Budge/Vines tour of 1939 (US)

krosero

Legend
Per the Point Score:

Vines won 101 points, Budge 87.

Vines was broken just once, Budge 3 times.

Vines won 62 of 90 points on serve (68.9%)
Budge won 59 of 98 points on serve (60.2%)

Those are very high numbers, which indicates a well-played match, or at least a well-served one.
 

krosero

Legend
Vines served 32 aces in Atlanta, per Bowers.

That means that at least 36% of his serves were unreturned.


Vines has been reported at least four times to have hit the 30-ace mark:

30 aces in 12 service games – 1932 Wimbledon final over Bunny Austin
30 aces in 14 service games – 1937 pro tour match in Richmond over Perry
32 aces in 14 service games – 1939 pro tour match in Atlanta over Budge
30-32 aces in 15 service games – 1939 Wembley match over Nusslein​

Lists of career-high ace counts tend to be littered with servers who lost these same matches in which they set their record ace counts. Vines, by contrast, won all four of the matches listed above.
 
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krosero

Legend
The players then moved on to Birmingham, where Budge took a lead of 14-9 with a 6-3, 6-4. I've found almost nothing on this match, except that the crowd was estimated at 4,000.
 

krosero

Legend
Two days later followed the most one-sided match of the series, in New Orleans.

Most reports are perfunctory but this one has some details:

New Orleans, La., Feb. 7 (INS)--With their tour more than a third over, Don Budge today held a 15 to 9 lead over Ellsworth Vines in their series of professional tennis matches. The red-haired Californian swamped Vines last night 6-0, 6-1, mixing accurate baseline shots with smashing volleys at the net to confuse his veteran foe.​

Jack Harris, who did not normally talk about specific matches, recalled this match in a conversation with the press in early March, with the tour nearly over and the score standing at 21-16. As quoted in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle:

Vines and Perry did $315,000 gross in 63 matches on their first tour. So far with Vines and Budge we've done $198,500, with $5,000 more due in Montreal Monday. And the prices on this tour have been lower. I figure we’ll be over $350,000 by the time Budge and Perry finish their 35 matches. Yes, we have had a few bad matches this time. Budge won 6-1, 6-0 in New Orleans, and the match went less than 20 minutes. Vines hurt his arm. But those things are bound to happen […]. We’re bound to have an off-day.​

Budge also mentions this one match in his book, noting Harris' near-panic at the shortness of the match:

On February 6, 1939, I had one of those nights when I could do no wrong. We were in New Orleans, playing before a good crowd, and I beat him 6-0, 6-1. That is bad enough, but to make it worse, the whole massacre took only fifteen minutes.

Jack Harris was frantic. He came out on the court and spoke to us. “Play another set,” he said. “Let’s make it three out of five.” Ellie just shook his head, and then he looked at his watch. “Jack,” he said, “there’s no use in that. The way Don is playing that would just be another seven and a half minutes. Come on, let’s start the doubles.” For the cynics who had their minds made up about the tour, though, I guess that even this performance could not change the opinion that Ellie and I must be playing only to keep it close and exciting for the fans.​
 

krosero

Legend
Two nights later Budge and Vines put on perhaps the best match of the series in Houston, going past midnight and ending 12-10 in the third set.

American Lawn Tennis, in an article published later during the Perry tour, called it the best of the series, though they provided no details.

In fact Budge and Vines played two matches in Texas and both were exceptional, with Budge saving match points in Dallas.

Unfortunately I haven't found very much on either match.

A UP story in the El Paso Herald-Post:

Donald Budge, former world amateur champion, ran his professional tennis victories to 16-9 over Ellsworth Vines early today. Budge outlasted Vines’ cannon-ball service to win, 3-6, 8-6, 12-10.

Vines broke Budge’s service three times in the first set by passing the Californian with net baseline shots and was the steadier player. But Budge got his powerful forehand to working and swept the last two sets, holding the crowd of 2000 fans until after midnight for the finish.​

At 45 games it turned out to be the longest match that they played on this tour – tied with the match in Pittsburgh, which Budge also had won by the identical score of 12-10 in the third set.
 

krosero

Legend
The win in Dallas pulled Budge up to 17-9, the widest edge he would hold in the series.

LA Times:

Budge Rallies for Win Over Vines

DALLAS, Feb. 9 (AP)—Donald Budge came from behind tonight to defeat Ellsworth Vines, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 in their professional tennis tour before about 2000 fans.

Budge capitalized on Vines’ backhand weakness in deep court for many of his points. Vines, however, won the eighth game at love when for the only time in the match he had his bullet service behaving in old-time style, taking the first three points on as many serves with aces.​

El Paso Herald-Post:

Donald Budge was the new hero of Dallas sports fans today after defeating Ellsworth Vines, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, in the 26th tennis match which they have played on their transcontinental tour.

Two thousand persons turned out last night for the most elaborate indoor sports show which this city has had in years. J. Curtis Sanford, promoter of the Cotton Bowl football games, was in charge, and he turned the exhibition into a society event by inviting all of the 1939 debutantes and their escorts to be his guests.​
 

krosero

Legend
On Feb. 11 the Lubbock Morning Avalanche ran a long piece by William T. Rives reporting that Vines lost two match points in Dallas.

Vines Avers Tilden Was Tennis 'Tops'

Pro Performer Says Budge Has Weakness

By William T. Rives

DALLAS, Feb. 11 (AP)—Ellsworth Vines, who beat Big Bill Tilden with ridiculous ease and who is now getting trimmed in somewhat similar fashion by J. Donald Budge, still thinks Tilden is the greatest tennis player he ever faced.

The current professional champion sticks up mightily for Tilden, although Big Bill dropped 61 out of 80 matches he played Vines.

Reminded that he is on the losing end, nine matches to 17, on the present tour with Budge, Vines declared:

Makes No Difference

"That doesn't make any difference. I think Tilden is the greatest player who ever lived. He had passed his peak when I played him. Tilden won nine of the first 20 matches on our tour several years ago, but then he tired."

The principal fault Vines sees in Budge's game, superb though it is, is a "comparatively weak forehand."

Despite Budge's better showing thus far, Vines still hopes to win the greater total of matches on the tour.

Admitting the obvious fact that Budge is playing better tennis at the moment, Vines added:

"I hadn't played tennis for several months when we started this trip. I had been playing too much golf, as far as my tennis game was concerned. Then, too, I had played Fred Perry two years, while Budge was meeting all sorts of competition. I was used to Perry's game."

Shows Good Form

Vines showed good form in his match here, reaching match point twice before Budge overhauled and beat him.

Is Budge at the peak of his game now?

"Well, I'd hate to play him if he's any better," grinned Vines. "Seriously, though, I believe he'll be better when he ends this tour."

At the end of this tour, Vines will desert professional tennis, restraining his net activities to an occasional friendly game.

“I’m going to devote a lot of time to golf. I still would like to win the national amateur.”​
 

krosero

Legend
And there was this intriguing note in The Denton Record-Chronicle of Denton, TX, on Feb. 21:

Dallas sports writers hooted Ellsworth Vines and Don Budge for what they called unwarranted exhibitions of temperament during their match here....

Houston writers, however, raved over the long, hard-fought match in that city.​
Next stop was Vines' and Budge's home state of California.
 

krosero

Legend
With a meeting in Los Angeles coming up, and Vines trailing 17-9, the press published a piece by Jack Guenther, who seems to have interviewed the friends and family of both players in California. He attempts to answer the question of why Vines has fallen so far behind.

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 10—(UP)--The professional tennis industry is arriving for a one-day stand and J. Donald Budge and Ellsworth Vines are reportedly running over at the edges with enthusiasm. The promoters have surveyed the scene and find it good. Unless California’s celebrated skies turn sour again the young men will depart Monday with most of the gold in the Golden West.​
The interest being shown in the match that will be held in Memorial Coliseum Sunday is noteworthy. The partners have performed some 26 times and Badge leads on a three-to-two ratio. Numerous explanations have been advanced concerning this supremacy, but none is satisfactory. If Vines is slipping the natives haven't heard. They aren't exactly bug-eyed with excitement, but they are epicures in the matter of tennis. There should be enough of them on hand Sunday to establish a new American attendance record for tennis of any sort.​
The record of 17,600 was set by this troupe in Madison Square Garden two months ago. It may easily be doubled Sunday. The coliseum seats 100,000, and because of this enormous capacity the promoters are experimenting with what may be called consumers' tennis. Tickets have been scaled to fifty cents and a dollar. The youngsters come in at two bits.​
As the event approaches the point is argued—“Is Budge the master of Vines as his lead would indicate?” The closest friends of both players live in this vicinity. After talking to both camps only at great length is it possible to strike an opinion, if not a definite one.​
As an amateur, the red-headed one was too good for his class. He may also be too good for Vines, but not just because of ability. The reasons are mostly financial. Budge will earn $75,000 from the tour, a large sum but not an overbearing one when taxes have been deducted. He is a young man, and he must go out and earn more. Tennis is the trade at which he works and earns. So he must win or the supply is cut off.​
Now take Vines, a human stringbean who has been pursuing tennis balls with grim persistency on one continent or another for a dozen years. He has been amply rewarded with gold and with glory. He has been his own social security system, keeping most of what he has earned. He has a fine home for his wife and daughter. And he has an all-consuming desire to forget tennis and play golf.​
Why not? Vines has proved his greatness. Excluding the present series he has amassed 240 victories against 108 defeats as a professional.​
Now he is losing the urge. The bank account is fat enough to stave off the wolf forever. He has been under severe handicap and pain from a strained stomach muscle. Perry is the prize for the winner of this tour, and Vines has beaten Perry already.​
But whether he retires or goes on, no one ever will know if he or Budge is the greater player. It will be up to history to decide that. The present tour won't because Vines no longer is hungry.​
 
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krosero

Legend
A preview in the Los Angeles Times on the day of the match there:

Prospects of the largest crowd that ever saw a tennis match in this country were foreseen by Gallery. With a capacity of more than 25,000 choice seats, popular prices prevail for the first time in the history of major tennis and thousands of municipal tennis players and enthusiasts who have never seen Budge or Vines in action on private club courts are expected to take advantage of this opportunity.

