MOVIES - Aug. 30, 1988

If you’re casting the part of a tennis player, why not use . . . a tennis player? That’s what independent producer Gene Corman asked himself after testing 100 or so actors and athletes for the role of tennis legend Bill Tilden. Tilden is featured in a film about French tennis star Suzanne Langlen, who won six Wimbledon Championships from 1919 through 1926. After all that testing it was decided to use . . . Roscoe Tanner, the tour professional of the booming serve who retired in 1983. The Tilden role will mark Tanner’s acting debut. “The Suzanne Langlen Story,” starring Karen Baldwin in the title role, starts production next summer, Corman said.