Renshaw Cup presented to Wimbledon Champion Don Budge

Sterling silver cup with base featuring the figure of Mercury. From 1905-1921 the Renshaw Cup (named for Wimbledon Champions, twin brothers, and Hall of Famers William and Ernest Renshaw) was presented to the winner of the Wimbledon Men’s Singles All-Comers Final. This winner would go on to play the defending champion from the prior year in the Challenge Round for the title. In 1922, the Challenge Round ceased, and all players and defending champions had to fight their way through the main draw rounds to the final championship match. The Renshaw Cup was then awarded to the champion along with the gilt-finished Gentlemen’s Singles Trophy. The presentation of a Renshaw Cup to the winner ceased in 1989.

As the 1938 tennis season began, Don Budge, a tall redhead from Oakland, California admired for his backhand, was at the top of his game. Traveling by boat, it took Budge 23 days to reach Australia, and when he arrived he had developed laryngitis. Despite his illness, Budge breezed through the competition, not dropping a set as he bested John Bromwich in under an hour for the title. Moving onto the French Championships in Paris, Budge defeated Roderich Menzel of Czechoslovakia 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. He then successfully defended his titles at both Wimbledon and the U.S. National Championships to claim the first-ever Grand Slam.

Budge cruised through the 1938 Wimbledon Championships without dropping a set, losing only four of twenty-two games in the final against Bunny Austin with a dominating score of 6-1, 6-0, 6-3. Upon winning, Budge was given this trophy.