1937, A. Wallis Myers) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Wimbledon | QF (1936, 1937) |
| US Open | SF (1935, 1936) |
| Doubles | |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| Wimbledon | 3R (1936) |
At a young age, Grant was already a star in 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 foxhole for several months, and saw heavy and repeated firefights.
Grant died at the age of 76 at his home in Townsend Place.