P245 CEEFAX 245 Tue 19 Jun 21:24/11 1/7 Champagne PERRY: vintage 1934 * It is 50 years since Fred Perry won * the first of three Wimbledon titles * * ) * * 57 O ) 5?a ) j Stuart Sykes reports....P245 CEEFAX 245 Tue 19 Jun 21:21/42 2/7 CHAMPAGNE PERT : VENT GE 1934 Fifty years ago this summer Britain's greatest-ever tennis plazju won the first of three successive Wimbledon singles titles. Fred Perry did not fit the traditional description of the tennis star: the son of a Northern Labour MP, a product of Wbllasjy Grammar School, hj came late to that most genteel of sports. Born on May 18 1909, hj devoted his attention to table tennis first, taking the world title in Budapest when he was just 20. Seeing tennis on holiday at Eastbourne, Frederick John set off on a career unparalleled in this country. P245 CEEFAX 245 Tue 19 Jun 21:02/58 3/7 CHAMPAGNE PERRY: VINTAGE 1934 Fred Perry was the first man since A F Welding in 1913 to win the Wimbledon singles title three times in a row. Not content with that, Perry, with the fearsome forehand drive, was also the first player ever to win the four major titles: Australia, France, Wimbledon and US, though not in the same year. In 1934 he contented himself with all but the French, which hj took in 1935, but it was the manner of his victories that marked Perry out as a man apart. In his three winning finals he did not drop a set and only once went past six games...P245 CEEFAX 245 Tue 19 Jun 21:12/10 4/7 CHAMPA P VI E 1 First man to suffe unde the Fred Perry whip in a Wimbledon final was Australian J H Crawford. Champion in 1933, hj could do nothing to stop Perry becoming Britain's first men's winner for quarter of a century. hj next two years saw German Baron Gottftied Von Cramm sacrificed on the centre-court altar, never managing more thbn four games in a single set. His only consolation was to beat Perry in the French Open final shortly bjforj his 1936 Wimbledon drubbing - a match that started with 10 d uces but ended up 6-1 6-1 6-0.P245 CEEFAX 245 Tue 19 Jun 21:10/22 CHAMPAGNE PERRY... VINTBGE 1934 5/7 O * 5 * —0 jqp0k?'pp0 * * ' ju ku £00 ) O ) ) X W ) XP245 CEEFAX 245 Tue 19 Jun 21:10/27 6/7 CHAMPAGNE PERRY: VINTAGE 1934 As well as writing himself into the Wimbledon history books, Fred Perry built a superb record in the Davis Cup. He was successful in 37 out of 52 appearances in the event, including an amazing 34 wins in 38 singles rubbers. Hi and Bunny Austin, the archetypal tennis player with the Rjpton and Cambridge background, steered Britain to four Davis Cup triumphs. American champion in 1933/4/6, winner in Australia in 1934 and France the following year, Perry decided to turn professional in 1936.P245 CEEFAX 245 Tue 19 Jun 21:11/18 7/7 CHAMPAGNE PERRY: VINTAGE 1934 To celebrate the feats of one of Britain's most famous sons, Wimbledon unveiled a statue to Fred Perry this year, 50 years after his first title. Positioned on the south-east lawn, it is matched bz the south-west entrance henceforth known as the Perry Gate. Sports fans love to compare their heroes with the legends of the past: was Perry better than Borg? The comparison is vain, their special circumstances so different: but the first man to congratulate the brilliant Swede on his third win in 1978 was, of course, the legendary Frederick J Perry