A “kid” gate at two bits for students was also announced by Gallery.

Budge holds a slight lead over Vines in their transcontinental tour, and Vines arrived on the scene of action a couple of days ago in order to get into perfect trim for this battle. Vines has threatened to toss his rackets away and give all of his attention to golf if Budge wrests the professional crown away from him, but the lanky Pasadena star is confident that he can pull to even terms and probably forge ahead of Budge on their West Coast jaunt.

The redhead gives evidence of being the greatest tennis player that ever trod the courts, however. Continuing right on from this “grand slam,” the first ever made in tennis when Budge won the national titles of the United States, England, Australia and France, the sorrel-top is proving the toughest player that Vines has encountered in his four-year rule of the professional division….he not only completed his “grand slam” in amateur ranks, but he won all three divisions at Wimbledon two years in a row and went undefeated in every tournament in which he competed, save the final Pacific Southwest tournament, when he suffered a let-down. Not even Tilden in his heyday set such a record.​


Vines played “at the peak of his game,” per an AP report in the Baltimore Sun, to beat Budge over four sets in Los Angeles.

The match – a best of five – was one of the few played outdoors on this tour.

Nine thousand fans huddled under wraps in the Memorial Coliseum. Vines, who had one of his hot stroking days despite the chilly weather, shaved Budge’s lead in the series to 17 to 10.​

American Lawn Tennis:

Despite his inability to hold Don Budge even in total matches, Ellsworth Vines maintained his record of never losing a professional match in Los Angeles when he pounded the redhead out of the Coliseum in four sets on February 12, 6-2 6-8 7-5 6-2. A court was laid at one end of the huge oval and some 9,000 fans watched the match.

After starting with a couple of errors, Vines refused to donate another until he led 4-0 in the opener and collected it 6-2 without much trouble. The second set was closer, with Vines recovering from a 3-1 deficit to lead 6-5 with service for the set. He deuced the game from 0-40, but dropped it and the next two before a sudden Budge spurt. Don’s only chance for a lead came when Vines was twice within a point of losing his serve at 3-4 in the third set; after saving it, Vines dropped the next at love and from 4-5 ran out of the last three games with the loss of two points in each. Budge held service to start the final set, but Vines outhit him in all departments to take the next five games, of which three went to deuce. Don salvaged one more and then the curtain came down.

A wooden base for the canvas court had been laid directly on the grass and was not quite solid enough, producing a number of bad bounces that bothered both players. The big Budge backhand took a back seat to that of Vines, who scored 11 placements and 5 forcing shots off the port side against Don’s 3 placements and 2 forces. In fact, Vines earned 64 points to Budge’s 34 and had only 92 errors to the latter’s 89. The famous Vines net-cords were in evidence, for he bounced over eight to Don’s one.
So Vines must have led 153-126 in total points.

An AP item:

When Ellsworth Vines and Don Budge played their tennis engagement in Los Angeles they were forced to perform on plywood. Someone forgot the regular planks, and at times the ball barely bounced from the court.​
 
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krosero

Legend
A piece in the Deseret News right after the match in LA:

Between popular prices and a “kid” gate, the crowd was not exactly the effete and sphinx-like gathering that has seen Budge at the private, amateur clubs. But if it was noisy and hilarious at times, it bothered Budge not at all. He grinned and continued play.

“It’s a great life, if it is a hard one,” declared Budge before he quit town for his next engagement with Vines in San Francisco. “Playing Elly is just like playing a championship final every match, and naturally it takes a lot out of you.”
 

krosero

Legend
As stated in a preview of that LA match:

....popular prices prevail for the first time in the history of major tennis and thousands of municipal tennis players and enthusiasts who have never seen Budge or Vines in action on private club courts are expected to take advantage of this opportunity.​
 

krosero

Legend
Vines then took another match, in San Francisco, 7-5, 6-4, leaving Budge with a lead of 17-11.

Nevada State Journal:

Vines Beats Budge in Straight Sets

Cannonball Service Whips Redhead

San Francisco, Feb. 16. Ellsworth Vines, lanky Pasadenan, who holds the world's professional tennis title, gave red-haired Don Budge his second straight defeat of their California matches on their national tour Wednesday night, beating Budge in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4.

Vines' terrific cannonball service proved the deciding factor of the twenty-eighth match of the series which marks Budge's debut. Don still holds a comfortable lead with seventeen victories as against his rival's eleven.

The 2800 fans in Dreamland Auditorium pictured Budge as an easy winner as he swept to a 4 to 1 lead in the first set. Then Vines cut loose with his speedy service, forced Budge into errors, and unleashed an ace to win the match at 7-5. Vines ran out the second and deciding set after it was tied at 4-4.​
 

krosero

Legend
American Lawn Tennis published an update on the tour at this point. With the tour coming to a close and Budge looking like the winner, interest may have been declining; perhaps for that reason ALT did not provide details on individual matches in this report.

They did make a tantalizing comment about that mini-classic in Houston.

They also quote Vines making one of his most generous comments about Budge to date (eventually of course Vines, in his book, would name Budge as the best of all the post-Tilden champions).

Budge Maintains Superiority

At the end of their twenty-eighth match (in San Francisco) the Budge-Vines series stands 17 for Don, 11 for Ellsworth. Thus, Don has increased his lead during the past month and was at one time leading by 17-9. There is still a mathematical chance for Vines to pull even but, judging by his statements as released by Jack Harris on February 17, the chances of his winning eight of their ten remaining matches were small indeed. He says that Budge has improved his game amazingly since their first meeting and that, given another six months or year, “he will be more than a match for the best player that ever lived.” At present Ellie thinks Tilden in his prime would beat Don, “largely because of the greater variety of his game, by means of which he would be able to nullify the numbing power of Budge’s whirlwind attack.” For the same reason he thinks that Perry will do very well against Budge.

Ellsworth points out the fact that Don has been able to raise his game to meet stern opposition; this is the story of their tour to date. When everything has been clicking for Vines, he has been practically unbeatable; and yet he has been several times, notably in Houston, on the brink of victory only to have Budge thwart him. The redhead’s superior steadiness and ability to handle Vines’ serve continue the biggest factors in his favor. He even stands inside the base line and strokes—not blocks—his return of service! Most of the matches have been so closely fought that a “new high” has been reached in voluble enthusiasm on the part of fans in many of the cities.

Large crowds have appeared nearly everywhere and figures for the first 28 matches have reached 122,000 attendance, $180,000 “gate.” An interesting experiment was carried out in Los Angeles where the Coliseum, capable of seating over 100,000 people was used and provision made for 30,000 spectators. School children were given admission at 25c; the result was a crowd of about 9,000, the largest ever to witness a match in California.​
Vines’ service games must have been exciting to watch, not just because of Vines’ aces but because of the dramatic way that Budge returned service, when he could get a racquet on the ball. It was a matchup a little like Sampras-Agassi: the best server in the game against the best returner.
 
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krosero

Legend
The swing through California was not yet finished but the troupe took a momentary detour to play a match in Seattle. Budge won it 7-5, 6-1 for a lead of 18-11.

Circleville Herald:

SEATTLE, Wash., Feb. 18.

Score in the tennis tournament to decide the "professional championship" today stood at 18 for Donald Budge and 11 for Ellsworth Vines. Completely reversing the sluggish form he displayed at San Francisco, Budge whipped Vines in two straight sets here last night.​

San Bernardino County Sun:

Vines’ service was brilliant at times, but his backhand was weak and Budge outsteadied him.​
 

krosero

Legend
Vines ended up winning the match in Oakland and even bageling Budge, 3-6, 6-0, 7-5, reducing the gap to 18-12.

The LA Times had only this:

Vines started slowly, but in the second set he got control of his serve.​

An INS report in the Lincoln Star:

Don Budge didn’t do so well before his fellow townsmen, and 3,000 Oaklanders saw their red-thatched favorite defeated by Ellsworth Vines, 3-6, 6-0, 7-5, last night in the thirtieth encounter of their professional tour.

