Budge/Perry tour of 1939

[krosero]

This was Budge’s second H2H pro tour. After beating Vines 22-17 in his first tour, Budge took on Fred Perry. They had not played each other since 1936.

Below I’ve compiled a full record of the tour, taken from news reports and other sources including American Lawn Tennis.

The number on the left is the running H2H tally.

1-0 after New York, won by Budge.............Mar. 10.............6-1, 6-3, 6-0
2-0 after Boston, won by Budge.............Mar. 11.............6-0, 6-2, 8-6
3-0 after Philadelphia, won by Budge.............Mar. 13.............6-0, 6-4, 6-2
4-0 after College Park, won by Budge.............Mar. 15.............6-2, 6-4
5-0 after Baltimore, won by Budge.............Mar. 16.............6-2, 6-2
6-0 after Pittsburgh, won by Budge.............Mar. 17.............6-0, 6-4
7-0 after Chicago, won by Budge.............Mar. 19.............6-2, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
8-0 after Cleveland, won by Budge.............Mar. 20.............6-1, 6-4
8-1 after Detroit, won by Perry.............Mar. 21.............6-2, 6-3
9-1 after Denver, won by Budge.............Mar. 23.............6-1, 6-4
10-1 after San Francisco, won by Budge.............Mar. 27.............6-0, 6-4
11-1 after Portland, won by Budge.............Mar. 29.............6-3, 4-6, 7-5
11-2 after Vancouver, won by Perry.............Mar. 30.............6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-0
11-3 after Wenatchee, won by Perry.............Mar. 31.............13-11, 6-0
12-3 after Los Angeles, won by Budge.............Apr. 2.............6-1, 6-2
12-4 after Oakland, won by Perry.............Apr. 3.............6-0, 4-6, 6-3
13-4 after Fresno, won by Budge.............Apr. 4.............3-6, 6-4, 6-3
14-4 after Santa Barbara, won by Budge.............Apr. 6.............6-4, 6-3
14-5 after Phoenix, won by Perry.............Apr. 9.............6-3, 6-3
15-5 after San Antonio, won by Budge.............Apr. 11.............4-6, 8-6, 6-1
16-5 after Houston, won by Budge.............Apr. 13.............6-0, 6-3
17-5 after Fort Worth, won by Budge.............Apr. 14.............6-3, 6-2
18-5 after Memphis, won by Budge.............Apr. 16.............6-3, 9-11, 9-7
18-6 after St. Louis, won by Perry.............Apr. 17.............6-4, 6-2
19-6 after Des Moines, won by Budge.............Apr. 19.............6-3, 6-4 (clinched series for Budge)
19-7 after Rockford, won by Perry.............Apr. 20.............9-11, 6-4, 6-3
19-8 after Indianapolis, won by Perry.............Apr. 21.............6-3, 6-1
20-8 after Menasha, won by Budge.............Apr. 23.............6-3, 8-10, 6-4
21-8 after Buffalo, won by Budge.............May 1.............6-1, 2-6, 6-2
22-8 after Toronto, won by Budge.............May 2.............6-1, 6-2
23-8 after Montreal, won by Budge.............May 3.............6-2, 6-2, 6-1
24-8 after Albany, won by Budge.............May 4.............6-3, 4-6, 6-1
25-8 after New Haven, won by Budge.............May 5.............6-2, 6-3
26-8 after Elizabeth, NJ, won by Budge.............May 6.............6-3, 6-3
27-8 after Orange, NJ, won by Budge.............May 7.............6-4, 6-0
28-8 after White Plains, won by Budge.............May 8.............8-6, 6-2

 

[krosero]

Bowers’ chapter on the full 1939 season is here: http://www.tennisserver.com/lines/lines_05_11_22.html. About the Budge/Perry tour he writes:

The opening night crowd at Madison Square Garden, March 10, was a disappointing 8,000. The match itself was even more one-sided than Budge's opener against Vines. Fred first tried steadiness, then attack, then steadiness again. Nothing worked, as Don answered Fred's baseline play with merciless corner-to-corner groundstroke power backed by solid volleying and overhead work. Fred's attacking faltered when his approach forehand and his volleying often misfired. Allison Danzig wrote that the main factor was the pressure of Don's groundstrokes, which provoked Fred's mistakes. It was Budge over Perry, 61 63 62, ending in less than one hour. The next night in Boston, Budge won the first nine games, coasting home thereafter. It seemed clear that Don was now a better player than in January and at least a full level above Perry.

The itinerary reached many of the places visited by Budge and Vines two months before. Attendance was down everywhere. Fred's humiliation persisted through the first six matches, all won by Don in straight sets. Perry rarely won more than two games a set, though he seemed to be improving with each outing. Fred won his first set in Chicago on March 21, then won his first match in Detroit two nights later. Don sprained an ankle in late March but led in the running tally at month's end, 11-2.

Accompanied on much of the tour by his wife after a reconciliation, Fred outwardly kept up his confidence and as usual added color to the interviews and performances. But when he tried to answer power with power on the court, his own mistakes multiplied. At net he was usually helpless against Don's devastating passes. Most lobs or drop shots against Don were suicidal. Fred often had little choice but to chase down ball after ball in the deep corners, which he did well but usually fruitlessly. Fred improved in April, earning high marks from local reporters in his several victories. But Don closed out the tour with eight straight wins. The tally at tour's end on May 8 was 28-8.​

 

[krosero]

Perry did not participate in the European tour later that year, so his next meeting with Budge may not have been until February 17, 1940, in Havana. According to Perry, they met there and Budge won in five sets.

Budge and Perry played that match the day before they entered the Miami Southeastern Pro, though I cannot find a report about their meeting. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, in its March 8 preview of the Finnish Relief exo, quoted Perry:

The Redhead is better right now than I’ve ever seen him before. Don takes the attack with more authority and more persistence now than ever before. I played very well last month in Havana, and carried Don to five sets. But he has too much on the ball. Still I cannot stand by and listen to Tilden call Don the greatest of all time. Why, you just can’t mention anybody else in the same breath with Tilden; Bill is the standard by which all other comparisons are made.​

The meeting is announced here in a calendar of events to be held in Havana: http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...-AcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hWQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1426,3339290.

Possibly the match was held on clay but I haven’t found anything else on it.

Later I'll post news articles from the '39 tour.

 

[krosero]

A lot of the articles in the era of the H2H tours were given over to previews and predictions. Everyone got in on the business of analyzing and predicting the upcoming matchups. Journalists did it, obviously, but so did the players themselves, as well as ex-champions, tour promoters, USLTA officials, coaches, etc. Anyone that could form an opinion and venture a prediction was probably asked to do so -- and most were willing to go on record with their thoughts.

The swirl of pre-match analysis and predictions was especially great before the Budge/Vines tour, and I'll post some of those articles in a thread I plan to make for that tour. For Budge/Perry, there was less of a frenzy of predictions, and the majority of those who did make predictions seem to have chosen Budge as the ultimate winner.

