Consecutive Davis Cup titles won by the United States between 1920 and 1926, with Tilden as the central player.
He also won seven US National Championships, in 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925 and 1929.
The rebuild
After losing the 1919 US final, Tilden spent the winter reconstructing his backhand, and returned to win Wimbledon and the US title in 1920, the first American to take Wimbledon.
Wimbledon
He won the singles title in 1920, 1921 and again in 1930, at thirty-seven.
The writing
Match Play and the Spin of the Ball, published in 1925, is a technical treatise on spin, tactics and court geometry, and is still cited by coaches.
He wrote several other books, including fiction.
The showmanship
Contemporary accounts describe a player who managed the drama of a match deliberately, including conceding games or sets to shape the contest.
The convictions
In November 1946 Tilden was arrested in Los Angeles and convicted of a sexual offence involving a fourteen year old boy. He served approximately seven months.
In January 1949 he was convicted of a further offence involving a sixteen year old boy, and served approximately ten months.
These were offences against minors. Accounts that present them as persecution for his sexuality are inaccurate.
The exclusion
After the convictions Tilden was removed from clubs, excluded from tournaments and dropped from United States Lawn Tennis Association publications.
Most of his former colleagues cut contact. A small number, including Charlie Chaplin, did not.
The end
Tilden died of a heart attack in a rented room in Hollywood on 5 June 1953, aged sixty. A packed suitcase for a tournament in Cleveland was found in the room.
Why it goes on a wall
Because the sport he shaped has never worked out how to hold both facts at once, and the only defensible thing to do is state them together.
He wrote the grammar.