Eighteen to Twelve

Score of the tour to date is Budge 18, Vines 12. Vines won principally by managing to keep his cannonball service under control for the first time in several matches. The affair, as a whole, was lifeless, except for numerous loud protests from both players over line-calling.​

The Oakland Tribune’s report:

Budge Will Meet Perry Here in April

Three Thousand Fans See Local Ace Lose To Ellsworth Vines

By BILL TOBITT

Those who missed J. Donald Budge's act at the Oakland Auditorium last night – and there were least 281,013 Oaklanders, according to the 1930 census, who didn't see it – may catch it again April 3 when Donald appears here against Frederick John Perry.

The second half of that great American cavalcade—Don Budge Tennis Tours, Inc.—is due to play here on that date, according to contract with the Industrial Athletic Association, which sponsored last night's show.

Perhaps at that time another 3050 persons might pay $1375.50 to see their home-town redhead take a licking as he did last night. Perry has mastered Budge in amateur competitions when world and National titles depended upon it. Unless something interferes, Perry should be able to do it again in professional play.

VINES WINS IN THREE

Those 3050—exactly 200 less than saw Ellsworth Vines wallop our boy Donald in San Francisco last week—watched Vines do it again last night, only not quite as emphatically. He required three sets, Vines coming out on top 3-6, 6-0 7-5.

That still leaves Budge with a margin of 19 victories to 12—and inasmuch as there remain only five more matches before the tour winds up in Montreal March 6, it looks as if Donald has cinched the "professional tennis championship,” whatever that is.

But, whatever it is, it means more money for the Oakland copper-knob. His tour with Perry, which follows almost immediately after this one with a New York opening, carries on the tradition of having a "title" at stake. Inasmuch as arrangements were made with Perry before Budge cinched the title, it would have been embarrassing had Vines won it.

BUDGE OUTPLAYED

Vines outplayed Budge, once he got under way, in every department. He out-backhanded what had been amateur tennis' most proficient backhand. His service almost tore the racket out of Budge's hand time and again—when it didn't pass him completely for an ace. On the few times that Budge went up to the net, Vines usually passed him so quickly the redhead was left hanging on the line.

Budge did nothing to endear himself to his hometown friends, but he never has been a showman. Rarely did he attempt difficult gets. If they looked like they were going to be hard or impossible to get, he didn't bother.

Vines used opposite tactics. He went for everything, even when he didn't have a ghost of a chance—and it appeared as if the predominate sentiment favored him throughout the show.

OBJECT TO DECISIONS

Both took exception to the linemen's judgment of services or line shots, each complaining frequently to Umpire Barney Deguirre. It seemed to rattle Budge without making much apparent impression on the imperturbable Vines.

There was one particularly obvious oversight of a linesman which cost Budge a vital point in the deciding set and which no doubt contributed to his defeat. The set stood at five-all and Vines had the advantage for the fifth time. The shot in question landed anywhere from six inches to a foot outside the baseline, but the linesman didn't call it and the point and the game went to Vines. Budge perhaps could have retrieved the shot, but the fact that the ball definitely came outside the court no doubt made him ease up. He dropped his racket in disgust, even as you and I. Vines made short work of Budge's service in the game which followed to win the set and the match.

Something that has rarely happened to Budge since he hit the big time took place last night when he was shut out during the second set when Vines’ volleys, services and tactics had him groggy. Vines ran it to seven consecutive games by winning his service on the opening game of the third set.

Vines admitted last night that he’s getting a bit tired of this professional tennis business, in which he has been employed for the past five years.

“I’m under contract until March 6 for American appearances,” he said. Then in May we (Budge and Vines) start our European tour which will probably take us into South Africa and India before we’re through. When that’s over – I’m finished.”

The boys play in Pasadena Wednesday night, then follow with appearances in Milwaukee, Toronto, Providence, R.I., and Montreal.

Dick Skeen won the preliminary, defeating Al Chapin 6-4, 6-2. The nightcap, a much more interesting event despite its length, saw Vines and Chapin defeating Skeen and Budge, 6-0, 5-7, 11-9.​
The prediction that Perry would beat Budge in Oakland looks like a mere taunt, but it turned out to be entirely correct.

The observation that Budge had rarely been bageled was also spot-on. Andrew Tas has recorded no bagels of Budge at all in 1937-38 (though he is missing a few scores in early-round matches).

Vines bageled Budge 5 times altogether; this time in Oakland was the fifth and last.

The Oakland Tribune’s Art Cohn:

Vines-Budge Tennis Show—No Stars

I wouldn't say it was poor tennis, because it might not have been, but I will say that the Budge-Vines act was poor entertainment last night at the Auditorium.

The few thrills were provided by Vines because Budge was just too, too tired and didn't seem to give a hoot that his roommate was annexing the world professional tennis championship of Oakland. Several hundred thousand people did not attend, including Budge's pa and ma. J. Donald must have tipped 'em off that it wasn't one of his nights.

Of course, even if it had been good, I would not have enjoyed the show. Because there were no refreshments on sale. No hot dogs. No peanuts. No soda pop. No crackerjacks. No nothin'.

A tennis match, especially the pro variety, would be bad enough with refreshments. Without 'em, it's plain hell. That is, unless you enjoy fingernails.

Maybe it was the bum crowd, maybe it was something J. Donald et, maybe a lot of maybes, but the pros didn't put on much of a show.

To Vines' credit, he frequently relieved the tedium by giving the ballboys 12-pound looks (copyrighted by Tilden) and illustrated lectures on the art of retrieving errant pills.

To Budge's credit, he complained about the linesmen all night but, from where I was sitting, the linesmen had nothing to do with J. Donald batting at least 857 balls into the net.

I haven't seen Master Budge so listless since the last time he played around here, which was just a few months ago. I mean in the Berkeley tournament last Fall when he yawned all afternoon, while taking a terrific lacing from Harry Hopman, the Australian sport writer.

I got only one real chuckle out of the whole thing. It was in the third set. Budge had won the first, 6-3. Vines had taken the second, 6-0, and was leading 6-5 in the rubber. Up to the umpire rushed J. Donald, protested for a few minutes.

The ump listened attentively, then announced over the loud speaker:

"This is a very important match, linesmen, so please watch the lines MORE carefully."

That, mind you, AFTER 26 games had been played.

P.S.—Vines won the next game, giving him set and match.​
 
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krosero

Legend
Vines took the next one in San Jose, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2.

LA Times:

Vines displayed a crashing service that was too terrific to handle and made comparatively easy work of his touring mate. Budge still holds an edge in the series of matches with 18 wins against 13 for Vines.​
San Jose News:

Budge’s failure to conquer Vines, his present foe on the national barnstorming tour, along the Pacific coast continued in the San Jose Civic Auditorium last night when the red-head fell victim to Vines’ “cannonball” service and mighty forehand, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2, before 2000 enthusiastic followers of the tennis game.

VINES SERVICE BOTHERS BUDGE

Vines had little trouble “acing” the winner of four amateur titles in a single season. Four times in the third and final set, “Elly” reached high in the air to smash the little white ball across the net and leave Budge practically helpless. Earlier in the match, Budge made desperate attempts to return this sizzling service, but the best he could do was drive to the net.

Ellsworth had little difficulty winning the first set, 6-1. He moved out in front, 2-0, breaking Budge’s service and winning on his own. In this second game, he trailed Budge by a point, but placed perfect serves across the net where Budge couldn’t complete a return.

In fact during this initial winning spell and several other times while the match lasted, Vines received cooperation from Budge. The red-head played rather lazily, refusing to exert or extend himself to return Vines’ famed forehand drive.

After Budge won on his own service to make the score, 2-1, Vines ran out the four remaining games to win the opening set. He scored 16 points in these latter games compared to seven for his foe.

BUDGE WINS ON BACK HAND

Budge’s backhand, probably the best in the game, started clicking in the second set and the red-head took a two-game lead. Vines deadlocked the match at 2-all, but the former amateur won four of the next five games to move ahead and win out, 6-3. Budge “aced” Vines twice in this set and wore the Pasadena amateur golfer down by forcing him from one side of the court to the other.

Vines received little or no competition in winning the third set, 6-2. Budge won the first game on his own service, but Vines moved to a 3-1 lead by breaking Don’s serve once and winning twice on his own. After Budge won the fifth game, Vines ended the match by sweeping the remaining games and the set.​
There are not many other references to lackadaisical play by Budge during this tour. There are some (e.g., Philadelphia), but generally the newspaper reports stressed Budge's consistency and his ambition to prove that no pro on a tour such as this one ever had an intentional letdown.

Yet in this swing into California, in three straight matches the reports have been full of criticism about sluggish or lackadaisical play from Budge.
 
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Dan L

Professional
Vines ended up winning the match in Oakland and even bageling Budge, 3-6, 6-0, 7-5, reducing the gap to 18-12.

I didn't find much on the match, and the LA Times had only this:

Vines started slowly, but in the second set he got control of his serve.​

It appears that Vines had recovered from his injury by this time.
 

krosero

Legend
Next stop was Elly's hometown of Pasadena, on an indoor court.

A preview in the LA Times notes that all their other meetings “in this area” had been outdoors:

The match will mark the top-flight pros’ only indoor appearance in this area this year.​
However, this is either a mistake, or a very narrow definition of "this area." The LA match was definitely outdoors; but all their other matches in California were held in indoor venues.

