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Article: A Match Made in Heaven
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- May 3, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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A TERRIBLE SPLENDOR
Three Extraordinary Men . . . and the Greatest Tennis Match Ever
Played
By Marshall
Jon Fisher. Crown. 321 pp. $25Well, tennis was a different game
in those days. The balls were white. The rackets were wooden. The
women wore stockings, and the men wore flannel trousers. It was a
sport for gentlemen and ladies, but not necessarily for the faint of
heart.
Exhibit A: the match that took place July 20, 1937, on
Wimbledon's Centre Court. The occasion was the Davis Cup Interzone
Final between the United States and Germany. On one side of the net
was Don Budge, a lanky redhead from Oakland, Calif., with a
bludgeoning serve and a fabled backhand. On the other side, Baron ...