William Murphy (tennis)

William E. "Bill" Murphy (November 15, 1917 – May 16, 2005) was an American championship tennis player and coach. In 1938 and 1939, Murphy and his twin brother, Chet, won consecutive Big Ten Conference doubles championships while competing for the University of Chicago. Murphy also won a 1939 singles title at the Western Tennis Association tournament in Chicago. He earned a Masters Degree in Physical Education from George Williams college in Chicago in 1941. He was a war hero in World War II as a dive bomber pilot in the Pacific, helping sink the Battleship Yamato. In 1948, he became the coach of the University of Michigan tennis team, where he remained for 21 years until 1969. He led Michigan to eleven Big Ten team championships and the NCAA team championship in 1957.

Tennis player
A native of Chicago, Illinois, Bill Murphy and twin brother, Chet, played for the University of Chicago from 1937 to 1939, leading the school to three Big Ten tennis championships. As a doubles team, they were "undefeated in collegiate meets," including wins at the Big Ten doubles championships in 1938 and 1939. They were also the runner-up team at the 1939 NCAA doubles championship.

In 1938, the Murphy brothers helped the undefeated University of Chicago tennis team score the first clean sweep in the history of the Big Ten tennis championships by winning all nine finals matches at Evanston, Illinois. The brothers won the doubles title over the Northwestern team, 5–7, 6–4, 7–5. John Shostrom won the No. 1 singles and the Murphy brothers won the No. 2 and No. 3 singles, with Bill beating Northwestern's Harry O'Neil, 6–0, 6–3. At the national level, the Murphy brothers were ranked as the #10 doubles pair by the United States Lawn Tennis Association in 1938.

In May 1939, when the Murphy brothers led the University of Chicago to its third straight Big Ten tennis championship, the Associated Press wrote: "The University of Chicago, where the athletic habit of recent years has leaned toward defeat, now has a new complex well established – tennis championships." The Murphy brothers won their second consecutive doubles championship, and Chet won the No. 1 singles. Bill Murphy qualified to play for the No. 2 singles title, but defaulted due to an ailing back to save himself for the doubles competition. In June 1939, the brothers were runners up in the NCAA doubles championship to Bob Peacock and Doug Imhoff, of the University of California-Berkeley, and Chet was runner up in the NCAA singles championship to Frank Guernsey of Rice in Texas.

In July 1939, when Bill Murphy won the singles title at the Western Tennis Association tournament in Chicago, the Associated Press reported that he won his championship "the hard way," defeating top ranked Wilbur F. Coen, Jr., of Kansas City in the semifinals, and then defeated second seeded Jack Tidball of Los Angeles, 6–8, 6–1, 6–1, 9–7 in the Finals. The following week, he won the mixed doubles final at the Longwood Bowl tennis tournament in Brookline, Massachusetts with Mary Arnold.

At the August 1939 Meadow Club Invitational Tournament in Southampton, New York, the Murphy brothers beat the team of Peacock and Imhoff, but lost a close doubles match against Wimbledon champions Bobby Riggs and Elwood Cooke. They won two of the first three sets but ultimately lost, 13–11, 3–6, 7–5, 4–6, 0–6. At Seabright, they beat Riggs and Bitsy Grant. Whenever Bill played Billy Talbert in Singles, he beat him.

Tennis coach
Bill Murphy was the tennis coach at the University of Michigan for 21 years from 1948–1969. His Michigan tennis teams won 11 Big Ten Conference championships and the NCAA championship in 1957. His career coaching record at Michigan was 198–45–0, for an .821 winning percentage. Two of his players at Michigan, Barry MacKay and Dick Potter, broke the Big Ten record held by Bill and Chet for most Big Ten Conference doubles championships. MacKay and Potter won the Big Ten doubles championship three times—in 1955, 1956, and 1957. In 1970, Bill was hired by Dave Strack, AD at University of Arizona and former Basketball Coach at Michigan, to be there Tennis Coach. He retired from U of A in 1981.

Bill Murphy's year-by-year coaching record at Michigan is as follows:

Work as an author
Bill Murphy also had success as a writer of books about tennis with his brother, Chet. They wrote the "Tennis Handbook", published in 1962, Championship Drills, Advanced Tennis, Tennis for Thinking Players, and Tested Tennis Tips. The two were recognized for their books with an International Tennis Hall of Fame Educational Services Award in 1973.

Honors and awards
Bill Murphy was inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Hall of Fame in 1984, and his brother followed him in 1985. In 1983, Bill was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor. The Murphy brothers were jointly inducted into the University of Chicago Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003. They were both members of the USPTA. Both were past presidents and chairmen of the National Collegiate Tennis Coaches Association and National Collegiate Tennis Committee in 1965 and 1966. Bill flew 72 combat missions in the Pacific and was awarded the Navy Cross for helping sink the Battleship Yamato, in April 1945. He also received the Distinguished Flying Cross, and four Air Medals during World War II. (Citations from Secretary of the Navy, James Forrestal).

Bill Murphy died in 2005 in Tucson, Arizona at age 87; his wife, Mimi, died in June 2011, and twin brother, Chet. remains alive at 94.