San Francisco - Dreamland Auditorium
Oakland - the Oakland Municipal Auditorium
San Jose - the San Jose Civic Auditorium
Pasadena - the Pasadena Civic Auditorium

(One year earlier Vines had played Perry in San Francisco "on the lightning-fast indoor court installed at Dreamland Auditorium especially for the battle," per the Berkeley Daily Gazette.)

On the day of the San Jose match Budge admitted to disliking indoor play: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WZI0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=I6sFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3220,4784197
 
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krosero

Legend
In Pasadena Budge returned the favor with a 6-3, 6-4 win, pulling up to 19-13.

LA Times:

The home town jinx which has hounded Ellsworth Vines in all but one of his Pasadena matches since he turned a professional tennis troubadour, rose up to embarrass him again last night as Don Budge humbled him in straight sets before 1500 persons at the Civic Auditorium. The scores were 6-3, 6-4.

Budge, exhibiting a flawless backhand, won the first set easily as he took advantage of Vines’ errors. In the second set, which saw the games more closely contested, Budge broke Vines’ service in the first game and held that advantage to the finish.​
This was their last of 5 meetings in California. Vines won 4, losing only this last one in Pasadena.
 
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krosero

Legend
It's true that Vines had a terrible record in his hometown. On a '35 tour he went up 18-0 on Lester Stoefen but then lost to him, 6-2, 6-1, in Pasadena.

However Budge was just getting started building his own embarrassing record in Oakland. One of his few losses to Perry in their '39 tour was in Oakland: 6-0, 4-6, 6-3. On the '42 tour he lost to Kovacs (a fellow Oaklander) only 5 times, but again one of the losses was in Oakland: 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

I'm not sure Budge ever won a tour match in Oakland. He had some surprising losses in California in general, notably the two losses to Quist and Hopman in the autumn of '38. Those came right after he completed the Grand Slam and, per ALT, were his first tournament losses in nearly two years.
 
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krosero

Legend
I’ve updated all the California matches with reports from local newspapers – particularly the match in Oakland, for which I found long reports from the Oakland Tribune.

I am surprised at the extent to which the “hometown jinx” affected both men. Vines lost all but one of his tour matches in Pasadena, as noted above in the LA Times piece; and Budge may have been 0-3 in Oakland before the war.

Obviously, playing in their home state brought some emotional issues for both men. Budge especially seems to have disappointed his fans with his level of play.
 

krosero

Legend
I’ve also corrected some posts about the surfaces in California. Contrary to the report in the LA Times, all the matches in that state, except the LA meeting, were indoors.

Next stop was the Mid-West.
 

krosero

Legend
In Rock Island, Illinois, Vines won 6-4, 10-8, pulling up to 19-14.

The Daily Iowan (Iowa City) reported that Budge and Vines played “on the Rock Island armory courts”, which were located on an island in the Mississippi River.

Other than that there is hardly any information about this match.

Alton Evening Telegraph:

Ellsworth Vines defeated Donald Budge here last night 6-4 and 10-8. Budge is leading his opponent, 19 matches to 14 and needs only one more victory to win the world’s professional tennis title.​
 

krosero

Legend
Budge clinched the series with a close win in Milwaukee, 6-4, 2-6, 8-6, moving the count up to 20-14.

He won the match despite trailing in overall points.

They had not had a really good match since Texas. Both seem to have been “on” for this one, perhaps because it was now “series point” for Budge.

Vines served 13 aces and held 4 times at love. Budge, with 1 ace and 6 double-faults, does not appear to have served at his best, but the stats apart from service indicate a well-played match.

The Milwaukee Journal:

Don Budge Trounces Vines in Pro Tennis Exhibition Here

Amateur King of 1938 Scores Three Set Victory in Continuation of Cross Country Series

Don Budge, the California redhead, who gave up his amateur tennis birthright for a mess of cash, clinched victory in his series with Ellsworth Vines by winning a match before a large Milwaukee crowd at the Auditorium Monday night, 6-4, 2-6, 8-6.

Budge, credited with the finest backhand in tennis, scored his twentieth victory in 34 matches. With only five more engagements remaining on their present tour, Vines cannot even matters. Vines has announced that he is giving up pro tennis for golf, so Budge will continue his campaigning in the future with Fred Perry.

A crowd of 2,900 saw the match. The visiting troupe, which included Dick Skeen of Hollywood and Alfred Chapin, jr., of New York, left Milwaukee with $1,200. The Wisconsin Tennis association, which sponsored the exhibition to raise funds for junior development, was rewarded with a nest egg of $300.

Tennis by Experts

There wasn’t anything particularly exciting about the Budge-Vines matches and both players gave away the fact that they’re so used to playing each other that perhaps it does not make a bit of difference who wins. For stroke production, however, they put on the finest show that tennis could offer. Vines’ booming service, still as effective as ever, and his blistering forehand placements gave the gallery some exciting moments. Budge’s forcing shots and the remarkable range of his fine backhand were the redhead’s outstanding contributions to the match.

A continual stream of errors lost the match for Vines. In the third Budge looked like the amateur he recently was.

In other matches Skeen defeated Chapin, 8-6, 8-6, and Budge and Chapin split two doubles sets with Vines and Skeen, winning the first, 8-6, and losing the second, 6-2.​
 
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krosero

Legend
Below is what can be gathered from the Point Score.

Budge eventually won the first and third sets, but in each of them he was broken on his first attempt to serve it out.

Vines was broken trying to reach a 4-all deadlock in the third, having held 6 straight times.

Budge won only 94 points, Vines 98.

Each man served 96 points.

Budge won 53 of 96 points on serve (55.2%).
Vines won 55 of 96 points on serve (57.3%).

Each man held in 10 of 16 service games.

There were 5 love games in the match, all of them on Vines’ service. Vines held in 4 of them but was broken in the last, which happened also to be the last game of the match. It was a kind of sudden collapse, because he had held at love in his two previous service games (a streak he put together after getting broken, so there were some wild swings here).

Budge had 11 placements, 1 ace, 6 double-faults, 30 nets and 26 outs.
Vines had 23 placements, 13 aces, 4 double-faults, 39 nets and 39 outs.

So Vines made three times as many winners/aces as Budge did. But Budge made only 62 errors/doubles, or 20 fewer than Vines made.
 

krosero

Legend
Milwaukee was the last great match of the series. Their five remaining matches were mostly well-played but they were essentially dead rubbers, and for whatever reason they would all go in straight sets.
 

krosero

Legend
Next stop was Toronto, where Budge went up to 21-14.

Winnipeg Tribune:

Don Budge went another match ahead of Ellsworth Vines Wednesday night in their International series of exhibition tennis with a 6-1, 8-6 victory at Maple Leaf Gardens. Budge has won 21 matches in the series to 14 for Vines.​
 

krosero

Legend
Rochester was the first of three straight wins by Vines.

Christian Science Monitor:

Ellsworth Vines scored all-important breaks in Don Budge’s sizzling service in the fifth game of the first set, in the 11th game of the second to take a straight-set triumph from Budge, 6-4, 7-5, in their professional tennis match here last night. It was Vines’ 15th win in 36 engagements.

Vines’ own service was not broken once as he outhit his powerful younger opponent. Budge’s assault on Vines’ backhand failed to faze the veteran.​
Vines may have served 22 aces in this match, per an article from a few days later that I will excerpt in a separate post.
 

krosero

Legend
Troy, New York, went to Vines. AP:

Scoring eleven service aces, Ellsworth Vines defeated Don Budge, 6-3, 7-5, tonight as their cross-country professional tennis series neared an end. To date Vines has won sixteen matches, while Budge has clinched the series with twenty-one victories.​
An article published on May 24 gives some further description of Vines' serve on this tour. It was in the Iowa City Press-Citizen:

STREAMLINED TENNIS. NO. 6

Speed, Accuracy, Break Are Most Important to Get Into Your Service

Sixth of 12 instructive articles on streamlined tennis

By MARY K. BROWNE

Famous Coach and Three-Time National Women's Singles Champion

Speed, accuracy and break -- in that order -- are the most important things to get into your service. Break used to be very important until Don Budge murdered the first break service in tennis -- that of Baron Von Cramm -- by standing inside the base line to receive it and taking it high before the ball had time to break severely. Vines has resorted to his cannonball style for both first and second service. In his professional matches with Budge he always tried to keep the ball low.​
 
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krosero

Legend
Providence, RI, per the CS Monitor:

Vines Wins Another

PROVIDENCE, R.I., March 6 (AP)—Ellsworth Vines, near the end of his professional tennis tour with Donald Budge, last season’s amateur sensation, took another match from the new pretender to the professional title here Saturday night, winning 6-4, 9-7.

A crowd of close to 2,000 at the Rhode Island Auditorium thrilled at the steam of Vines’s service late in the second set when he put over several aces on his red-headed opponent.

Vines has now won 17 of the 38 matches the two have played. They conclude their present tour in Montreal on Monday.​
 

krosero

Legend
With only 1 match left to play, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle interviewed Budge:

BOTH SIDES

BY HAROLD PARROTT

Mr. Budge Says:

There’s Don Budge, leaning against a radiator. You’re asking the questions. Budge is talking:

.... “My series with Vines? Davis Cup? Hey, wait, one thing at a time! Elly’s big gun is his service. We’ve figured out that in every game he serves against me he wins a point and a half outright, on that cannonball! It’s terrific! He serves three or four aces to my one. But the other night when he walloped 22 aces against me in two sets he still had to go 7-5 and 8-6 to beat me! Yes, the score’s 21-16 for me now, and the last match is scheduled for Montreal tomorrow (Monday).