That was undoubtedly because Vines was generally seen as superior to Perry -- having beaten him on the pro tours in '37 and '38 -- and Budge had just finished defeating Vines. So it was only logical that most people would predict a Budge victory over Perry, at that point.

Even so, many expected the first match in New York to be closer than the blowout that actually occurred.

Predictions are always dicey, but here you had the added difficulty that always was present when amateurs would meet pros: often the two players in question had not met in a long time (Budge/Perry), and sometimes they had never faced each other at all (Budge/Vines).

Here's one prediction to start with, from Vines:

Speed Won’t Bother

Vines doesn’t think Budge’s speed of ball will offset Perry’s speed of foot and calmer, more subtle, strategy. He points out he met speed with speed—to which Budge wags his shock of red hair and murmurs, “He hits like a machine gun”—and that Perry will have plenty of speed of his own plus an ability to get from here to there quicklike.

“You must remember,” said Ellsworth, “that Perry will be fresh. The only thing that can mar his opening match is lack of stiff competition. Otherwise he is fine. I saw him work and his game is sharp. He is in great physical shape and his domestic difficulties have been ironed out. He will be a handful for Don.”

Another member of the troupe offered the thought that Budge would have a devil of a time adjusting his play against Perry. Don will have to do all the forcing, something he hasn’t had to do against Vines, a great forcer himself.

Vines Enjoys Rest

Vines, for one, is mighty glad this trip is over. He has made a nice piece of change out of it, but he will be glad to rest until May 10, when the show sails for England and a three-night stand at Wembley.

The tour has drawn about 170,000 admissions and just under $200,000 in gate, real interesting money, but Elly is tired of tennis. It is no fun to see your position as the world’s No. 1 player slip away, and, besides, Vines has a genuine yen to get out of the game. He wants to devote his time to teaching tennis, keeping store in his sporting goods emporium in Pasadena, and playing golf, a game he regards as a pleasure, not a task.

Budge is fat and sassy, he weighs about 178 [lbs.] and claims he is hitting harder as a result. He is money in the bank. He will, he thinks, lick Perry Friday night and four or five times a week thereafter.
​

 

[krosero]

In the March 10 issue of the Jefferson City Post-Tribune:

Fate of 'Gate' Throughout Country May Depend Heavily on Outcome of Opening Match

NEW YORK, March 10--(AP) --Egged on by his own stubborn pride and the crinkle of crisp greenbacks, Frederick John Perry will go out on the Madison Square Garden court tonight to try to beat down the great Don Budge and re-win his old position as the first tennis player of the world. The match, the first of a string that will take the pair careening through the armories and drill sheds of the land, is more than a contest between two of the best players in the world. It is a test match for professional tennis. Unless they produce a fast, hard match tonight the tour is [expected] to [draw] slim crowds and slimmer gates.

Budge took on Elly Vines, acknowledged boss of the pro game, in his first tour and beat him 22 times out of 39 matches. As the tour progressed there were mutterings that Vines seemed a bit bored by the whole procedure. So it is up to Perry and Budge tonight. Reports of the tepidness of the last stage of the Budge-Vines cross country duel, and Vines' ineptness the last time here [New York], have hurt the game. The advance sale is just over $5,000, compared with the $47,000 advance before Budge licked Vines….

Frederick John is a proud soul. He is quite frank about his anger at being rated behind Budge and he is quick to tell you, he will beat the Californian red head, not only tonight but consistently throughout the tour. It hurts him to read that the majority of the ‘wizards’ have picked Budge to beat him. Perry is very sure he will win. He points out he licked Budge four times out of six as an amateur, that Vines, against Budge, was 25 percent off top form, and that he has exactly the type of game to beat Budge.

The last argument is the best. Watching Perry practice this week it was impossible to imagine him losing easily. He has no single stroke as good as Vines' service or Budge's backhand but he has the fluent, well-coordinated game of the 'seasoned' internationalist. He can play to any attack and any defense. Physically he is perfect. He can run all night long. This last will be a major weapon against Budge.
​

 

[krosero]

A preview published in the Lincoln Star on February 27 (Budge then held a lead of 19-14 over Vines and was one match away from clinching that series):

Perry Next Foe of Budge

Redhead From Coast Takes On Britisher After Finish of Junket With Vines

By Lawton Carver

New York, Feb. 27 (INS)—We are about to get an answer to the question of whether J. Donald Budge is going to be remembered as the greatest drawing card in the history of professional tennis, for on Friday night of next week Budge will begin his second tour of the nation; his opponent this time to be Mr. Helen Vinson, née Fred Perry. Midst customary fanfare and high prices for tickets, they will clash here at Madison Square Garden by way of beginning their series of encounters.

“Tops” at Box Office

Budge figures to emerge finally as champion of the tour, just as he will finish his present series ahead of Ellsworth Vines, and it is possible, or even probable, that he will establish himself as the biggest thing the tennis box offices ever knew. He is the greatest player in the world today and that helps to some extent. People like to see the best of anything.

Having mastered Vines and being fairly certain to turn back Perry, Budge is expected to tangle up ultimately on a third tour with Baron Gottfried Von Cramm of Germany, and in that one probably will send the receipts rocketing still higher. Vines and Perry both are old numbers on these tours. The German would be something brand new—and at the same time a match for the Oakland redhead.

Cramm in Picture Now

It will be recalled that Cramm came very close to beating Budge once, and probably would have if his racquet hadn’t gone to pieces, and he still is young enough to bring his game back to its peak. If these tours are on the level, Cramm might even take the American ace. Yes, I know it isn’t likely, but he might.

Meanwhile, Budge is busily engaged in winding up his conquest of Vines and getting ready to hand out a pasting to Perry, who has been working out here in preparation for the clashes. Sidney Wood, Gilbert Hall, Gregory Mangin and Berkeley Bell alternate in the role of sparring partner, and the Britisher seems to be quite serious about the thing.

Perry Past His Peak

He and Budge have not met since 1936, when Perry won out in both the British and American championships, but finally lost to Budge in the Pacific Southwest tournament that same year. While Perry undoubtedly improved after that, with added experience, it isn’t likely that he could match the improvement shown by Budge. The latter right now is at his peak, Perry probably past his.

In any case, he couldn’t take Vines and Budge did, or will have when they are through, and it looks as though both Vines and Perry are about to move to the sidelines as top flight professional attractions. They both are good. But Budge seems to be better.

In fact, the latter is so good that after he gets through knocking over Perry and then Cramm, if the latter makes a tour, he probably will have to retire for a while because of the dire shortage of competition.
​

 

[krosero]

New York Times preview on March 5:

Stern Test Seen for Budge in Pro Net Competition With Perry Friday Night

PERRY AT HIS PEAK FOR GARDEN MATCH

Briton Ready for Fast Action When He and Budge Launch Pro Net Tour Friday

LEADS DON IN VICTORIES

Holds 4-2 Edge in Meetings as Amateurs—Gorchakoff and Senior on Card

Donald Budge and Fred Perry, both former world amateur tennis champions, will meet for the first time as professionals at Madison Square Garden Friday night.

