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. 1 in 1932 as an amateur, and in 1934, 1935, 1936 and 1937 as a professional. He won three Grand Slam titles, the U.S. National Championships in 1931 and 1932 and the Wimbledon Championships in 1932. Vines also was able to win Pro Slam titles on three different surfaces. He later became a professional golfer and reached the semifinals of the PGA Championship in 1951.
Tennis career Amateur Vines attended the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California, where he was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity and played on the freshman basketball team.Ed Atkinson Ellsworth Vines: Ultimate Ball Striker, tennisplayer.net, Accessed July 8, 2008. Many believe that Mercer Beasley started him on his tennis career at age 14 in Pasadena. He was mentored by Perry T. Jones through the Los Angeles Tennis Club and the Southern California Tennis Association.
1927 Vines, aged 15, reached the quarter-finals of the Pacific Northwest Championships in Tacoma in July, where he lost to Dick Stevens. In September Vines lost in the last 16 of the California state championships to Bowie Dietrick. "Vines had the first set, 5–3, on his own service, but was unable to sustain the pace against his able and more experienced opponent, and lost the first set, 8–10. He seemed pretty well tried out by that time, and Dietrick put the second set away at 6–2".
1928 Vines reached the quarter-finals of the Pacific Southwest tournament in October, where he lost to Christian Boussus. "Vines forced Boussus to the limit in their match. The young Pasadenan's service was far better than that of Boussus, but the Frenchman's marvelous placements and his steadiness brought him through victoriously. He usually was content to hit the ball back, without trying fancy shots, and forced Vines into errors in long rallies."
1929 In July, Vines lost in the final of the Western Championships in Chicago to Keith Gledhill. At the Wisconsin Championships in Milwaukee in August, Vines lost to Gledhill in the final.
1930 In February, Vines beat Lester Stoefen in the final of the Los Angeles championships. In May, Vines won the Southern California championships beating Gledhill in the final. In June, Vines won the Pasadena championships, beating Stoefen in the final. In July, Vines beat Frank Hunter in the final of the New York Metropolitan championships. In September, Vines won the Pacific Southwest championships, beating Wilmer Allison in a long and close five sets in the quarters, Clifford Sutter in four sets in the semifinal and Gregory Mangin in the final.
1931 Vines won his first title of the year in February, beating Stoefen in five sets to win the Los Angeles championships. Vines won the River Oaks tournament in Houston in April beating Bruce Barnes in the final. "Vines's service had so much pace that at times today it almost knocked the racquet from Barnes's hand." Vines won the Ojai valley championships in April over Stoefen. In May, Vines won the Southern Californian championships beating Alan Herrington in the final. "The flashiness of Vines's playing is shown in the fact that he scored forty placement aces to Herrington's three during the four sets. Vines also led in practically every other department of the game." Vines won the California State championships in June beating Ed Chandler in the final. In July, Vines won the U. S. clay court championships in St. Louis beating Gledhill in the final. and the same month won the Longwood Bowl in Brookline, Mass. over John Doeg. Then at the Seabright tournament, Vines came from two sets down to beat Doeg in the final. "The turning point of the match came in the tenth game of the fourth set. At this stage Doeg was leading five to four in games and won the first two points from Vines' service in the tenth. Employing his powerful backhand stroke, the Pasadena youngster pulled the match out of the fire by winning the next four points to take the game." In August, Vines beat Fred Perry in the final of the Newport Casino tournament. Vines was still 19 when he won his first Grand Slam singles title, the U.S. Championships, beating George Lott in the final in four sets. Vines played "erratically throughout the major part of match, but his brilliant placements and cannonball service were sufficient to overcome Lott's steadier volleying and effective service", according to The Daily News (New York). Trailing 5–2 in the fourth set, Vines won five consecutive games to close out the match. In September Vines beat Perry in the final of the Pacific Southwest championships in five sets. "Vines served the almost unbelievable total of twenty-three double faults during the match. When he finally got going, he didn't score many aces, but he was getting his first ball in regularly, and although the Englishman, who battled furiously to the finish, usually managed to get his racket on the ball, he couldn't handle the serve at all. Perry covered the court brilliantly, making many seemingly impossible gets." In October, Vines beat Perry again in the final of the Pacific coast championships. Vines was ranked world No. 2 by Pierre Gillou"M. Pierre Gillou donne son classement des dix meilleurs joueurs du monde" [Mr. Pierre Gillou gives his ranking of the ten best players in the world]. L'Auto (in French). 1931-09-16. p. 1. and by Didier Poulain.Les Dix Meilleurs Joueurs du Monde Sont..." [The Ten Best Players in the World Are...]. L'Auto (in French). 1931-09-15. pp. 1, 5.
1932 In April, Vines beat Allison in the final of the Mason-Dixon tournament at The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs. At Wimbledon Championships, Vines beat Bunny Austin easily in the final and the winning ace was hit so hard, Austin claimed he couldn't see it.Tennis's Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Baseline Blunders, Clay Court Wonders, and Lucky Lobs by Floyd Conner, 2002 Vines beat Allison in the final of the Newport Casino event in August. At the U.S. Championships, Vines beat Cliff Sutter in the semi-finals in five long sets when he came very close to defeat.Santa Cruz Sentinel, September 10, 1932 He then beat Henri Cochet in the final to retain his title. In November Vines beat Allison in five sets in the final of the New South Wales championships. Vines was ranked World No. 1 amateur by A. Wallis Myers, Bernard Brown, Pierre Gillou, F. Gordon Lowe and Jean Borotra.
