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Don Budge (born 1915) swept the tennis scene in 1937, when he won the singles, men's doubles, and mixed doubles at Wimbledon, the U.S. national singles and mixed doubles, and the Davis Cup. In 1938, he was the first player ever to win Wimbledon as well as the U.S., French, and Australian national championships-the "Grand Slam" of tennis.
Budge's father was a professional soccer player in Scotland who moved to California in hopes that the warmer climate would help with his respiratory problems. His mother, also of Scottish descent, was born in San Francisco. Budge and his brother Lloyd were both born in Oakland and were natural athletes; although Lloyd played tennis from an early age, Don Budge preferred baseball. When he was 13, Lloyd, who was the top member of the tennis team at the University of California in Berkeley, talked him into giving tennis a try. E. Digby Baltzell wrote, "From the very first, Don's money-stroke was his backhand which grew directly out of his almost-perfect, left-handed batting swing."
Won His First Tournament
Shortly before his fifteenth birthday, Budge entered his first tournament, the California State Fifteen-and-Under Championships.
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