Cardiac arrest claims Slammer Budge

Budge had a complete game built around a whiplash backhand, which still is considered the best ever. He backed up a strong serve with power and accuracy off the ground and volleyed effectively.

Budge played in the shadow of a developing World War II and had a comparatively brief career. He found himself sandwiched between Bill Tilden’s heyday in the 1920s and the emergence of a breed of tough, young professionals who hit the ballat 120 mph and competed for purses that soared into millions of dollars.

“I respected him a lot for his achievements,” Pete Sampras said from the Australian Open. “I met him only a couple of times, but he was a very nice and friendly person.”

Budge is survived by his second wife Loriel Budge and sons David and Jeffrey Budge.

“What impressed me, and what distresses me now, he epitomised what we were all taught as tennis players and is so lacking now: look like a champ, act like a champ, try to play like a champ,” Ted Schroeder, a top American player of the same era, said from the Australian Open.

During centre court ceremonies at Wimbledon in 1998, Budge was introduced as “the tall redheaded Californian with the greatest backhand ever.” His Mark on the game, in fact, was much greater.

“I consider him the finest player 365 days a year whoever lived,” Tilden once said.

Born June 13, 1915, in Oakland, California, John Donald Budge was a superb athlete who played all popular team sports,including baseball and basketball.

When he was 13, his brother Lloyd, who played on the tennis team at the University of California, persuaded Don to take tennis seriously.

Nine years later, Budge beat Germany’s Baron Gottfried Von Cramm in what is considered to be one of the best Davis Cup matches ever.

That same year, 1937, Budge won both Wimbledon and the US Championships. In 1938, he became the first player to sweep all four major titles — Wimbledon and the championships of Australia, France and the United States.

The feat, dubbed a Grand Slam by tennis writer Allison Danzig, has been equaled by only four other players since.

It was the only time in his career that Budge played the French and Australian championships.

After reaching the Wimbledon semis in 1936, Budge took five months off the following winter to change his game, taking the ball earlier and improving his forehand.

He had a 92-match, 14-tournament winning streak that began early in 1937. He won Wimbledon easily, then on July20, met Von Cramm on the grass courts of the All-England Club.

While in the dressing room before beginning the match, Von Cramm received a telephone call. As Budge listened, Von Cramm, an anti-Nazi, listened, then ended the call by saying politely, “Ja, Mein Fuhrer.” It was Adolf Hitler.

By the time the two took the court, the best-of-five competition was tied at two victories apiece. Budge triumphed 6-8, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 8-6, giving the United States the victory.

“Don, this was absolutely the finest match I have ever played in my life,” Von Cramm told him. “I’m very happy that I could have played it against you, whom I like so much.”

As a child, his first love was baseball, and later in life he met one of his heroes, Joe Dimaggio, at a New York Restaurant.

“You know, Don, I always envied you,” Dimaggio told him. “As a kid, I dreamed of becoming a tennis champion.”

Budge replied: “That’s funny. I always wanted to be a baseball player.”

After his 1938 Grand Slam, Budge turned proand dominated in an era when professionals were not allowed to play tournaments, including the major championships.

The Don Budge Factfile