1933 1933 was a poor year for Vines. One of his surprising losses was to young Australian player Vivian McGrath in the Australian championships quarter finals.The Sydney Morning Herald, January 28, 1933 Vines won the Ojai Valley championships in April beating Gledhill in the final. Vines reached the final of Wimbledon, but lost a classic five set battle to Jack Crawford. It was a "Wimbledon final that produced some of the greatest tennis in the history of the world famous tournament" and "the crowd gave Crawford one of the longest, wildest cheers that ever has echoed through Wimbledon". At the US Championships, Vines lost in the fourth round to Bryan Grant.
Professional 1934 Vines played his first professional tennis match on January 10, 1934, and then became the leading pro player until 1938 (and the World No. 1 or No. 2 in the combined amateur-professional rankings). In his first World Professional Championship tour, Vines overcame the 41 year old Bill Tilden. From May to June, Vines participated in the US tournament circuit. Vines won tournaments at New York,Des Moines Register, May 28, 1934 Philadelphia,The Greenwood Commonwealth, June 4, 1934 BostonFort Worth Star-Telegram, June 10, 1934 and Cleveland,Fort Worth Star-Telegram, June 18, 1934 beating Tilden in each of these events. Then Vines lost in the semi-finals at Detroit to Karel Kozeluh and didn't play in the remaining events of the tour at Milwaukee and St. Louis. At the US Pro in Chicago, Vines lost surprisingly in the semi-finals to Hans Nusslein. At Wembley, Vines won the title in a round robin that also featured Nusslein, Tilden, Martin Plaa, Bruce Barnes and Dan Maskell. Then Vines won in the Parc de expositions tournament in Paris beating Nusslein in the final. In December, Vines beat Tilden in the final of the Roubaix tournament. Vines was ranked World No. 1 pro by Ray Bowers and was ranked No. 1 in combined pro/amateur lists by Pierre Gillou and Tennis (Italian newspaper).
1935 Vines beat Lester Stoefen in the World series (after a disastrous start to the tour, Stoefen withdrew from the tour). At the French Pro at Roland Garros, Vines beat Nusslein in the final.Excelsior, July 8, 1935 Vines then won the tournament at Southport beating Tilden. Vines then won tournaments at Deauville and La Baule (also over Tilden). However, he surprisingly lost to Robert Ramillon at a tournament at Le Touquet. At Wembley, Vines trailed Stoefen 4–1 in the fifth set in the semi-finals but won in five sets and beat Tilden in five sets in the final. Vines was ranked World No. 1 pro by Bowers and no. 1 in a combined amateur/pro list by Henri Cochet.
1936 Over the next three years, Vines concentrated on playing tours and did not enter tournaments. He beat Stoefen to win the 1936 World series. In November, he toured Asia with Tilden and won the tour easily. Vines was ranked World No. 1 pro by Bowers and Fred Perry. Vines was also ranked combined pro/amateur World No. 1 by Bill Tilden and Robert Murray(Sports Illustrated).
1937 1937 featured the first of the Vines-Perry World Series tours. 1937 was a very successful tour, grossing $412,000.The Dictionary of World Biography The 20th Century O-Z (1999) The result was still in doubt until the penultimate match, when Vines beat Perry at Hershey. Vines then won the final match of the series at Scranton to win the series 32–29. Touring UK and Ireland, Perry won a short series against Vines, including winning two of the three matches at Wembley, where they played for the King George VI Coronation Cup. Perry and Vines were ranked joint no. 1 pros by Bowers.
1938 The 1938 World Series was another tough battle. After coming back from four match points down to win at Richmond on 8 May, Vines said "I've got a good lead over that guy (Perry) and I'm going to keep it just to prove once and for all who's No 1 man" and "if Budge turns pro next year I want to be the one to play against him because that's where the money will be. After this tour ends there'll be no doubt who's the better man between me and Perry".The Richmond Times Dispatch, 9 May 1938 Vines won the series 49–35. In November, Vines and Perry toured South and Central America and won four matches each. Vines was ranked World No. 1 pro by Bowers.
1939 In 1939 Vines lost his world pro crown to Don Budge but narrowly: in the World Professional Championship tour against each other, Vines trailed Budge 17–22. The tour proved that at his best Vines was unbeatable, although Vines laboured with a shoulder problem and a pulled stomach muscle in the series, losing five straight matches while injured. Vines commented, "I thought I could beat Budge, and I think I would have," Vines said. "I had to serve side-armed and he was just knocking the ball down my throat."
Budge's consistency prevailed a majority of the time. Touring Europe with Tilden and Stoefen in the summer, Budge won the tour and beat Vines more comfortably than he had done in the World Series.
In June, Vines won the Brussels Professional Spring Championships, defeating Budge and Tilden in close matches. Vines lost in the final at Roland Garros to Budge. In the Edinburgh professional tournament, Vines won the event with wins over Budge and Tilden. At the knock-out event at Southport, Vines lost in the semi-finals to Nusslein, who then defeated Tilden in the final.