The meeting between these two erstwhile Davis Cup rivals will mark the first time they have faced each other across the net since 1936. Perry was then the world's foremost amateur and defeated Budge in both the British and American championships. Since then, however, Budge has become the top man in tennis.

The red-headed Californian succeeded to Perry's mantle in 1937 after the black-haired Briton had joined the professional ranks. Budge won both the British and American crowns and brought the Davis Cup back to the United States, ending its ten-year stay abroad.

Last year Budge became the first player in history to score a grand slam by winning the British, American, French and Australian championships. He also led the United States in its successful defense of the Davis Cup.

Beat Vines in Three Sets

Having established his supremacy among the amateurs, Budge proceeded to put himself in the front rank among the professionals. In his debut at Madison Square Garden the night of Jan. 3 the California giant defeated Ellsworth Vines, then regarded as the world's best player, in three successive sets.

Since then Budge has maintained the lead over Vines in their tour across the country, winning an average of three out of every five matches. Their tour will close tomorrow night in Montreal and Budge will start a second one against Perry Friday night.

The consensus is that the Oakland redhead is the greatest player in the world today, but before he can definitely establish his claim to pre-eminence he must demonstrate his superiority over Perry. For that reason, their meeting at the Garden takes on added importance. Perry won four out of their six meetings as amateurs and, while he recognizes that Budge is a much-improved player since 1936, the Briton refuses to concede that the Californian has gone ahead of him.

1937 Match Set Record

Perry, too, defeated Vines in the former's professional debut in 1937 at the Garden before the record crowd and gate for American tennis. He has been working hard for weeks against Sidney Wood, Frank Shields, Gilbert Hall and Berkeley Bell to bring his game to the peak, and he predicts that the match Friday night will be far more of a contest than was the Budge-Vines meeting in January.

Perry has the habit of playing his best when there is most at stake, and he is in prime physical shape to run all night long in his defense against the Californian's more aggressive attack.
​

 

[krosero]

New York Times preview on March 6:

BUDGE READY FOR PERRY

Don 'Glad of Chance' in Garden Tennis Match Friday

Donald Budge, the first "grand slam" champion in tennis history, is eagerly looking forward to his second venture in the professional field—a nationwide playing tour with Fred Perry that will open Friday night in Madison Square Garden.

Prior to leaving for Montreal, where he will close his current series with Ellsworth Vines tonight, Budge stated yesterday that he was "glad to get this chance, because I have never beaten Fred in an important match."

Perry is to oppose the Californian in thirty-five or more contests. They last met in 1936, when both were in the amateur ranks, and Perry holds a 4-to-2 edge. Budge considers his game much improved now.

In his series with Vines, Budge has gained twenty-one triumphs, while Vines has won seventeen times. They have performed before more than 165,000 fans.

Budge also disclosed that he would sail with Perry for England on May 10 to play some matches there. Vines may participate in them, too, and negotiations are in progress to obtain Big Bill Tilden as another member of the group.
​

 

[krosero]

John Kieran in the New York Times (March 9):

It’s true that Fred helped to make Don Budge the great tennis player that he is. Part of that aid was forced upon both parties. They met and played against each other three times in big tournaments and three times in lesser matches. Fred was older and better than Don, and, naturally, the younger player learned something from those encounters.

As a matter of fact, Budge won two of his six clashes with Perry, but one of them was hardly more than a warm-up affair, and the other was for the Pacific Southwest championship, something less vital in tennis than the Wimbledon or Forest Hills finals.

Aside from these matches, Fred spent some time tutoring Don for the purpose of improving his game. It is alleged that Perry showed Budge how to play a running forehand shot that would enable him to hasten to the net whenever he felt it was the moment to have a closer view of his opponent or the scenery on the far side of the net. Perry always was noted for his all-court game, whereas Budge had grown up in the Vines school, or rifle-range style of tennis—high velocity at long distance.

Hands, Feet and Head

The fellow who had everything, of course, was the Old Master, William Tatum Tilden 2d. When he was in the great wars he campaigned with hands, feet and head, using all three to great advantage. Vines used his head and feet sparingly. Most of the work was done by hand.

As tennis fans know, there are few long rallies when Ellsworth is one of the parties of the principal part. He hauls off and slams away. If it’s good, his opponent has not much chance to get it back over the net into legal territory for a return. If it isn’t good, his opponent doesn’t have to bother about trying to get it back. Ellsworth himself always has admitted that his game is based almost entirely on the speed of his shots. If he has accuracy on a given day or night, he blasts the other fellow off the court. If his aim is bad, he beats himself with nets and outs in a tearing hurry.

Built like Vines and following closely in his wake, Don Budge had much the same type of game when he first rose to fame. But Don worked hard to round out his game, and Fred Perry, in competition and friendly instruction, helped Don no little.

...Net and Gross

Apparently Fred Perry feels that his erstwhile playmate and traveling companion, Ellsworth Vines, let the professional game down a bit not only in the Budge debut at the Garden but at other stops on the Vines-Budge tour during which Ellsworth at one time trailed Don by eight matches [17-9]. It was closer than that at the finish of the tour—was it 22 to 17?—but in the meanwhile Perry had contributed his remark about the difficulty of playing good tennis in the heart of one city while thinking of golf on the outskirts of another city. That shot was aimed at Vines, the tired tennis player and ardent golfer.

It didn’t help pro tennis to any noticeable extent when Vines, before a crowded house at stiff prices, played an inept game and lost in straight sets to Budge in their first match in the Garden. Some skeptics whispered “Fake!” and some rude persons shouted “Robbery!” in the wake of that swift slaughter. All this has irked Fred Perry, who is a high-spirited chap, and it’s no secret that he is planning some signal victories, beginning with one in the Garden, to keep amateurs and recent ex-amateurs in their places and put the professional game on firmer ground.
​

 

[krosero]

A preview by Allison Danzig in the Times:

Taking time off from his practice to attend a luncheon with Donald Budge at Rip's Indoor Tennis Courts on Park Avenue, Fred Perry took issue yesterday with those who have established the Californian as the favorite to defeat him in their match at Madison Square Garden tomorrow night.

Pointing out that he had defeated Budge in four of their six meetings as amateurs, the black-haired son of John Bull, who then ruled as a world's champion, particularly stressed the fact that he had helped his American rival to get to the top. It was his instruction, he said, that aided Budge to develop his volleying attack and become invincible among the amateurs.

"I have the best of feelings toward Don, personally," said Perry, "and I don't want to be put in the position of belittling his game. Why should I? On the contrary, I take a great deal of satisfaction in his success because of the fact that I helped him when he was a kid coming up.

"Don came to me when I was playing in California in 1934, and I gave him some advice about his forehand. In 1935 at Wimbledon I showed him how to take the ball on the rise and get into the net fast, and after our last match in the Pacific Southwest championship at Los Angeles in 1936 he came to me again for help.

