William E. Murphy (November 15, 1917 – May 16, 2005) was a Navy Cross winner in World War II, an American Championship tennis player and university coach.

[4] In 1938, the Murphy brothers helped their undefeated team score the first clean sweep in the history of the Big Ten Conference Tennis Championships by winning all nine finals matches.

[5] At the National level, the Murphy brothers were ranked as the #10 Doubles pair by the United States Lawn Tennis Association in 1938.

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.

In July 1939, 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., aka Junior Coen, of Kansas City in the semifinals, and then defeated #2 seeded Jack Tidball of Los Angeles, 6–8, 6–1, 6–1, 9–7 in the finals.

[9][10] The following week, he won the mixed doubles at the Longwood Cricket Club tennis tournament in Brookline, Massachusetts with Mary Arnold.

[11] In August 1939, at the Meadow Club Invitation tournament in Southampton, New York, the brothers beat the team of Peacock and Imhoff, but lost a close doubles match against Wimbledon champions Bobby Riggs and Elwood Cooke.

[13][14] In 1953, he recruited three outstanding junior players: Mark Jaffe, Barry MacKay (tennis) and Dick Potter.