“Yes, conditions were about the same all around the circuit; when the light was bad, I found it that much tougher to beat Vines. Say in Dallas, Tex., you couldn’t even read a magazine in the light they provided! Sure, he beat me there.”

The Finances

Jack Harris, the engineer of all these tours, sticks in [now]. You listen:

“Vines and Perry did $315,000 gross in 63 matches on their first tour. So far with Vines and Budge we’ve done $198,500, with $5,000 more due in Montreal Monday. And the prices on this tour have been lower. I figure we’ll be over $350,000 by the time Budge and Perry finish their 35 matches. Yes, we have had a few bad matches this time. Budge won 6-1, 6-0 in New Orleans, and the match went less than 20 minutes. Vines hurt his arm. But those things are bound to happen—men are bound to have an off-day.”

...Budge starts to talk again....

“Yes, we’re all going to England this Summer. Elly and Fred and I sail May 10. We’re going to play with Tilden over there, in Wembley, and perhaps other places.

“Perry? He plays a different sort of game from Vines. Fred runs you. That was why he beat me in 1936, when it seemed I had him. I was too exhausted to serve myself out to win. Me? Oh, I’m a better player now than then—I’m much heavier, I serve better, and volley much more surely, I think.”

About Open Tennis

Cap’n Pate speaks up about “open” tennis:

“We were the only country to suggest it at a meeting of the International Federation, you know,” he said. “We were voted down, more than 40 to 1. And all we asked was that every country be given the right to hold matches with pros if it so desired! Personally, I don’t think an open tournament would be worth a hoot. Perry, Budge, Vines—they’re all really “amateurs,” aren’t they? They’ve been brought up in the amateur way, before they turned pro. What I would like to see, “Budge nodded agreement,” is a team match, on Davis Cup lines, between the amateurs and the pros. Between Riggs, Sabin, Mako, Bromwich, Austin and Quist, say, against Perry, Vines, Budge and Nusslein. Four singles matches and a doubles. That would be worth watching!”​
Budge's reference to the 22 aces "the other night" may have been to Rochester, I think (though he's got the scores wrong).
 

krosero

Legend
Budge took the last match in Montreal in three straight sets.

New York Times:

MONTREAL, March 6 (Canadian Press).—Donald Budge defeated Ellsworth Vines, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3, tonight in the wind-up of their barnstorming professional tour that carried them across the continent and back. Budge won twenty-two of his thirty-nine matches with Vines.​

The Lincoln Star:

The victory gave Budge a 22 to 17 advantage over Vines in their long series of matches, as well as the Canadian professional tennis championship.​

The Straits Times (Malaya):

Receipts for the tour totalled £40,000. Budge’s share will exceed his guaranteed sum of £16,000.—Reuter.​


The Montreal Gazette:

BUDGE TOPS VINES IN STRAIGHT SETS

Wins World’s Canadian Professional Net Title With 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 Victory

MAKES VINES LOOK BAD

Budge Appears So Far Superior, Defending Titlist Appears Off Form to Crowd of 4,000

BY STAN HELLEUR

J. Donald Budge, the red-haired Oakland flash who has won just about every major amateur tennis title in existence, added the world’s and Canadian professional crowns to his collection last night at the Forum, blasting defending Champion Ellsworth Vines off the court in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.

To those among a crowd of 4,000 who took in the affair expecting a lot of color, the match probably left them kicking themselves for going. But for the fans who took a technical viewpoint, Budge’s performance was worth whatever they paid.

Montrealers have seen a lot of good tennis the past few years, the previous visits of Vines along with Fred Perry, Bill Tilden, Henri Cochet and other top-flight stars; and last summer’s brace of Davis Cup series, but it is certain they never have witnessed anything like the backhand stroke the red-head purveyed last night.

Vines looked bad. It was reported the lanky Pasadenan was suffering from indigestion but to more than a few spectators who know their tennis, it was Budge’s definite superiority that made his opponent appear so much off form.

Budge never was in danger throughout a battle waged mostly from the baselines. Even Vines’ cannon-ball service failed to dent his rival’s armor, Budge breaking through the truly terrific delivery seven times. Budge lost his service only twice.

Having seen both in action here, it seems safe to predict Fred Perry will give Budge a better fight than Vines has. Last night’s encounter was the last of the Vines-Budge tour, but the latter will open a series against Perry Friday night in Madison Square Garden, New York.

In footwork, speed and forehand stroking, Budge resembles Perry a great deal. He hits his forehand shots with the same open stance Perry uses and his manner of punching shots on the run is a lot like the dashing Briton’s.

Budge’s grip was a bit puzzling. Close attention revealed he didn’t seem to shift his hand a fraction for strokes off either wing. To say his grip is between a western and an eastern probably would be the best way to define it.

The red-head’s best point-winner was a rifling cross-court backhand deep to Vines’ forehand and he brought many a gasp from the crowd with these thrusts. Taking the ball on the rise, Budge dropped the head of his racquet and punched down sharply, the ball barely skimming the net each time.​
So the series ended as it had begun in New York – with a surprising clunker of a match. Strange bookends to a tour that was filled with close battles.
 
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krosero

Legend
Budge and Vines met again later in the year on their four-man European tour, which deserves its own thread. I still am missing a significant number of results.

But I can give a list now of Budge-Vines meetings, as far as I’ve been able to compile from various sources including Ray Bowers.

Budge won 15 of their 20 matches, according to sources in later years. All 5 of Vines' victories are listed.


United Kingdom

May 18, Wembley Pro Championships
Wood court indoors
Budge d. Vines 6-4, 6-3

May 27, Dublin
Outdoors at Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club, "on the centre hard court"
Budge d. Vines 6-3, 6-4

May 29, Cheltenham
Outdoors at the Winter Garden, on grass
Vines d. Budge 6-1, 6-3

June 3, Southport Round-Robin
Outdoors on clay, at Victoria Park Tennis Stadium
Budge d. Vines 6-2, 6-1, 6-3
(Vines, per ALT, “was handicapped throughout the meeting by a skinned racket hand, which made every stroke except service painful”)

June 9, Swansea
Outdoors on a portable wooden court at St. Helen’s rugby grounds
Budge d. Vines 11-9, 9-7

June 13, Belfast
Budge d. Vines 9-7, 11-13, 6-3

June 17, Bradford
Outdoors on a portable wooden court at Odsal Stadium
Budge d. Vines 6-4, 7-5


Netherlands

June 25, Scheveningen, The Hague
Outdoors on clay
Budge d. Vines 4-6, 6-2, 6-4


Belgium

June 29, Brussels
Indoors on wood at "les courts couverts de l’Avenue des Cerisiers"
Vines d. Budge 6-3, 7-9, 9-7


France

July 2, French Pro/World Pro Championships
Outdoors on clay at Roland Garros
Budge d. Vines 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 in the final

July 9, Marseilles
Outdoors on grass in Stade Velodrome
Vines d. Budge 6-8, 6-3, 6-4


Great Britain

July 12, Southampton
Outdoors in Southampton Stadium
Possible meeting?

July 15, Manchester
Outdoors at Manchester City FC Maine Road Ground
Budge d. Vines 6-8, 6-3, 6-0

July 19, Birmingham
Outdoors on a portable wooden court on Aston Villa’s football ground
Vines d. Budge 6-2, 7-9, 7-5 (from match point down)

July 22, Bristol
Outdoors on a portable wooden court at Rugby Memorial Football Ground
Budge d. Vines 6-1, 7-5

July 27, Hillsborough Sheffield
Outdoors on a portable wooden court at the Football Club
Budge 6-4, 10-12 Vines
(match called off for lack of time)

July 29, Leicester
Outdoors on a portable wooden court at Tigers’ Football Ground
Budge d. Vines 6-4, 5-7, 12-10

August 9, Nottingham
Indoors on a portable wooden court laid on an ice rink
Budge d. Vines 6-3, 3-6, 6-3

August 16, White City, Glasgow
Outdoors at sports ground at Ibrox
Budge d. Vines 6-2, 6-3

August 26, Edinburgh
Outdoors at Craiglockhart Club, on clay or grass
Vines d. Budge 6-1, 2-6, 6-0 (during a thunderstorm)

A few other locations may have hosted Budge/Vines meetings. A Dutch newspaper printed an early itinerary that mentioned stops in the Scottish cities of Aberdeen, Dundee and Perth.

[Edited to add results at Belfast, Bradford, Sheffield, Leicester and Nottingham; added score at Brussels; added surface info; corrected date at Birmingham]
 
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krosero

Legend
Tilden wrote this, in the September 20, 1939 edition of American Lawn Tennis:

Forty-nine days of play in England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Holland and Belgium between May 18 and August 28, when war stepped in to kill 10 more days in France, Denmark and Sweden, shows how ably Jack managed his schedule and, incidentally, how hard we worked. Almost without exception the galleries were large, in many cases beyond expectations, and in every case enthusiastic.  They had cause to be.  Such tennis as Budge and Vines played is something whereof to dream.  It seemed quite impossible to me that anyone could hold such a standard as Budge did on this trip.  He lifted us all with him.  One knew Vines would lift his game to meet the Budge standard but the way in which Stoefen improved during the tour was nothing short of phenomenal; while even this old war horse was inspired to be in such company and played better than he knew how.

