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John Donald Budge (June 13, 1915 – January
26, 2000) was a champion tennis player who became
famous as the first man to win in a single year
the four tournaments that compose the Grand Slam
in tennis|Grand Slam of tennis.  He was considered
to have the best backhand in the history of
tennis, at least until the advent of Ken Rosewall
in the 1950s and '60s.

Born in Oakland, California, Budge was the son of
a Scotland|Scottish immigrant and former soccer
player. Growing up, he played a variety of sports
before taking up tennis. He was tall and slim and
his height helped provide what is still considered
one of the most powerful serves of all time.  He
had a graceful, overpowering backhand that he hit
with a slight amount of topspin and that, combined
with his quickness and his serve, made him the
best player of his time. Today, according to
Tennis Magazine, he is ranked as one of the 20
greatest players of the 20th century and may well
be one of the half-dozen best.

Budge studied at the University of California,
Berkeley in late 1933 but left to play tennis with
the U.S. Davis Cup auxiliary team. Accustomed to
hard-court surfaces in his native California, he
had difficulty playing on the grass surfaces in
the east. However, a good instructor and hard work
changed all that and in 1937 he swept the
Wimbledon Championships, winning the singles, the
men's doubles title with Gene Mako, and the mixed
doubles crown with Alice Marble. He then went on
to win the U. S. National singles and the mixed
doubles with Sarah Palfrey Fabyan.  But he gained
the most fame for his match that year against
Gottfried von Cramm in the Davis Cup inter-zone
finals against Germany.  Trailing 1-4 in the final
set, he came back to win 8-6. His victory allowed
the United States to advance and to then win the
Davis Cup for the first time in 12 years. For his
efforts, he was named Associated Press Male
Athlete of the Year and he became the first tennis
player to ever be voted the James E. Sullivan
Award as America's top amateur athlete.

In 1938 Budge dominated amateur tennis, defeating
John Bromwich in the Australian Open final,
Roderick Menzel in the French Open, Bunny
Austin|Henry "Bunny" Austin at the Wimbledon
Championships,  where he never lost a set, and
Gene Mako in the US Open (tennis)|U.S. Open, to
become the first person ever to win the Grand Slam
in tennis.

Budge turned professional after winning the Grand
Slam and thereafter played mostly head-to-head
matches.  In 1939 he beat the two reigning kings
of professional tennis, Ellsworth Vines and Fred
Perry, 21 matches to 18 and 18 matches to 11. 
There was no professional tour in 1940 but in 1941
Budge beat the 48-year-old Bill Tilden, 51 matches
to 7.  He also won the French professional
championship tournament in 1939, as well as the
United States championship tournaments in 1940 and
1942.  He then joined the United States Air Force
to fight in World War II. Unfortunately, a
shoulder injury suffered while serving in the
military would permanently hinder his playing
abilities.

After the War he played on the tour for a few
years, mostly against Bobby Riggs, and won the
English professional championship in 1947.

After retiring from competition he coached and
conducted tennis clinics for children. A gentleman
on and off the court he was much in demand for
speaking engagements and signed on to lend his
name to promote certain lines of sporting goods.
He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall
of Fame in 1964 and, with the advent of the Tennis
Open Era|Open era in tennis, in 1968 he returned
to play at Wimbledon in the Veteran's doubles.  In
1973, at the age of 58, he and former champion
Frank Sedgman teamed up to win the Veteran's
doubles championship at Wimbledon before an
appreciative crowd.

In December of 1999, Budge was injured in an
automobile accident from which he never fully
recovered. He died on January 26, 2000 at a
nursing home in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

*List of male tennis players