Arthur James Willard (22 April 1893 – 10 June 1968), better known as ''Jim Willard'', was an Australian

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player.

Tennis career

Willard won two mixed doubles titles alongside

Daphne Akhurst Daphne Jessie Akhurst (22 April 1903 – 9 January 1933), also known by her married name Daphne Cozens, was an Australian tennis player. Akhurst won the women's singles title at the Australian Championships five times between 1925 and 1930. ...

at the Australasian Championships, the future

Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...

, in

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

and

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

. Willard also finished singles runner-up to John Hawkes in

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

and reached the semifinals in 1927 and 1930. He was the mixed doubles runner-up in Australia in 1926 and

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...

, and doubles runner-up at the Australian Championships in

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

and at the

French Championships The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam tennis events eve ...

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...

. He participated in the

1924 Wimbledon Championships The 1924 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from 23 June until 5 July.2010 Wimbledon Compendium, by Alan Little ( ...

, losing in the second round of the singles event. He returned at the 1930 Championships where he lost in the first round of the singles event, reached the quarterfinal of the doubles with

Harry Hopman Henry Christian Hopman Order of the British Empire, CBE (12 August 1906 – 27 December 1985) was an Australian tennis player and coach. Early life Harry Hopman was born on 12 August 1906 in Glebe, New South Wales, Glebe, Sydney as the third c ...

and made it to the third round of the mixed doubles partnering

Lolette Payot Lolette Payot-Dodille (; 17 April 1910 – February 1988) was a Swiss-French tennis player. Biography Payot was born on 17 April 1910 at Lausanne. She learned to play tennis age 8 on the courts of the Montchoisi tennis club. At the age of 13, ...

. Willard competed in the

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

and doubles event at the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...

. In the singles he made it to the third round before being defeated by Sydney Jacob. In the doubles event he teamed up with James Bayley and reached the second round in which they lost to eventual Olympic champions

Vincent Richards Vincent Richards (March 20, 1903 – September 28, 1959) was an American tennis player. He was active in the early decades of the 20th century, particularly known as being a superlative volleyer. He was ranked World No. 2 as an amateur in 1924 b ...

and Frank Hunter. Willard won the Sydney metropolitan championships in October 1929 after a victory in the final against Jack Crawford. He became a professional player in February 1933. From 1933 to 1941, Willard had an endorsement deal with the Alexander Patent Racket Company in

Launceston, Tasmania Launceston () is a city in the north of Tasmania, Australia, at the confluence of the North Esk River, North Esk and South Esk River, South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River, Tasmania, Tamar River (kanamaluka). As of 2021, the Launc ...

, to produce a range of 'Jim Willard' tennis racquets.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 runner-up)

Doubles (2 runners-up)

Mixed doubles (2 titles, 2 runners-up)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Willard, James Australasian Championships (tennis) champions Australian male tennis players 1893 births 1968 deaths Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Olympic tennis players for Australia Tennis players at the 1924 Summer Olympics Professional tennis players before the Open Era Tennis players from New South Wales Sportsmen from New South Wales 20th-century Australian sportsmen