Don Budge

Don Budge (1915-2000), American tennis player, whose all-around game made him the leading player in his sport in the late 1930s. In 1938 Budge became the first player to achieve the grand slam of tennis, winning Wimbledon and the Australian, French, and United States championships in one calendar year.

John Donald Budge was born in Oakland, California. He grew up playing many sports but finally focused on tennis at the urging of his older brother. Budge developed a solid game on the public courts of Oakland, and his whiplike backhand became a vicious weapon that is sometimes called the greatest single stroke in tennis history. After losing memorable battles in several major tournaments against British star Fred Perry in 1936, Budge became the world’s best amateur the following year, after Perry turned professional.

Budge won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 1937, but perhaps his biggest triumph of the year came in a Davis Cup match against Germany’s Gottfried von Cramm. Down two sets to none in a match heavy with nationalist symbolism, Budge rallied to defeat von Cramm in five sets. The U.S. team went on to win the prestigious Davis Cup for the first time in more than a decade.

In 1938 Budge won all four of the major tennis tournaments in the same year, a feat one journalist called a “grand slam.” Budge then turned professional. (Only amateurs were allowed to play in the major tournaments, such as Wimbledon, and this policy remained in effect until 1968.) Budge won several pro titles before entering the Air Force during World War II (1939-1945). After returning from the war, he continued his pro career but was hampered by a shoulder injury. Budge was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1964.