Henry Ellsworth Vines, Jr. (September 28, 1911 – March 17, 1994) was an American tennis champion of the 1930s, the World No. 1 player or the co-No. Events 48 BC - Pompey the Great is assassinated on orders of King Ptolemy of Egypt after landing in Egypt. Year 1911 ( MCMXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Events 45 BC - In his last victory Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) Tennis is a sport played between two players ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles) The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression. World number one male tennis player rankings is a year-by-year listing of both the male Tennis player who at the end of a full year of play has generally been considered to 1 for four years in 1932, 1935, 1936 and 1937. Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
Contents |
Biography
In the amateur ranks Vines won three Grand Slam tournaments, the Wimbledon Championships in 1932 and the U.S. Championships in 1931 and 1932 and he reached the final of Wimbledon in 1933. The four Grand Slam tournaments are the most important Tennis events of the year The Championships Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon, is the oldest Tennis tournament in the world and is widely considered as the most prestigious Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. The US Open Tennis tournament is one of the oldest tennis championships in the world first contested in 1881 Year 1931 ( MCMXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. He played his first professional tennis match on January 10, 1934 and then became undoubtedly the leading pro player until 1938 (and the World No. 1 or No. Events 49 BC - Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war. Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. World number one male tennis player rankings is a year-by-year listing of both the male Tennis player who at the end of a full year of play has generally been considered to 2 in the combined amateur-professional rankings). In 1934 and 1935 he won almost all the great pro events: the two big annual tours in 1934 and 1935 and the major pro tournaments such as Wembley Pro in 1934 and 1935 (and perhaps in 1936 but sources are uncertain), Paris Indoor (not to be confused with the French Professional Championship) in 1934, Southport Pro in 1935 and the French Professional Championship in 1935. Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Before the beginning of the Open era in 1968 only amateurs were allowed to compete in mainstream Tennis tournaments including the four Grand Slams However some top Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Before the beginning of the Open era in 1968 only amateurs were allowed to compete in mainstream Tennis tournaments including the four Grand Slams However some top Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Before the beginning of the Open era in 1968 only amateurs were allowed to compete in mainstream Tennis tournaments including the four Grand Slams However some top Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
After two years as the undisputed pro king Vines didn't need to enter any pro tournament to claim the World pro champion title: he then retained his crown by just playing and winning three other great annual pro tours from 1936 to 1938 (see Tennis male players statistics). Professional tennis before the start of the open era Before the start of the Open era in 1968 the professional circuit was much less popular than the traditional In 1939 Vines lost his world pro crown to Don Budge but narrowly: in their first pro tour against each other, Vines trailed Budge only 17-22. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. John Donald ("Don" or "Donnie" Budge ( June 13 1915 &ndash January 26 2000) was an American Tennis The tour proved that at his best Vines was unbeatable, but also that Budge's consistency would prevail a majority of the time, making the latter the best player of the time. On October 22, Vines won his last great tournament, the United States Pro Championship at Beverly Hills Tennis Club. Events 202 BC - Hannibal Barca, leader of the Carthaginians, is defeated by the Roman legions under Scipio Africanus US Pro Tennis Championships was the oldest professional tennis tournament played until its final year of 1999 In May 1940 Vines, 28 years 7 months old, played his last tennis competition. Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. His physical problems, his desire to enjoy family life, his loss of the world crown and above all his increasing passion for golf forced him to retire.
Abilities
Comparing Vines and Fred Perry after the 1939 tours, Budge wrote,
"It was simply that after enduring Vines's power game, I never felt any real pressure against Perry. Frederick John Perry (18 May 1909 – 2 February 1995 born in Stockport, Cheshire, was an English Tennis and Table tennis "[1]
Years later, Don deemed that the world's all-time best player had been Ellsworth Vines, "on his day". Budge was always astonished when someone had not ever heard of Vines whom he considered as the champion of the 1930s. The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression.