"He was still not satisfied with his forehand. I worked with him, advised him to shorten his backswing for his approach shot to the net, and it was after that that he really developed into a first-class volleyer.

"Perhaps I won't feel so good about helping Don to develop his game when I meet him at the Garden. But I am not worrying about the match. I know that I beat him at Wimbledon and Forest Hills in 1936, and if people think that he is the better player now, they are entitled to their opinion. But when any one predicts that Budge will have things entirely his own way, it gets under my skin.

"Granted that Don has improved since we last played," Perry continued, "I haven't stood still myself, and I don't intend to, Friday night. True, he came out on top in his series with Ellsworth Vines, but if I recall rightly, I beat Elly at the Garden in 1937, split even with him in our tour that year and again in our eight matches on our Caribbean tour late in the Fall."

Vines is one of those who side with Perry in going against the consensus on the match. He predicts that Perry will win the majority of his matches with Budge, though he regards the opening match at the Garden as a 50-50 proposition.

"Fred has all the shots," said Vines. "He can run like a deer and he is one of the smartest players in the business. Don will have his hands full."
​

A final preview on March 10 by Danzig:

In September, 1936, Donald Budge and Fred Perry met in the final round of the national amateur tennis championship at Forest Hills. Thirteen thousand persons filled the stadium of the West Side Tennis Club and for two hours and forty-five minutes they cheered on the red-headed, 21-year-old Californian in his fight against the world’s foremost amateur.

Budge led at 5-3 in the fifth set of the match. Twice he was within two strokes of winning it, once in the tenth game and again in the sixteenth. Perry finally came through at 2-6, 6-2, 8-6, 1-6, 10-8 to establish himself as the first player in history from overseas to win our title three times. He had taken the championship in 1933 and 1934 also.

Now Play as Pros

Tonight in Madison Square Garden, Budge and Perry will meet again for the first time in this vicinity since that drawn-out battle at Forest Hills. This time they play as professionals and now it is Budge who is the head man, with the lithe, black-haired Briton as the underdog.

With 1937, Budge became the world’s foremost amateur after Perry had entered the professional ranks. The California giant brought the Davis Cup home from its ten-year stay abroad and he won the British and American championships. Last year he accomplished what no other player has been able to do. He won the British, American, French and Australian championships for a grand slam and he led the United States’ successful defense of the Davis Cup.

This year saw Budge launch his professional career at the Garden with a straightforward victory over Ellsworth Vines. In their tour that ended Monday night in Montreal, the Oakland giant won twenty-two matches to Vines’s seventeen, and he now stands as the world’s No. 1 player, amateur or professional.

Will Tour Country

Perry, who defeated Vines at the Garden in 1937 before the record crowd of all time, enters tonight’s match, the first on a cross-country tour, with the opportunity to re-establish himself at the top of the tennis heap. Although Budge is the favorite, the fact that Perry defeated him in four of their six meetings as amateurs is a psychological factor that bolsters the Briton’s confidence, and the general expectations are that it will be a tightly fought match.​

 

[krosero]

Danzig’s report on the opening match:

Easy Triumph Is Scored by Budge Over Perry in Opener of New Tennis Series

BUDGE WINS MATCH IN STRAIGHT SETS

Giving One of His Greatest Performances, He Subdues Perry at 6-1, 6-3, 6-0

BRITON KEPT ON THE RUN

Is Subjected to Unwavering Pressure-Crowd of 8,000 Watches the Contest

By ALLISON DANZIG

Any lingering doubts as to Donald Budge's world supremacy on the tennis courts were entirely set at rest last night as the giant Californian administered the most crushing defeat suffered by Fred Perry since the former world's amateur champion from Great Britain came into international prominence.

On the same court in Madison Square Garden where he made his professional debut against Ellsworth Vines with a decisive 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 victory in January, the Oakland red-head buried the black-haired Briton under an avalanche of drives and volleys to win by the overwhelming margin of 6-1, 6-3, 6-0.

In exactly forty-nine minutes after H. Levan Richards had launched the match, the first of a series that will take them across the country, Budge had exacted submission from the player who defeated him in four out of six meetings in amateur competition and who, too, had humbled Vines on the occasion of his (Perry's) professional bow at the Garden in 1937.

From Corner to Corner

A crowd of 8,000 spectators, approximately half the number who attended the Budge-Vines match, looked on as the stalwart Californian ran Perry mercilessly from corner to corner with his superior ground strokes and volleyed and smashed overhead with ruthless finality.

The ease with which Budge had handled Vines, then regarded as the world's No. 1 player, probably accounted in large part for the slimness of the turnout. That impressive performance, coming on top of the Californian's unprecedented conquests as an amateur in 1938 when he became the first in history to score a grand slam, undoubtedly hurt last night's match at the turnstiles, and Budge struck his current tour a heavy blow by the ruthlessness with which he dispatched Perry.

Possibly Perry was at a disadvantage in his lack of match play to prepare him for this meeting, just as was Vines in January. The chances are that he will do better after he has had the benefit of a few matches to tune up his strokes. But the former British and American champion will have to improve vastly to meet the Budge of last night on even terms.

Roars of Applause

As onesided as was the play, Budge's tennis was so superlatively fine as to bring roars of enthusiastic applause from the crowd and compensate it for the brevity of the performance. The California giant was a far more formidable figure than he was against Vines.

There were some who fancied that he would be stale and off form after his long tour with Vines, which ended Monday night in Montreal with Budge winning the series, 22-17. Instead, Budge played one of the greatest matches to his credit and today he stands as the colossus of tennis, without a rival the world over, just as did William Tilden in his heydey.

Perry last night was not the player who held forth invincibly at Forest Hills and Wimbledon when Budge's game was still in the formative stage and short of maturity. The Briton could get little pace off his backhand, and his running forehand failed him time and again as he sought to reach the net, while his volleys went astray time and again in the early stages.

But while Perry failed to measure up to his best standard, the explanation lies not so much in his own deficiencies as in the pressure to which he was subjected to provoke mistakes from his ordinarily firm, unwavering hand.

The Budge he met last night was a more confident and more accomplished opponent than the 21-year-old youth he last had met in 1936. Perry can thank no one but himself for a part of that improvement, for it was to him that Budge went for help (and got it) in improving his forehand and his volleying attack.

Within Inches of the Line

Budge's forehand stood up far more steadfastly than it did in his meeting with Perry in the 1936 final at Forest Hills, in which the Californian led at 5-3 in the fifth set. From both the forehand and his matchless backhand, the world's foremost player hit with a depth, pace and accuracy that kept his opponent under pressure and straining to get to the ball on the run. Such was his control that Budge could put the ball within inches of the line regularly and the angle of his shots, as well as their length, made Perry's plight an unenviable one.

