ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates the case studies of Suzanne Lenglen and Bill Tilden to highlight the new opportunities and challenges presented for elite-level players, alongside some of the problems faced by administrators, many of whom were ex-players attempting to protect their sport from commercial and professional influences, and sustain the lofty ideals of amateurism amidst marked societal change. The issue of players receiving, and tournament officials giving, illicit expenses was just one aspect of the growing fear of commercialism, and the national associations that hitherto had retained almost complete control lamented their loss of authority. Administrative decisions in lawn tennis during the interwar years reflected a strong and almost universal desire to sustain amateur ideals. By the 1930s, elite-level players no longer approached tennis as a frivolous summer attraction but as an avenue for social mobility.