In the opinion of Jack Kramer, himself a great player, Vines was, along with Don Budge one of the two greatest players who ever lived. John Albert Kramer (born August 1, 1921, in Las Vegas, Nevada) was a champion U John Donald ("Don" or "Donnie" Budge ( June 13 1915 &ndash January 26 2000) was an American Tennis Budge was consistently the best, according to Kramer's 1979 autobiography, but, at the very top of his game, Vines was unbeatable by anyone:
". Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) . . On his best days, Vines played the best tennis ever. Hell, when Elly was on, you'd be lucky to get your racket on the ball once you served it. "[2]
Tall and thin, Vines possessed a game with no noticeable weaknesses, except, according to Kramer, because of his great natural athletic ability, laziness. He was particularly known for his powerful forehand and his very fast serve, both of which he generally hit absolutely flat with no spin. Although he could play the serve-and-volley game, he generally played an all-court game, preferring to hit winners from the baseline. Serve and volley is a style of play in Tennis where the player serving moves quickly towards the net after hitting a serve. Playing in the white flannel trousers that were standard dress for the time, he greatly impressed the youthful Kramer in a 1935 match in Southern California:
"And here is Ellsworth Vines, 6'2-1/2" tall, 155 pounds, dressed like Fred Astaire and hitting shots like Babe Ruth. Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Southern California, or So Cal, is defined as the southern portion of the U Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 &ndash June 22, 1987) was an American Academy Award George Herman Ruth Jr (February 6 1895 &ndash August 16 1948 also popularly known as " Babe " " The Bambino " and " The Sultan of "
Kramer made up his mind on the spot to concentrate on tennis. Vines had, according to Kramer,
"the perfect slim body, that was coordinated for anything. Elly won Forest Hills the first time when he was still only nineteen, but at the same time he was also devoting himself to basketball at the University of Southern California. Basketball is a team Sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by propelling a ball through a 10 feet (3 m The University of Southern California (commonly referred to as USC, SC, Southern California, and incorrectly He went there, on a basketball scholarship. " (NOTE: The school's official all-time roster does not list him. )
In his chapter on 1932, Bud Collins writes in Total Tennis: The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia that Vines . Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. Arthur Worth "Bud" Collins Jr (born June 17, 1929 in Lima Ohio) is an American Journalist and television Sportscaster . .
"had a curious windmill stroke in which the racket made an almost 360-degree sweep. Starting on high as though he were going to serve, he brought the racket back almost to the ground and swept up to the ball. He put no spin on it, however, thereby hitting a flat shot with tremendous force that made him unbeatable when he was on. "
Collins goes on to say that:
"Opponents came to realize that the way to beat him was to keep the ball in play, hitting him soft stuff until he started making errors. "[3]
After becoming bored with tennis while only in his late twenties, Vines became a professional golfer and over the years had a number of high finishes in tournaments, including at least two professional victories (1946 Massachusetts Open, 1955 Utah Open) and a semi-final position in the prestigious 1951 PGA Championship when it was a match play tournament. In Golf the distinction between amateurs and professionals is rigorously maintained The Massachusetts Open is the Massachusetts state open Golf tournament open to both amateur and professional golfers The Utah Open is the Utah state open Golf tournament open to both amateur and professional golfers The PGA Championship (sometimes referred to as the US PGA Championship outside of North America is an annual Golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America Match play is a scoring system for Golf in which a player or team earns points for each hole in which they have bested their opponents this is as opposed to Stroke play Writes Kramer,
"He was twice in the top ten of golf money winnings, and he was surely the best athlete ever in the two sports. "
He compares Vines to another great tennis player, Lew Hoad:
"Both were very strong guys. Lewis Alan ("Lew" Hoad (born November 23, 1934 in Glebe New South Wales, Australia, died July 3, 1994 in Both succeeded at a very young age. . . . Also, both were very lazy guys. Vines lost interest in tennis (for golf) before he was thirty, and Hoad never appeared to be very interested. Despite their great natural ability, neither put up the outstanding records that they were capable of. Unfortunately, the latter was largely true because both had physical problems. "
Vines was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1962. The International Tennis Hall of Fame is a non-profit Tennis Hall of fame and Museum at the Newport Casino in Newport Rhode Island Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about 30 miles (48 km south of Providence Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