Behind these forcing drives, Budge went to the net to volley and smash with absolute deadliness. The fury of his overhead game brought down the crowd time and again and its finality stood out in marked contrast to its wabbliness against Vines.

Perry played brilliant tennis in spurts, but it was always a defensive fight he was waging. He made a fine stand in the second set, only to draw down the thunder of Budge's net attack. After that, as his forehand buckled, he was prepared for the worst. He got only twelve points in the final set and his weak double fault that ended the match spoke eloquently of the totality with which hope had been crushed out of him.
​

Note: Perry also double-faulted on match point at the end of the US Pro final some months later -- a completely different kind of match, Vines winning after a marathon of 73 games.

 

[krosero]

TIME magazine’s report:

The one man in tennis who got Donald Budge's number was British Fred Perry. That was in 1934-36, when Budge was just out of the juniors and Perry was the world's No. 1 Amateur. Perry took the redhead over in the Pacific Coast final in '34, the Davis Cup challenge round in '35, at Wimbledon and Forest Hills in '36. Budge beat Perry just twice, in unimportant matches. Then Perry turned professional and Budge went on to unparalleled tennis fame. Last year, for a guaranteed $75,000, Budge joined the pros.

Last week, having won 22 of his 39 matches with Ellsworth Vines, freckled Donald Budge faced feline Fred Perry and the old Indian sign in Manhattan's Madison Square Garden in the first of a 36-match series. Almost before the latecomers in the choice $7.70 seats had a chance to count their change, Budge was leading 5-1. Perry changed rackets, but the unsmiling Budge boomed off the seventh game, and the next set was on. For the first four games of this, Perry held the redhead even with a great and foxy effort, but Budge had too much for him. That set ended 6-3. The next ended 6-0. Perry made 67 errors, never once broke Budge's service, had not only lost his Indian sign but his vaunted forehand. But he offered no alibi. Said he: "I never got my head above water."

If the match established Budge as the world's most proficient tennis player, it gave pro-promoters the shudders. Even with a grudge-fight, Indian-sign buildup, it drew only 7,000 paying customers into the 16,000-seat Garden, grossed only $14,000. This was the same Perry who drew a record $53,000 Garden crowd when he beat Vines two years before; it was the same Budge who dusted off Ellsworth Vines there in January before 16,000 fans who paid $47,120; it was the same Garden Tilden used to pack with Cochet. The house was small because: 1) the January crowd was disappointed by Budge's easy victory over erratic Vines; 2) no expert conceded Perry a Chinaman's chance; 3) Budge's lack of showmanship, that divine sparkle that nobody since Tilden has displayed.

Next night in Boston, Perry managed to run one set to deuce twice, but lost 6-0, 6-2, 8-6. A snowstorm was blamed for Boston's turnout of only 3,753, but many followers of the game were ready to believe that pro tennis had slumped worse than Perry's forehand.
​

 

[krosero]

American Lawn Tennis:

On the night of March 10 in Madison Square Garden, New York, Don Budge met Fred Perry for the seventh time in his career. Although Perry had a decided edge of 4-2 in their encounters as amateurs, at the end of this match, which came all too soon for the 7,000 or more spectators who paid about $14,000 and half-filled the Garden, it was obvious that Budge had far outstripped Perry in nearly every department of the game since their last meeting in the fall of [1936]. The score of 6-1 6-3 6-0 pretty well indicates the one-sidedness of the struggle. The match took fifty minutes and, except for a few games in the second set when Perry hit his peak or somewhere near it, there was no doubt that it would be anything but quick and to the point. The very best Budge was on view, not one over-tennised after a country-wide tour of 39 matches against Vines, nor one who under-estimated the significance of the occasion. When there was a lack of concentration on the task at hand or an obvious effort to put on a show other than straight-forward tennis, it was on the part of Perry, not Budge.

The red-head was serious and intent. His game showed improvement over anything he produced in this country last year. Every shot had a purpose – not to end the rally abruptly as Vines might have – but to bring such pressure on his opponent that the opening to advance to the net and polish off the point would follow in due course. Despite the use of constant pressure off the ground Budge made surprisingly few errors. He was the same Budge who allowed the best Bunny Austin just four games in the final round at Wimbledon last summer.

Perry was undoubtedly keen but there was little he could do except hit from undesirable positions. His plan of campaign, announced in advance, was to maintain long rallies by getting to Budge’s best shots and keeping them going back until errors took their toll. Vines had agreed that Perry would be able to reach Budge’s hardest shots and that this would probably mean victory for the Englishman in the end. Neither Perry nor Vines reckoned with Budge’s ability to bring off not only one or two of these bludgeon blows, but apparently endless strings of them. It was consummate tennis.

Perry tried everything. His crosscourt forehand, seeking to find a weakness in Budge’s deep forehand corner that was not there, was overworked in the effort. In long back court rallies he also attempted to outsteady the Californian by hitting backhand to backhand; this was hopeless. He could not bring off passing shots from running positions and his lobs were in every case except one smashed for winners. This smashing Budge was quite a contrast to the player who had whiffed against Vines. At the net Perry made error after error, many of them on hard low volleys, others on comparatively easy shots. He was also very weak in hitting down-the-line—off both forehand and backhand. He undoubtedly had engaged in too little competition during the previous nine months and his practice on boards in care-free encounters with such players as Sidney Wood, Gregory Mangin and Gil Hall left him unprepared for the undertaking….

The first set ... was over in a jiffy. Budge broke for 2-0 as the Englishman erred with his forehand and on the volley. The fourth and fifth games brought some good base line rallying with Budge holding his own, and in the sixth he broke at love with some great down-the-line shots.

Perry had trouble in holding his serve at the start of the second period, whereas Budge won his on four straight near-placements. The tennis picked up in the next two games and the best Perry put in an appearance. He was twice within a point of breaking for 3-1, having made two fine volleys, but he netted drives on both chances. The fifth game was a classic. To 30-40, Perry serving, every point was won or lost at the net. Perry’s double-fault was an anti-climactic ending to such play. Budge’s backhand shots and volleys were things of beauty in the next game and Perry tried too many cross-court forehand passes, allowing Don to anticipate them. Perry won the seventh game on three earned points—a half-volley, a cross-court forehand, and a service ace. He also had a point in the next for 4-all but returned service badly.

Fred’s last gasp came with set point against him at 3-5. He made a lightning quick interception at the net for deuce and then erred on easy shots twice. 6-3 for Don. Perry was rather resigned in the third set. He had given his best and it was not good enough. He went back to steadiness and Don took complete control of the match, never once letting up against a faltering opponent. Fred double faulted on match point at 0-5 and seemed relieved to have that match off his mind.

The next six encounters went the way of the New York match, with Perry improving but with one-sided scores showing that Don is his complete master. Crowds have not compared in size with those that witnessed Budge and Vines in the same cities, but they have been for the most part enthusiastic, especially about Budge’s play. From New York the troupe went to Boston where they played before a gathering of 3,753.
​

 

[krosero]

The second night in Boston Perry got an interesting taunt from the crowd. New York Times:

BOSTON, March 11 (AP)—Peerless Don Budge tonight routed Fred Perry, former British Davis Cup ace, in straight sets for the second night in succession.