Many of the matches have already been described in ALT and I will not bore you with a detailed description of the tour, but certain matches must be mentioned.  The classic beauty and amazing accuracy of the Budge-Nusslein match in the opening event at Wembley will always live in my memory.  It was a match worthy to rank with the Budge-von Cramm memorable battle in the Davis Cup Interzone Final of 1937.  Several of the Budge-Vines encounters-notably the terrific battle at Brussels which Vines finally won after Budge held the match in hand—were brilliant tennis of the highest class.​
Jack Harris sent a letter to ALT, published in the same edition; but he said only this:

Budge and Vines have had some great battles with Don winning the majority of their engagements.​
 
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krosero

Legend
I won't be posting material on each of the European stops, but I'll put in a post about the Budge/Vines meeting at Wembley. There was a wealth of fine reports from knowledgeable tennis writers like A. Wallis Myers and Stanley Doust, who had never yet seen a Budge/Vines match.
 

krosero

Legend
The European tour began at Wembley, but the meeting there between Budge and Vines was not the most anticipated match. What everyone wanted most to see was how Budge would do against Nusslein, the top player in European pro tennis for years.

So in a sense all these tours in 1939 were a series of “tests” for Budge against each of the top pro champions in succession: Vines, Perry, Nusslein.

The Daily Mail’s preview:

They are all out to Beat Budge at Wembley

By STANLEY N. DOUST

DONALD BUDGE and Ellsworth Vines, two former champions at Wimbledon in their amateur days, arrived at Heston by air from Cherbourg yesterday afternoon and at once motored to Wembley to have doubles practice with H. Nusslein and W.T. Tilden for the professional indoor championships, which begin at the Empire Pool, Wembley, at 8 this evening.

This will be Budge’s first appearance in England since he turned to professionalism last January.

According to Vines and to Mr. Jack Harris, the manager, Budge played better lawn tennis during his tours with Vines and F.J. Perry than he has ever done.

“He will not be 24 till next month and will go on improving,” said Vines, who added, “I consider Donald the best lawn tennis player the world has ever seen.”

But the first prize of ₤500 is not a foregone conclusion for Budge. There is Hans Nusslein, the German, who, unlike the other three taking part in this tournament, has never been an amateur. He has never met Budge since he gave him some practice when Budge was just coming to the fore.

Nusslein won the recent professional tournament and ₤350 at Olympia, and good judges of the game, such as Tilden, think Nusslein will win. Nusslein, very popular and modest, has no illusions about his task. All he would say was, “I am grateful for the opportunity afforded me to play Donald, but whether I can beat him is another matter. I hope we both play well.”

Vines, tall and keen, is also anxious to play Budge again. In the recent tour in the United States Budge won the majority of games.

Tilden, at 47, has also hopes of lowering Budge’s colours. Poor Budge is, therefore, to be the target of these great players. Budge smiled, said very little, and went on to the court and played grand lawn tennis.

There is no doubt that at Wembley to-night we are going to see the best lawn tennis played by the best players in the world.​
Wembley was also highly anticipated because Vines had Nusslein had been close rivals to each other but had not met, apparently, since 1935. ALT wrote that Nusslein “for some years had been a rival to [Vines] only in name.”

Vines seems to have been highly motivated for this face-off against Nusslein, which took place on the first day at Wembley. In a way this was a test for Vines, too, since he had not had to deal with this particular rival for some time.

He defeated Nusslein 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, saving a break point at 4-all in the third with one of his 32 aces.

On the same day Budge d. Tilden 6-2, 6-2, in their first-ever meeting.

Two days later the round-robin continued, with Budge and Vines meeting for the first time since their US tour.

A. Wallis Myers in the Daily Telegraph:

Budge, Vines, Tilden and Nusslein, the big tennis four, were again in competition at Wembley last night to decide the professional championships. The two Californians, both with a victory to their credit, were playing each other. The two losers of Tuesday, Tilden and Nusslein were in conflict.

In the Wembley pool for this tournament is £1,000. The winner receives £250, while each of the other two gets £125.

The two young giants from California, each with his cannon-ball service, are there to uphold the supremacy of the Pacific West. Nusslein, the German, has come to play Budge for the first time. Tilden, the old maestro, is at Wembley because he cannot keep away.

BUDGE WINS KEY MATCH

Budge against Vines was the second match last night and the gallery had swollen to 6,000 when the players came on to the court. Budge won what should be the match of the tournament, 6-4, 6-3.

Like so many battles between hot-paced Americans this one was service-governed. Each man was out to break the offensive of the other, and the fact that Budge won four service games from Vines was decisive.

The champion came slowly to his peak. He lost his opening service and was within a point of being 3-love down, but after the set was square at 2-all, the touchstone was found and a fine service break carried him to 4-2.

Budge could now afford to ease up a little in the two next service games of Vines. After that all he needed was to hold his own service and this he did with intensive mastery.

In the second set Budge got a service break for a 5-3 lead and the end was not long delayed. Vines produced some dynamic strokes and his attack on Budge’s forehand corner drew its meed of points, but he had not the allcourt power and accuracy of his rival nor such an impregnable defense on his back hand.​
The Daily Mail:

Super Lawn Tennis by Budge and Vines

By STANLEY N. DOUST

In the international professional lawn tennis championship at the Empire Pool, Wembley, last night over 5,000 people saw what I consider was the best exhibition of lawn tennis ever played, when Donald Budge, who is the present Wimbledon champion, beat Ellsworth Vines by 6-4, 6-3.

Vines, who stands 6ft. 3in. in his socks, made Budge, who is 6ft. 1in., look quite small.

Each has a wonderful service which crashes into the corners with unerring aim, and yet those services were returned so accurately that people were spellbound.

In fact, the well-known dread of the crashing cannon-ball service did not exist last night.

Vines hit, on the whole, harder than Budge, but was less consistent. He netted balls from the half court because of his height.

Budge, on the other hand, hardly made a mistake. When he lost a point it was through super-shots from Vines, and I assure you that the match was punctuated with glorious shots by both.

Budge used the lob with the greatest precision. It was so well masked that Vines could only call, “Good shot, Donald!”

Vines began well by taking the first two games. Budge during that period was warming up, and then we saw a great duel of not only hard hitting but well-planned lawn tennis.

Budge went ahead at 4-2, and Vines won his service at 4-3. Then the games went with the service, which gave Budge the set at 6-4.

LESSON TO AMATEURS

The second set was a replica of the first, inasmuch as the lawn tennis was brilliant. Vines broke down now and again, but he was trying to force a way through Budge’s brick-wall steadiness.

Neither player over-exerted himself. Every shot was played with effortless ease, and it was a grand lesson for the many amateur players present.​
Myers was impressed enough with the Budge/Vines meeting to assume it would be the best match of the tournament. But that was before Budge met Nusslein, on the last day. Budge’s 13-11, 2-6, 6-4 win may have been the best match in a year full of great matches. I’ve lost track of the number of persons – one of whom was Ellsworth’s wife, Verle – who said it was one of the best matches they had ever seen.
 

krosero

Legend
The London Times:

FROM OUR LAWN TENNIS CORRESPONDENT

J. D. Budge and H. E. Vines met in the professional tournament at Wembley last night—and what a Wimbledon final that would have made ! They never met on any outstanding occasion as amateurs, but since Budge relinquished the four great championships of the world he has held the whip hand over Vines in America, just as he has over F. J. Perry, and he rubbed in the fact this time by winning by 6-4, 6-3. H. Nusslein, of Germany, won the first match of the evening against W. T. Tilden by 6-3, 6-2, and now Tilden, who still puts his heart and everything he knows into the game, is the only man who has not won in this American singles tournament among the four players. Budge, who has not lost a set, still has to meet Nusslein in the match of the week to-morrow night; but from what one has seen it will be a case of the sweet reason of Nusslein's strokes against the sheer murder of Budge's, and murder will out

People would have stayed up all night to make sure of a place if these matches were played at Wimbledon, and some of us have been wondering for a long time whether there is really any good reason why they should not be. But there must have been six or seven thousand watchers at the Empire Stadium, and there ought not to be an empty seat tomorrow. The meeting of Budge and Vines may have fallen a little short of the tense struggle we expected—and Vines has ideas as a golfer now—but for any student of lawn tennis it was still a delight. Here, face to face, were two Californian giants, and one had not realized before how similar some of their strokes are. There is precisely the same action for the service and smash, though whereas Vines's service is rather the smoother, it has not quite the violence at impact of Budge's—or at least it had not last night.

