Don Budge

Don Budge
Budge at Wimbledon 1938
Full nameJohn Donald Budge
Country (sports) United States
Born(1915-06-13)June 13, 1915
Oakland, California, U.S.
DiedJanuary 26, 2000(2000-01-26) (aged 84)
Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Turned pro1938 (amateur tour from 1932)
Retired1961
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF1964 (member page)
Singles
Career record649-297 (68.6%)[1]
Career titles43[1]
Highest rankingNo. 1 (1937, A. Wallis Myers)[2]
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenW (1938)
French OpenW (1938)
WimbledonW (1937, 1938)
US OpenW (1937, 1938)
Professional majors
US ProW (1940, 1942)
Wembley ProW (1939)
French ProW (1939)
Doubles
Career record0–0
Highest rankingNo. 1 (1942, Ray Bowers)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenSF (1938)
WimbledonW (1937, 1938)
US OpenW (1936, 1938)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
WimbledonW (1937, 1938)
US OpenW (1937, 1938)

John Donald Budge (June 13, 1915 – January 26, 2000) was an American tennis player. He is most famous as the first tennis player — male or female, to win all four Grand Slam events consecutively overall.[3] Budge was the second man to complete the career Grand Slam after Fred Perry, and remains the youngest to achieve the feat. He won ten majors, of which six were Grand Slam events (consecutively, a men's record) and four Pro Slams, the latter achieved on three different surfaces. Budge is considered to have one of the best backhands in the history of tennis, with most observers rating it better than that of later player Ken Rosewall.[4][5]

Budge is also the only man to have achieved the Triple Crown (winning singles, men's doubles and mixed doubles at the same tournament) on three separate occasions (Wimbledon in 1937 and 1938, and the US Championships in 1938), and the only man to have achieved it twice in one year. Budge was the world Number 1 amateur in 1937 and 1938 and world Number 1 professional in 1939, 1940 and 1942.

  1. ^ a b "Don Budge: Career match record". thetennisbase.com. Tennis Base. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  2. ^ United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). Official Encyclopedia of Tennis (first edition), p. 425.
  3. ^ Schwartz, Larry. "In big matches, he wouldn't budge". ESPN. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  4. ^ Drucker, Joel (September 1, 2013). "Oakland's Tennis Revolutionary". Jim McLennan – Essential Tennis Instruction. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  5. ^ Gray, Michael (January 27, 2000). "Don Budge (Obituary)". The Guardian. Retrieved January 17, 2017.