The Californian took the second match of their cross-country professional tour by 6-0, 6-2, 8-6.

A Boston crowd of 3,753—held down in size by a New England snowstorm—saw Budge pick up where he left off in New York last night, and easily take nine straight games.

At this point, Perry, loser of eighteen straight games, including the last nine he dropped in Madison Square Garden last night, took a firm stand, apparently irked by a taunt from the gallery.

“Say, are you interested in golf, too?” someone yelled to the Britisher, apparently referring to the reason given for Ellsworth Vines’s poor showing in his series of matches with Budge.

“No,” snapped back the Briton, turning red, “are you?”

Then, with the score 3-0 against him, Perry hit his best streak up to this point and took his first game.​

That streak of lost games spanning multiple matches is similar to one that Lendl had over Connors in '84.

 

[NatF]

Thanks for putting all this together. A lot of research. I think I should spend some time reading up on Budge. Clearly initially at least Budge was far too much for Perry.

 

[urban]

Interesting read. I am suprised by that one newspaper report in Lincoln Star, who is referring to von Cramm as possible next Budge opponent. That would mean, that they thought it was possible, that von Cramm would turn pro. An interesting thought, given the political circumstances 1939, and von Cramm's fragile status with the NS Regime. Also the report seems to suggest, that von Cramm would be Budge's most formidable opponent in those years. According to various reports, Vines obviously hadn't made a big impression in his series with Budge, especially the last matches. Perry seemed to be cocky as always, but past his prime, in regard to his amateur years.

 

[krosero]

Interesting read. I am suprised by that one newspaper report in Lincoln Star, who is referring to von Cramm as possible next Budge opponent. That would mean, that they thought it was possible, that von Cramm would turn pro. An interesting thought, given the political circumstances 1939, and von Cramm's fragile status with the NS Regime. Also the report seems to suggest, that von Cramm would be Budge's most formidable opponent in those years. According to various reports, Vines obviously hadn't made a big impression in his series with Budge, especially the last matches. Perry seemed to be cocky as always, but past his prime, in regard to his amateur years.

I guess Jack Harris was really trying to arrange a tour with Cramm. It was mentioned also on Feb. 18, in this piece reporting Budge's victory over Vines: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=iFUtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ydcFAAAAIBAJ&dq=vines budge&pg=3755,1372728

 

[krosero]

Thanks for putting all this together. A lot of research. I think I should spend some time reading up on Budge. Clearly initially at least Budge was far too much for Perry.

Yes, collected over the course of a few years. I have much more on Budge/Vines which I'm putting together for a thread; that was the principal H2H series of '39, and one of the most famous of the era. Even those who hoped or believed that Perry would give Budge a close fight did not regard Perry as one of the top two players in the world. He was definitely #3.

In a way, though, if you've got Fred Perry as #3 in the world -- even a Perry past his peak -- that's a pretty good roll call. Vines, Perry, Budge, all of them alltime greats; and '39 was the only year that they all faced off against one another.

 

[urban]

A Budge-von Cramm series in 1939 could have been interesting. In 1936-37 they were, from the top of my head, 2-1 in Majors and 1-0 in DC, with the last matches at DC Wim and at US champs Forest Hills close 5 set affairs. In early 1938 however, von Cramm had beaten Budge in Australia several times, including in an Intercontinental match over two long sets, which German sources described as von Cramm's best match. In 1939, von Cramm dominated (on clay and grass) the next amateur line of Americans, McNeil and Riggs, who won RG and Wim with Gottfried out of competition. In a long cross country series on indoor courts i would favor Budge. Von Cramm played seldom indoors, and i don't know, how effectively his kicker would work indoors.

 

[krosero]

There was one very critical essay written about Perry, in the May 1939 issue of Canadian Lawn Tennis and Badminton.

Fundamentally, tennis galleries pay to see tennis not personalities.

Tennis, as an exhibition, has much to offer the spectator from the point of view of stroke production, courtmanship, strategy and by no means least sportsmanship. It is regrettable that Fred Perry apparently feels that with the competitive angle removed from the game, those qualities are not worth the effort.

One can appreciate that to a man of Perry’s temperament the fine touch and heights his game could reach through the undefinable flare of competition might well be missing; also it is understandable that his strokes developed and perfected for grass court play might not function with the same smoothness on artificial hard courts but neither of these can explain his obvious lack of interest or effort, so predominate in his exhibitions against Budge.

Perry’s greatness as an amateur was to some degree reliant on his superb confidence; perhaps Budge’s obvious domination in their professional matches has robbed him of that confidence and developed the attitude of fooling—the explanation of loss being “no interest” rather than “the better man.”

Perhaps Perry should remember that he owes a certain duty to those who pay to see him play; to those who have made his moneyed success possible. No one is interested in seeing a former great amateur fooling around, missing easy shots, sublimely indifferent to the boredom of his audience.

The marked difference to Budge’s workman-like precision, his earnest endeavour to give the gallery his best, accentuates Perry’s carelessness, his flare for courtmanship and the natural rhythm of his shots could so easily delight a tennis loving gallery.

Professional tennis exhibitions can do and have done much for tennis, but should the attitude of boredom and indifference, such as exemplified in Perry’s latter matches pervade the players—they serve no purpose and merely act as a detriment to the game.

R. Bruce Peterson​

There are some interesting observations here, especially about Perry’s strokes. But the phrase “with the competitive angle removed from the game” reveals, I think, an assumption on the part of the author that pro tours were not truly competitive but rather mere exhibitions. This was a widespread prejudice held against the pro game, which was often (though not in this particular piece) referred to as a “circus.”

Perry may well have been producing less than his best – perhaps for complex reasons, as the author recognizes. But I think the author’s description of Perry playing with complete indifference goes too far (other publications speak of Perry improving as the tour progressed) and may be colored by his assumption that there ultimately was no competitive element in pro matches.

Also, it’s not possible to tell whether the author was writing before or after the middle stretch of the tour when Perry started racking up some victories.

 

[krosero]

With the Budge/Perry series turning into a rout, the highlights of the tour from a pure tennis standpoint may have been the doubles matches in which Vines participated. Twice during the tour Vines and Keith Gledhill took on Budge and Perry in five-set marathons.

The first was in San Francisco on March 27. Vines/Gledhill d. Budge/Perry 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 12-10.

Per the Auckland Star, the four men held serve at one stretch in the fifth for 16 consecutive games (See http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cg...rpos=11&e=-------100-AS-1----0Budge+Vines--):

Throughout the match the crowd was thrilled by the cannon-ball serves of the ‘lanky’ Vines. He put over ten aces in his 16 games, clean beating Budge no less than seven times and Perry thrice. He also won four of his games at love.​

The same teams faced off again in a marathon match six days later in Los Angeles. This time they had to stop at 19-all in the fifth, with everyone, according to Bowers, “haggard and cramping.”