RETURNING THE SERVICE

It was Vines's forehand drive, particularly off a half-court ball, that led chiefly to his undoing, though the most remarkable thing about it all was the certain skill with which Budge, standing well in, returned the service. To be sure, there were whizzing aces from both of them on a court so fast, but on the whole Budge was just quicker on his feet, took the ball a little earlier, and was altogether the more ruthless volleyer. The greatest difference of all between them was that the trajectory of Vines's driving was distinctly lower. Thus time and again he was hitting the tape with a forbidding smack, where Budge's shots, higher in their flight, left him more room for mistakes. We saw how little the service intimidated them when each had lost inside the first four games of the first set, but Vines lost again in the fifth game—from 40-love, too—and that was enough for Budge, who, brisk and alert, showed no sign of a weakness. The second set was much closer up to 3—all, and one saw again the problem that confronted J. H. Crawford when he beat Vines in one of the greatest of Wimbledon finals. But then Vines, most uncertain on the forehand, lost the critical seventh game with a double-fault. He lost his serve again for the match in the finest game of them all. Perhaps it was the golf swing that did it. As for Budge, he was simply inhuman in his speed and control.​
The Courier and Advertiser:

Budge was given a great reception not only by the general public but by many Wimbledon players who were round the court. It will be recalled that he is still Wimbledon champion till somebody wins the title he cannot defend next month.

Jean Nicoll was one who looked on, and she saw such an exchange of speedy shots as she can never have seen before.

Quite as many of them came from Vines as from Budge, but he was a little less the accurate of the two—in the first set at all events. He even ‘aced’ Budge with his service which seemed, if such a thing is humanly and mechanically possible, to be occasionally faster than Donald’s. He found the net though with one or two desperate returns, and Budge broke through his service after 2-all, held on to the advantage and took the first set 6-4.

TERRIFIC STRUGGLE

There was a terrific fight for the second set but it occurred when it was too late for Vines to recover against the tremendous pressure Budge was bringing to bear whenever he saw a loophole. For the first six games it was an up and down struggle.

Vines has shots of his own, and he exploited them with brilliant success against an accuracy which did not falter as often as his own did. But with the score at 3-all Budge broke through the service, and then casually took his own for 5-3. It was triumphal hour, for though Vines saved match point after match point, Budge took the set at 6-3.​
 

krosero

Legend
The first tour in the US/Canada was, narrowly, about Budge and Vines. It was strictly a head-on struggle for the world professional championship. The European tour was more broadly about four American champions, as well as their confrontations with Nusslein at Wembley, Roland Garros and Southport Pro.

Nevertheless, the more narrow topic of the Budge/Vines rivalry is really incomplete without getting full results from the European tour. Budge and Vines played 20 times altogether in Europe, in places and under conditions that were very different from their US tour. In the US they had strictly played one-night stands, but in Europe they entered a few tournaments and met each other in a couple of “pro majors.” In addition, they played mostly outdoors, as opposed to the indoor halls that were the rule on the US tour. And the audiences in Europe seem to have been larger than on the American stops; crowds sometimes reached 10,000 or more in the big football stadiums.

And of course Roland Garros was a spacious venue, but the crowds poured in beyond all expectation. Bowers writes:

The enthralled crowd of 11,000 was said the largest at Garros since the Davis Cup loss in 1933. That the size and enthusiasm of the gallery on the last four days far surpassed those at the amateur Slam at Garros two weeks earlier was not lost on the journalists.​

The letters from Tilden and Harris -- and the match reports I've found thus far -- indicate that the European tour was in every way a success and that all the players were keenly motivated. Before I studied this year in tennis history, I assumed that Budge and Vines, having played their principal tour in America, were simply participating in a few more tour matches in Europe before closing up shop for the year and, in Vines’ case, moving on to other things. But in their minds they were just beginning a worldwide tour. After finishing in Europe they were going to Egypt, South Africa, India and the Philippines, with a final tour of Australia and New Zealand in spring 1940. Many of those arrangements were in place when the war began on September 1.

Even when war came, Harris and his players were not convinced that their touring was over. They held onto the hope that they could continue – until the sinking of ships in the Atlantic finally convinced them that they would be better off heading home and ending their tours.

The European tour is obscure, but not because it was uninspiring work for the players, or unattractive to spectators, or unimpressive tennis to those who recorded their observations. On all those counts the tour was an outstanding success. It’s obscure today because the war intervened.

That had a double effect. One result, obviously, was that it made a long worldwide tour into a short one; dozens of Budge/Vines meetings were lost, and essentially a great rivalry was cut short.

But the onset of war also forced most European publications that would have produced detailed reports about the tour to cease publication; and that has now made it more difficult to find out what happened in Europe. I know because I’ve spent some time looking, and there’s a frustrating thinness of available material about these matches. What is available, is uniformly exciting; there’s just too little of it.

The end result is that one of the most successful and exciting tours in the history of pro tennis – one that prompted writers everywhere to question why these top players should not be allowed to play the amateur majors – essentially disappeared.

But it was a significant tour in its own right and as part of the Budge/Vines rivalry. Right now we’re still missing five Budge/Vines meetings in Europe; presumably Budge won them, but we have no details about them. I’ll keep looking, and any help at all would be most welcome.
 
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krosero

Legend
I've been able to pinpoint the date that Vines pulled his stomach muscle during the North American tour with Budge. It happened in stand #9, in Kansas City, with the series tied 4-4.

This is a report from the St. Louis Dispatch (their archives were recently put online) about the tenth stand, in St. Louis:

ERRORS ENABLE DON TO WIN BY 6-3, 6-3 SCORE

Crowd of 3500 Spectators Sees Professional Rivals in Tame Match at Field House

By Robert Morrison

Ellsworth Vines is a swell person and Don Budge a great player, but if that was red-hot rivalry for the world’s professional tennis supremacy between them last night at the Washington University Field House, then we’ll take croquet.

And so, it seemed, would many in the crowd of approximately 3500 who saw Budge gain his sixth victory in 10 matches over Vines. The scores were 6-3, 6-3.

This is not the first time on their tour that this reaction has been evident. Reports from New York indicated the crowd there felt the same way about it when the tour opened two weeks ago.

Vines kicked away the match last night with errors. He looked tired, so tired that sometimes it seemed he couldn’t get the power needed to lift a backhand shot over the net.

Makes Numerous Errors.

The net caught many of Vines’ shots—37 by an unofficial count—and he had 29 outs. Some were the ultimate result of Budge’s smooth, brilliantly mechanical play, very difficult to return. But some were—well, it seemed at times Vines wasn’t trying very hard.

Most of the play was in the backcourts and occasionally the spectators caught a glimpse of Budge’s great backhand that he developed in early youth by left-handed swinging at a baseball plate.

But mostly it was very tame. One wag among the courtside spectators murmured something about sleepy people. Wag No. 2 came back with: “You mean the players or the spectators?”

Explanation was forthcoming later. In the dressing quarters, Vines was asked if he was tired. Evidently not wishing to make excuses, he said he wasn’t, but Budge broke in:

“He pulled a stomach muscle last night at Kansas City. That’s what was wrong with him.”

That’s the Way He Plays.

And then you saw, as Vines disrobed, the tape that bound his mid-section. Still he insisted he wasn’t tired.

“That’s the way I play sometimes. I make two or three good shots, then I miss a couple.”

He described it accurately and it exasperated you sometimes when he couldn’t pull out a game.

In the first set they were even after four games. Then Budge took his own service and broke Vines’ in the sixth. Budge won the seventh, forced Vines to put on steam to take the eighth, then captured the ninth and the set. Last three of Budge’s points in the ninth game were scored when Vines’ shots went outside the court.

Vines ran Budge a little in this set, but the redhead was much too consistent.

Spectators took more interest in the second set. They gave Budge a hand when one of his backhand shots caught Vines flat-footed at the net and won the first game.

They saw another great backhand from an awkward position drop neatly just inside the baseline in the second game, but Vines took this one.

Budge won the next three games, breaking Vines’ service twice. Vines threw the fifth away on several errors but won the sixth and seventh. Then Budge ran out the set in the eighth and ninth, gaining match point on another of Vines’ net shots.

The crowd appeared to get the most enjoyment out of the doubles match, in which Vines and Budge defeated Bruce Barnes and Dick Skeen, Texas professionals, 6-1, 6-2. There was more variety in the shots and the crowd thought it was great stuff when Barnes and Skeen could show up their big name rivals.

The excellence of Budge’s tennis is beyond question, but when he said playing Vines on tour is like playing the finals at Wimbledon every day, he must have been thinking about two other tournaments.
 
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Dan Lobb

G.O.A.T.
I've been able to pinpoint the date that Vines pulled his stomach muscle during the North American tour with Budge. It happened in stand #9, in Kansas City, with the series tied 4-4.

This is a report from the St. Louis Dispatch (their archives were recently put online) about the tenth stand, in St. Louis:

ERRORS ENABLE DON TO WIN BY 6-3, 6-3 SCORE

Crowd of 3500 Spectators Sees Professional Rivals in Tame Match at Field House

By Robert Morrison

Ellsworth Vines is a swell person and Don Budge a great player, but if that was red-hot rivalry for the world’s professional tennis supremacy between them last night at the Washington University Field House, then we’ll take croquet.

And so, it seemed, would many in the crowd of approximately 3500 who saw Budge gain his sixth victory in 10 matches over Vines. The scores were 6-3, 6-3.

This is not the first time on their tour that this reaction has been evident. Reports from New York indicated the crowd there felt the same way about it when the tour opened two weeks ago.

Vines kicked away the match last night with errors. He looked tired, so tired that sometimes it seemed he couldn’t get the power needed to lift a backhand shot over the net.

