Budge, "Don" (J. Donald)
Tennis
b. June 13, 1915, Oakland, CA
He was not known for his grace, but Budge was known for hitting everything back. One frequent opponent, Sidney Wood, said, "Playing tennis against him was like playing against a concrete wall. There was nothing to attack." While he had a very good all-around game, he was most noted for his smooth, effortless backhand.
Budge learned to play tennis on the hard public courts of California starting when he was eight years old. Tall, gawky, and freckle-faced, he began playing on the eastern grass circuit in 1934 after winning the national junior championship.
In 1937, Budge swept the Wimbledon championships, winning the singles, the men's doubles with C. Gene Mako, and the mixed doubles with Alice Marble. He also won the U. S. National singles and the mixed doubles with Sarah Palfrey Fabyan.
By far his most famous match, though, came in the Davis Cup inter-zone finals that year. Budge had to beat Germany's Baron Gottfried von Cramm to get the U. S. team into the challenge round. Von Cramm won the first two sets, but Budge won the next two. After trailing 4-1 in the fifth set, he turned on his blistering serve to pull out an 8-6 win. The U. S. then beat England for its first Davis Cup since 1926.
He was named Associated athlete of the year and winner of the Sullivan Award as the nation's outstanding amateur athlete of the year. But he was even better in 1938, when he became the first player to win the grand slam of tennis--the Wimbledon title and the Australian, French, and U. S. national championships. The Associated Press again named him athlete of the year.
Budge joined the professional tour in 1939, when he had a 21-18 record against Ellsworth Vines and an 18-11 record versus Fred Perry. The great Bill Tilden rejoined the tour in 1941, but was well past his prime, and Budge won 51 of 58 matches against him. The tour was then suspended because of World War II and Budge retired from competition.