American Lawn Tennis devoted considerable space to these two doubles matches in their second report on the tour:

Highlights of the Pro Tour

J Donald Budge and Fred J Perry have passed the half-way mark on their cross-country-and-back tour and the score stands at the conclusion of their match in St Louis on April 17—Budge 18, Perry 6. The latter won his first match in Detroit on March 21 and since then has alternated between giving the world champion a good run and being completely trounced by him. Fred’s game has constantly improved, so that he has been able to win five of the last twelve engagements, including a best-of-five set contest in Vancouver, British Columbia. On the occasions when Don was in his most devastating mood, however, the scores have been rather one-sided. In Houston, for instance, where fans were fortunate to see the best and most exciting match of the Budge-Vines tour, the redhead was right on top of his game. One observer, who has seen Vines play countless times, goes to the extent of saying, “Never have I seen such forcing play on the part of anyone as was exhibited by Don throughout this match.”

As a result of Fred’s better showing, attendance and receipt figures have improved as the tour progressed. Crowds of 1,000 to 1,500 have watched most of the matches, with particularly good turnouts in the cities that had not had an opportunity to see Budge in action on the previous tour. Perhaps the highlight was the appearance in doubles of Vines and Keith Gledhill. Details of their matches with Budge and Perry are given by correspondents Margaret Osborne and Ned Wheldon. Promoter Jack Harris adds that some of the “old-timers” in the gallery—Summer Hardy, “Peck” Griffin, and Roscoe Maples—thought the San Francisco match was the finest doubles they had ever seen. The doubles—supposedly secondary in importance—came after very one-sided singles victories by Budge in each case and they proved the advantage of having a first-rate supporting cast. As a matter of fact, Ben Gorchakoff and Walter Senior have been performing very efficiently, with honors about even. Ben, on his first tour, has made a favorable impression with both his play and personality.

Don Budge won his first Bay Area professional match in San Francisco Monday night, March 27, by defeating Fred Perry 6-0 6-4. It took Budge just 35 minutes to convince Perry that it was hopeless, as Perry could earn but one lone point in the first set, while Budge made but ten errors. The Englishman made a better match of it in the second set but Budge never lost control. The singles was completely overshadowed by the appearance of Ellsworth Vines and Keith Gledhill in the doubles match against Budge and Perry. Seldom, if ever before, have San Franciscans been privileged to see such a fine exhibition of the doubles games. The foursome battled for over two hours, ending close to 1:00 A.M., but not a spectator left his seat, so spell-binding was the tennis. Vines and Gledhill finally emerged the winners in the fifth set at 12-10. They won the second and third sets, 6-3 6-4, but dropped the first and fourth 3-6 4-6….

The thrill may have gone out of the Budge-Perry singles duels, but the crowd that attended their match at the Los Angeles T C on April 2 was treated to one of the wildest afternoons of tennis that most rabid fan could ask for. True, the singles was pretty tame, with Don playing superbly to down the Briton 6-1 6-3 after Keith Gledhill had split sets with Bill Weisslock in the curtain-raiser, but the special doubles event made everyone late for dinner and kept them on the edge of their seats. It was the famous team of Vines and Gledhill against the two newest professional stars and it was one of the greatest matches ever played on the famous center court.

Vines and Gledhill led off with an 8-6 set on a break of Perry’s serve, and a loss of Keith’s at the start of the second made it even at 6-3. The former national champions collected the third at 7-5. Then Budge and Perry ran wild to take the fourth at 6-1. All this time the tennis was amazingly fast and brilliant as Vines and Gledhill went to 5-3 in the fifth, only to be caught at 5-all as Vines lost his serve. For the next hour there were no service breaks, although Budge and Perry had five match points and Don was once down 0-40. At 17-all it was agreed to play four games. At 18-all Vines and Gledhill broke through, but wonderful returns by their opponents tied up the count at 19-all as the match ended.

Budge, expecting rain, called the Los Angeles club from Oakland at 9:00 in the morning, and then, after promising to “drop right down”, he phoned again at 11:30. When he finally stepped off the plan, he found that he had left his rackets behind and was forced to borrow some for the afternoon’s play!

The best singles match of the tour was the one in Memphis on April 16. About 1500 fans sat spellbound as Perry carried Budge to 45 games. It was real give-and-take, with Perry causing Don to do considerably more running than usual and confounding him with timely passing shots. Budge had a match point on his own service in the sixteenth game of the second set but he dumped an easy forehand into the net. He trailed several times in the third period, once at 0-3, but he finished more strongly, as Perry tired of having to return seemingly endless strings of bludgeon blows.​

Vines again played doubles on this tour in Elizabeth, NJ, on May 6 – this time with Perry as his partner. They beat the team of Budge and Walter Senior, 1-6, 12-10, 6-3.

 

[krosero]

American Lawn Tennis’ report on the last matches of the tour:

Budge 28, Perry 8

During the last two weeks of their tour Fred Perry lost all of the ground he had regained in the middle of the tour and ended up 20 matches behind Don Budge, the final score being 28-8. After leaving St. Louis on April 17 the itinerary called for three more matches in the Middle West and then for a few days of rest before winding up with eight matches on as many consecutive days in Canada, New York, New England and the Metropolitan area. Budge won all eight, five of them without the sign of a struggle.

Crowds during the latter part of the tour continued to range between eight or nine hundred and 3,000. This last number turned out at Des Moines, Iowa, which proved to be one of the most enthusiastic cities throughout the whole tour. Another exceptionally good crowd was the 2,000 in Indianapolis.​

 

[krosero]

Jack Harris, the tour manager, made this statement to the press after Budge had started dominating the series. It was published in the journal Professional Tennis, in a report covering the first 9 matches.

In his first season as a professional, red-headed Donald Budge has accomplished a two-fold purpose. He has proven his right to be classed with Big Bill Tilden, Little Bill Johnston, Norman Brookes, and the other tennis greats of the past, and he has given the lie to those who have intimated that the professional game was not strictly on the up-and-up.

No honest, impartial observer will deny that the Oakland youngster today stands head and shoulders above all rivals in his chosen sport. As an amateur he completely as possible spread-eagled his field, and as a pro, he dominates the picture as completely as did Tilden, Dempsey and Bobby Jones in their heyday. It begins to look as if, in this gangling, twenty-three-year-old lad we are seeing the greatest player of all time. It is extremely doubtful if even the mighty Tilden, in his prime, could have produced his amazing repertoire of shots in the face of the withering barrage which Donald the Red has laid down against all opposition. There were some who said that, in his amateur days, he stood out like a sore thumb solely because of the mediocrity of his opposition. This argument fails in the face of the amazing performances of Budge against the two greatest players in professional ranks, Ellsworth Vines and Fred Perry. Against Vines, he finished five up on the former pro champion in a series of 39 matches, and against the highly-touted Britisher, he has proven even more sensational, winning seven straight matches without the loss of a set.

