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© Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum |
Look closely at the statue of Fred Perry just inside the Church
Road gates next time you go to Wimbledon and see if you share
my opinion that there seems to be a ghost of a smile on the
great man's lips.
The smile is well merited. Perry was unique in Wimbledon's
rich history: the first Englishman for 25 years to capture
the men's singles and the only player to win the final in
straight sets three times. Also, no Englishman has won Wimbledon
since Fred last held aloft the championship trophy in 1936.
Perry, the son of a Labour Member of Parliament and born
in the northern town of Stockport, came to tennis via table
tennis, at which he became a world champion. His first tilt
at the Wimbledon title was in 1929, a month after his 20th
birthday, when he qualified and went on to win two rounds
in the main draw.
Fred went a round further in 1930 and by the following
year had improved enough to be fifth seed. However, he had
not improved enough to defeat the seventh-seeded American
and eventual champion, Sidney Wood, in the Semi-Finals.
After a Quarter-Final spot in 1932, Perry suffered his
worst Wimbledon defeat in 1933, going out in the second
round to the South African, Norman Farquharson.
By the time the 1934 Championships came round, Fred was
already the star of a British Davis Cup team launched on
a four-year domination of the competition, and went into
Wimbledon as second seed behind the Australian, Jack Crawford.
Already the rumours were flying that Perry was considering
turning professional, which in those days meant an immediate
ban from all tournaments. But Fred was not interested until
he had conquered his personal Everest and won Wimbledon.
He had injured his ankle at the French championships the
previous month and did not play again until Wimbledon in
a bid to get fully fit. The ankle was fully tested in the
third round by the Czech, Roderick Menzel, who won the first
set 6-0 and led two sets to one before Fred and his ankle
came through.
He then defeated the Australian, Adrian Quist, in straight
sets, American George Lott in four and in the semi-finals
overcame his 1931 conqueror, Wood, in a tremendous five-set
tussle.
The final was an anti-climax as Perry routed Crawford 6-3
6-0 7-5, at one stage reeling off 12 games in succession.
The unhappy Crawford double-faulted at match point and Perry
had won his first Wimbledon in just an hour and ten minutes,
since in those days there was no sitting down or breaks
between the change of ends.
As Perry went on to win the 1934 US title and then the
French in 1935 speculation mounted about his plans to quit
the amateur game, and he certainly continued to be the recipient
of offers. But Fred said no to them all before turning to
the defence of his title.
He sailed through the field, defeating his old adversary
Menzel, this time in straight sets in the quarter-finals,
then coming through in four sets against Crawford. The final
was even easier, with Fred dropping only ten games against
the German baron, Gottfried von Cramm, in a 6-2 6-4 6-4
victory.
By the time the 1936 Championships came round, Perry had
lost his US and French titles, beaten in five sets in Paris
by von Cramm. Realising by now the only way to make money
from his name and abilities was to turn pro, had determined
to do so if he clocked up his hat-trick of Wimbledon wins.
It turned out to be by far the easiest of the three. Only
in the semi-finals did he drop a set, to the fast-rising
young American, Don Budge, before coming up once more against
the German aristocrat, von Cramm.
Perry had always made a habit of "scouting" the
opposition and was fascinated to pick up the information
from the Wimbledon masseur that his opponent in the final
had been treated for a groin strain, and learned the German
was having difficulty moving wide on the forehand.
After an opening game which went to ten deuces and 24 points,
von Cramm started to grimace as the champion piled the pressure
on his forehand and it was all over in 40 minutes, 6-0 6-1
6-1, the fastest Wimbledon men's final since 1881.
Written by Mike Donovan
FRED PERRY
Singles Champion: 1934, 1935, 1936
Doubles Runner-up: 1932
Mixed Doubles Champion: 1935, 1936