Makes Numerous Errors.

The net caught many of Vines’ shots—37 by an unofficial count—and he had 29 outs. Some were the ultimate result of Budge’s smooth, brilliantly mechanical play, very difficult to return. But some were—well, it seemed at times Vines wasn’t trying very hard.

Most of the play was in the backcourts and occasionally the spectators caught a glimpse of Budge’s great backhand that he developed in early youth by left-handed swinging at a baseball plate.

But mostly it was very tame. One wag among the courtside spectators murmured something about sleepy people. Wag No. 2 came back with: “You mean the players or the spectators?”

Explanation was forthcoming later. In the dressing quarters, Vines was asked if he was tired. Evidently not wishing to make excuses, he said he wasn’t, but Budge broke in:

“He pulled a stomach muscle last night at Kansas City. That’s what was wrong with him.”

That’s the Way He Plays.

And then you saw, as Vines disrobed, the tape that bound his mid-section. Still he insisted he wasn’t tired.

“That’s the way I play sometimes. I make two or three good shots, then I miss a couple.”

He described it accurately and it exasperated you sometimes when he couldn’t pull out a game.

In the first set they were even after four games. Then Budge took his own service and broke Vines’ in the sixth. Budge won the seventh, forced Vines to put on steam to take the eighth, then captured the ninth and the set. Last three of Budge’s points in the ninth game were scored when Vines’ shots went outside the court.

Vines ran Budge a little in this set, but the redhead was much too consistent.

Spectators took more interest in the second set. They gave Budge a hand when one of his backhand shots caught Vines flat-footed at the net and won the first game.

They saw another great backhand from an awkward position drop neatly just inside the baseline in the second game, but Vines took this one.

Budge won the next three games, breaking Vines’ service twice. Vines threw the fifth away on several errors but won the sixth and seventh. Then Budge ran out the set in the eighth and ninth, gaining match point on another of Vines’ net shots.

The crowd appeared to get the most enjoyment out of the doubles match, in which Vines and Budge defeated Bruce Barnes and Dick Skeen, Texas professionals, 6-1, 6-2. There was more variety in the shots and the crowd thought it was great stuff when Barnes and Skeen could show up their big name rivals.

The excellence of Budge’s tennis is beyond question, but when he said playing Vines on tour is like playing the finals at Wimbledon every day, he must have been thinking about two other tournaments.
This highlights the problem with those old long hth tours...they were often decided by injuries, as Kramer himself admitted. They were basically a series of extended exhibition tours.
 

krosero

Legend
This highlights the problem with those old long hth tours...they were often decided by injuries, as Kramer himself admitted. They were basically a series of extended exhibition tours.
They were much more than that, though they did have problems, one of which was injuries.

I was glad to get the date of this injury because there's been so much uncertainty about the sequence of events. Vines never held a lead in this series but in later years many people recalled that he had a lead when he got injured. Kramer said that Vines led 4-2 (not too far off).

Vines recalled leading 13-12 when it happened. That is so far off that I wondered if his memory was mixing up numbers from some other tour.

But now that I look at the list again, I've just noticed, Vines did have a 13-12 edge in the LAST 25 matches of the tour. From the time that he broke the losing streak -- from the time he fell into a 4-10 hole -- he won 13 and lost 12.

Vines' figure of 13-12 would leave him, after injury, losing 10 and winning only 4.

That's actually what happened at the very beginning of the tour, not the end: he lost 10 and won only 4.
 
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Dan Lobb

G.O.A.T.
They were much more than that, though they did have problems, one of which was injuries.

I was glad to get the date of this injury because there's been so much uncertainty about the sequence of events. Vines never held a lead in this series but in later years many people recalled that he had a lead when he got injured. Kramer said that Vines led 4-2 (not too far off).

Vines recalled leading 13-12 when it happened. That is so far off that I wondered if his memory was mixing up numbers from some other tour.

But now that I look at the list again, I've just noticed, Vines did have a 13-12 edge in the LAST 25 matches of the tour. From the time that he broke the losing streak -- from the time he fell into a 4-10 hole -- he won 13 and lost 12.

Vines' figure of 13-12 would leave him, after injury, losing 10 and winning only 4.

That's actually what happened at the very beginning of the tour, not the end: he lost 10 and won only 4.
Interesting. In another tour, Hoad recalled that in the 1959 US tour, he led Gonzales 15 to 3 before his back injury slowed him down.
As you have shown elsewhere, that did not happen in 1959, but apparently Hoad did go on a 15 to 3 streak against Gonzales in the 1958 series, before his back stiffened.
Funny how the memories of these players is a little off.
 

krosero

Legend
Interesting. In another tour, Hoad recalled that in the 1959 US tour, he led Gonzales 15 to 3 before his back injury slowed him down.
As you have shown elsewhere, that did not happen in 1959, but apparently Hoad did go on a 15 to 3 streak against Gonzales in the 1958 series, before his back stiffened.
Funny how the memories of these players is a little off.
That's right, Hoad's lead over Gonzalez in the '59 tour has been reported as 15-3 (I think in Pollard), but it was actually 13-5.

But 13-5 only includes the WS matches. Hoad had a smaller lead if all matches are counted. During that time period in which Hoad won 13 and lost 5, he and Pancho played in 5 other matches that eventually did not count as part of the WS; and they played in the Cleveland final in that time period as well. In all matches during the 13-5 stretch, Hoad's lead was only 15-9. Still hugely impressive.

The 15-3 edge is impossible in the '58 series as well. I've started documenting the matches and I'm nowhere near finished, but I've found most of the early matches, during which Hoad got the early lead. This is the running tally, with Gonzalez's number first:

1-0
1-1
1-2
2-2
2-3
3-3
3-4
4-4
5-4
5-5
5-6
5-7
5-8
5-9
6-9
7-9
7-14
7-15 (McCauley reports 6 straight wins by Hoad)
9-18
11-18
16-20
22-21

From 7-9 to 9-18, Gonzalez won only 2 and lost 9. But that was Hoad's best stretch; after that his back acted up and Pancho began catching up.
 

krosero

Legend
Dan this might explain a remark that Hoad made in '85. You said that he told Tennis magazine that he was leading Gonzalez 11 to 2 when his back seized up.

Well 11 to 2 could be based on that stretch during the '58 tour where he won 9 of 11.

That's the thing about decades old memories. When it comes to recall of stats, they're rarely accurate, but often what looks like a completely random error of memory ends up being based on something.
 

Dan Lobb

G.O.A.T.
Dan this might explain a remark that Hoad made in '85. You said that he told Tennis magazine that he was leading Gonzalez 11 to 2 when his back seized up.

Well 11 to 2 could be based on that stretch during the '58 tour where he won 9 of 11.

That's the thing about decades old memories. When it comes to recall of stats, they're rarely accurate, but often what looks like a completely random error of memory ends up being based on something.
That is right, 11 to 2...obviously off a bit.
 

Dan Lobb

G.O.A.T.
That's right, Hoad's lead over Gonzalez in the '59 tour has been reported as 15-3 (I think in Pollard), but it was actually 13-5.

But 13-5 only includes the WS matches. Hoad had a smaller lead if all matches are counted. During that time period in which Hoad won 13 and lost 5, he and Pancho played in 5 other matches that eventually did not count as part of the WS; and they played in the Cleveland final in that time period as well. In all matches during the 13-5 stretch, Hoad's lead was only 15-9. Still hugely impressive.

The 15-3 edge is impossible in the '58 series as well. I've started documenting the matches and I'm nowhere near finished, but I've found most of the early matches, during which Hoad got the early lead. This is the running tally, with Gonzalez's number first:

1-0
1-1
1-2
2-2
2-3
3-3
3-4
4-4
5-4
5-5
5-6
5-7
5-8
5-9
6-9
7-9
7-14
7-15 (McCauley reports 6 straight wins by Hoad)
9-18
11-18
16-20
22-21

From 7-9 to 9-18, Gonzalez won only 2 and lost 9. But that was Hoad's best stretch; after that his back acted up and Pancho began catching up.
Hoad started his hot streak from the second Kooyong match, trailing 4 to 5, he eventually reached 18 to 9, a string of 14 to 4. If the tournament events are included, this could be 15 to 4...pretty close to 15 to 3.
 

krosero

Legend
Hoad started his hot streak from the second Kooyong match, trailing 4 to 5, he eventually reached 18 to 9, a string of 14 to 4. If the tournament events are included, this could be 15 to 4...pretty close to 15 to 3.
You're totally right Dan. Starting from 5-4 he did have a stretch of 14 wins and 4 losses. He had two more wins in tournaments during that stretch (they both took place at the 5-8 mark).

And there was actually a stretch of 11 wins and 2 losses, from 4-5 to 15-7.
 

Dan Lobb

G.O.A.T.
You're totally right Dan. Starting from 5-4 he did have a stretch of 14 wins and 4 losses. He had two more wins in tournaments during that stretch (they both took place at the 5-8 mark).

And there was actually a stretch of 11 wins and 2 losses, from 4-5 to 15-7.
It looks pretty clear that Hoad was thinking of 1958 when he commented on his win streak, not 1959.

And that was one fierce win streak against Gonzales in 1958, Hoad was intent on making a point.
 
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