In thus relentlessly mowing down the former English Davis Cup ace, Budge has completely answered the charge, made in some quarters, that professional tennis matches are “fixed.” Seven straight wins without allowing his opponent a set—that does not look like a “build-up” for the sake of the gate. If ever there was to be a “fix” in pro tennis, it would have been at Madison Square Garden in New York where Budge first faced Perry as a pro. A long-drawn-out, five set match would have done much to insure the financial success of the tour to follow. But what happened? Did the red-head toss his British rival a few games to “make it look good”? He did not. He unleashed the full power of his attack against Perry, giving no quarter, and blasting his way through the Englishman’s defense to victory in forty-nine minutes.

Red-headed Donald Budge has done more than prove himself a great champion. He has proven the honesty of the game which he represents, and has cleared himself and his fellow pros of the utterly baseless charge that professional tennis is a hippodrome, and not a competitive sport.​

Harris doesn't say how widespread was the belief that the pro tours were not entirely "on the level," to use a popular phrase of the time. Much of the criticism of pro tennis in that time period came from the amateur establishment which was opposed to pro tennis on principle. But at the least we can say that Harris himself considered it a charge worth addressing and countering.

And it wasn't an isolated statement by Harris. He and Budge were on the same page about it. Budge had addressed the issue with nearly the same vigor some months earlier when he arrived in New York to start his pro tour against Vines.

New York Times (December 18, 1938 ):

BUDGE, HERE, DRILLS FOR DEBUT AS PRO

Don Arrives for Garden Match With Vines and Engages in Workout With Hall

By WILLIAM D. RICHARDSON

Armed with a goodly supply of sleek-looking 15 1/2-ounce racquets bearing his name, a fiery-haired, blue-eyed young man stepped jauntily off the Commodore Vanderbilt as it slid to a stop in the Grand Central Station yesterday morning.

J. Donald Budge was the name on the weapons that have brought the 23-year-old Californian fame and acclaim in the four corners of the earth and, now that he has turned professional, following the lead of Tilden, Richards, Perry, Vines and others, they will probably place him among the top wage-earners in sports.

Like Bobby Jones, his counterpart in the golfing world, Budge recently forsook his amateur status when, having annexed the four major tennis titles — United States, Wimbledon, French and Australian—and been a major factor in the recapture- of the Davis Cup, there were no more worlds for him to conquer.

$75,000 Ahead of Him

With these honors behind him and at least $75,000 ahead of him, the Oakland (Calif.) redhead arrived yesterday to prepare for his professional debut, which will take place at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 3 with Elly Vines facing him on the opposite side of the court.

His "Golden Rule" for success in his training for the match is "early to bed." That's what Budge said yesterday at the Seventy-first Regiment Armory, where he repaired for a workout against the veteran J. Gilbert Hall a few hours after his arrival.

Don's real training for the tour that will require him to play some seventy-seven matches, several of them on consecutive nights, starts tomorrow with daily workouts on the canvas-covered courts at the Heights Casino in Brooklyn, where he will have former Davis Cuppers Sidney Wood and Frank Shields to help him tune up.

That little conditioning work will be required was apparent yesterday. Following his session against Hall he conversed with reporters, one of whom asked:

Money in the Bank

"What have you done with the $25,000?"

Budge received that amount on the signing of his contract.

"It's in the bank," replied the California wizard who has brought "ohs" and "ahs" from the lips of kings, queens, princes and princesses by his skill and power on the court.

"And what about the next twenty-five you get on March 1 and the third installment of the same amount that will come on the completion of the present tour?"

"That, too, will go into the bank," said Budge.

Some one else asked what he'd most like to accomplish as a pro.

"Well, for one thing," he responded, "I'd like to win fifteen or twenty straight matches just to prove that the pro game is strictly on the square. That's if I can," he added.

What would his strategy be against Vines?

He was not prone to divulge his answer to that one. But he has a plan. He admitted that much.

"It would be silly to tell you in advance what it is," he said, "for it might not work out."

Some one suggested he serve an ace to Vines and then go to the net. That amused Budge no end.

Pate Will Aid Don

But whatever the plan is, he will be assisted by Walter L. Pate, non-playing captain of the Davis Cup team, his biggest booster and well-wisher.

Budge and Vines will play their rubber match when they meet in the Garden before what now appears a capacity gathering. The advance sale has already reached $7,874 at $7.70 tops, according to Promoter Jack Harris.

They've played five practice matches with the count 2-all in victories and the fifth halted at 5—all in the fifth set.

Playing against Vines, Don thinks, will improve his game a great deal, for Budge doesn't believe he's reached his peak. "This series should bring me up to it if anything can," he declared.

"What I need most," he admitted, "is a licking in a match I'm really trying to win. I haven't lost one like that since Perry beat me at Forest Hills in 1936.

"However, I don't want to get it in my first match against Vines. But if I can take the first fifteen or twenty matches from him I’ll certainly do it just to prove to a lot of people that pro tennis players don't toss matches back and forth to keep up interest in their series."

Would the shift from the turf to canvas, board and indoor clay courts he'll play on in the tour make any difference? Or would the jump from city to city and the strain of night-after-night play bother him?

Anticipates No Trouble

Budge didn’t think so. “After all, Tilden, Perry and Vines have stood up under it and I see no reason why I shouldn’t,” he declared.​

In the end winning 15-20 straight proved impossible, though he did win 6 straight against Vines and he took 8 straight from Perry on two occasions.

Ok, Budge/Vines next, in its own thread.

 

[krosero]

Perry did not participate in the European tour later that year, so his next meeting with Budge may not have been until February 17, 1940, in Havana. According to Perry, they met there and Budge won in five sets.

Budge and Perry played that match the day before they entered the Miami Southeastern Pro, though I cannot find a report about their meeting. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, in its March 8 preview of the Finnish Relief exo, quoted Perry:

The Redhead is better right now than I’ve ever seen him before. Don takes the attack with more authority and more persistence now than ever before. I played very well last month in Havana, and carried Don to five sets. But he has too much on the ball. Still I cannot stand by and listen to Tilden call Don the greatest of all time. Why, you just can’t mention anybody else in the same breath with Tilden; Bill is the standard by which all other comparisons are made.​

The meeting is announced here in a calendar of events to be held in Havana: http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...-AcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hWQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1426,3339290.

Possibly the match was held on clay but I haven’t found anything else on it.

Later I'll post news articles from the '39 tour.

@NoMercy has finally found this Havana match.

Feb. 16, 1940 in Havana
Budge d. Perry 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 2-6, 6-3, at night indoors in Palacio de Deportes, on linoleum court.

Perry had played there before, beating Vines in four sets on November 29, 1938. That match was in the "Havana Sports Palace" so presumably the same place as this Palacio de Deportes used for the '40 match.

I guess the same venue could have been used in '41 for the stop by Budge, Marble, Tilden and Hardwick.