Career statistics
Grand Slam finals
Singles
Wins (3)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 1931 | U.S. Championships |  George Lott |
7–9, 6–3, 9–7, 7–5 |
| 1932 | Wimbledon |  Henry Austin |
6–4, 6–2, 6–0 |
| 1932 | U. Year 1931 ( MCMXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The US Open Tennis tournament is one of the oldest tennis championships in the world first contested in 1881 George Martin Lott ( October 16, 1906 - December 2, 1991) was an American Tennis player and tennis coach who was born in Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. The Championships Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon, is the oldest Tennis tournament in the world and is widely considered as the most prestigious For the Major League Baseball player see Henry Austin (baseball. Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. S. Championships (2nd) |  Henri Cochet |
6–4, 6–4, 6–4 |
Runner-ups (1)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 1933 | Wimbledon |  Jack Crawford |
4–6, 11-9, 6–2, 2–6, 6–4 |
Notes
- ^ A tennis memoir, by Donald Budge
- ^ In his 1979 autobiography Kramer considered the best player ever to have been either Don Budge (for consistent play) or Ellsworth Vines (at the height of his game). Henri Jean Cochet ( December 14, 1901 – April 1, 1987) was a champion Tennis player one of the famous " Four Musketeers Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Championships Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon, is the oldest Tennis tournament in the world and is widely considered as the most prestigious John Herbert ("Jack" Crawford ( March 22, 1908 - September 10, 1991) was an Australian tennis player of the 1930s Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) John Donald ("Don" or "Donnie" Budge ( June 13 1915 &ndash January 26 2000) was an American Tennis The next four best were, chronologically, Bill Tilden, Fred Perry, Bobby Riggs, and Pancho Gonzales. William Tatem Tilden II ( February 10, 1893 &ndash June 5, 1953) often called "Big Bill", was an American Frederick John Perry (18 May 1909 – 2 February 1995 born in Stockport, Cheshire, was an English Tennis and Table tennis Robert Larimore ("Bobby" Riggs ( February 25, 1918 &ndash October 25, 1995) was a 1930s&ndash40s Ricardo Alonso González or Richard Gonzalez, (May 9 1928 &ndash July 3 1995 who was generally known as Pancho Gonzales or less often as Pancho Gonzalez After these six came the "second echelon" of Rod Laver, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Gottfried von Cramm, Ted Schroeder, Jack Crawford, Pancho Segura, Frank Sedgman, Tony Trabert, John Newcombe, Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Björn Borg, and Jimmy Connors. For the arena in Melbourne Park used for show matches in the Australian Open, see Rod Laver Arena Rodney George "Rod" Laver Lewis Alan ("Lew" Hoad (born November 23, 1934 in Glebe New South Wales, Australia, died July 3, 1994 in Kenneth Robert ("Ken" Rosewall AM MBE (born 2 November 1934, in Sydney, Australia) is a former amateur Gottfried Alexander Maximilian Walter Kurt Freiherr von Cramm ( July 7, 1909 – November 8, 1976) was a German amateur Tennis champion Frederick Rudolph "Ted" Schroeder ( July 20, 1921 – May 26, 2006) was an American Tennis player who won the two most prestigious John Herbert ("Jack" Crawford ( March 22, 1908 - September 10, 1991) was an Australian tennis player of the 1930s Pancho Segura, born Francisco Olegario Segura ( June 20, 1921, known as "Segoo") was a leading Frank Arthur Sedgman, born 29 October 1927 in Mont Albert a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia was a Tennis player Marion Anthony (Tony Trabert (born August 16 1930 in Cincinnati Ohio) is a retired American Tennis champion and long-time tennis author TV commentator instructor John David Newcombe AO OBE (born 23 May 1944 in Sydney Australia) is a former World No Arthur Robert Ashe Jr ( July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an African American Tennis player who was born and raised Stanley Roger Smith (born December 14, 1946 in Pasadena California) is a former American Tennis player who with his partner Bob Lutz (bjœɳ bɔrj born 6 June 1956) is a former World No 1 Tennis player from Sweden who is widely regarded by observers and tennis players James Scott "Jimmy" Connors (born September 2 1952 in East St He felt unable to rank Henri Cochet and René Lacoste accurately but felt they were among the very best. Henri Jean Cochet ( December 14, 1901 – April 1, 1987) was a champion Tennis player one of the famous " Four Musketeers Jean René Lacoste ( July 2, 1904 - October 12, 1996) was a famous French Tennis player and businessman nicknamed "the
- ^ Total Tennis: The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia, by Bud Collins, page 53
Sources
- The Game, My 40 Years in Tennis (1979), Jack Kramer with Frank Deford (ISBN 0-399-12336-9)
- Total Tennis: The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia (2003), by Bud Collins (ISBN 0-9731443-4-3)