This Day in History: Budge Achieves Legendary Status
 September 24 is known for an epic event in the history of men’s tennis.
The year was 1938 and there was no one better in the sport than Don Budge, then 23 years old and in the midst of a five-year reign as the No. 1 player in the world.
A native of Oakland, Budge’s father was a former Scottish soccer player. Budge attended Cal-Berkley briefly, leaving to play for the US Davis Cup auxiliary team.
In 1937, he took the tennis world by storm, winning the singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles crown at Wimbledon. He won the singles and mixed doubles at the US Open later that year. Turns out, he was just getting warmed up.
In 1938, he defeated John Bromwich in the Australian Open final, Roderick Menzel for the French Open title and Henry “Bunny” Austin for the crown at Wimbledon.
To cap it all, 72 years ago to the day, he defeated Gene Mako to take the crown at the US Open, becoming the first person ever to win the Grand Slam. 
He turned pro in 1939, and took on the two biggest players on that circuit, defeating Ellsworth Vines 22 matches to 17, and Fred Perry 28-8. He continued to dominate pro tennis through the early 1940s, then joined the U.S. Air Force to serve in the second World War.
While on an obstacle course in training in 1943, he tore a muscle in his shoulder, an injury that he would never recover from fully.
Post-WWII, Bobby Riggs took over as the best player in the country, although Budge continued to play into the 1950s, beating World No. 1 Pancho Gonzales in Los Angeles in 1954 at age 41.
Budge, who died in 2000, has been ranked anywhere from first to fifth among various tennis magazines and experts, among the greatest players of all time.
What's on your mind? Post a comment below.
Posted by Nick on 9/24/2010 3:39:16 PM
Filed under: australian, bobby, budge, don, ellsworth, fred, french, gonzalez, grand, open, pancho, perry, riggs, slam, us, vines, wimbledon
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