He Quit While He Was Behind

A match ending under suspicious circumstances? Indifferent explanations?

Strange days on the tennis circuit have not been limited to the modern era. In 1935, spectators at the Pacific Southwest championships were left dazed and confused at the Los Angeles Tennis Club when the players left the court after the third set and never returned.

Nineteen-year-old Don Budge recovered from a first-set blowout and won the second and third sets against Roderick Menzel of Czechoslovakia in their final.

According to reports, Menzel then put his arm around Budge and they went off to the locker room. In those days, matches were best of five sets and a rest break after the third was customary.

The referee then announced that Menzel had defaulted because he had to play a mixed doubles match later in the day, according to The Times. And no, the referee wasn’t joking. Budge won it, 1-6, 11-9, 6-3 (retired). It was the first of his three consecutive Pacific Southwest titles.

One explanation of the shortened final was offered in a book by Patricia Henry Yeomans, “History and Heritage of the Los Angeles Tennis Club 1920-1980.”

Yeomans wrote: “After Budge took the third set at 6-3, the giant [6-foot-3] Czechoslovakian picked up his rackets and headed off the court. Tournament director Perry T. Jones rushed onto the court to remind Menzel it was a three-out-of-five-set match.

“Menzel replied, ‘Who do you think is a better player?’ Mr. Jones answered, ‘Right now, I’d have to pick Mr. Budge.’ Menzel said, ‘I do too,’ and walked off the court.”

Menzel apparently had worn out after taking a 4-2 second-set lead, chasing Budge’s drop shots. After leaving the court, Menzel refused to make a statement to the press, reports said.

But he did play the mixed doubles semifinal--it started that day and ran into the next--and was accused by his opponents of not trying.

Menzel certainly drew attention in the 1935 event. The day before he defaulted to Budge, newspaper accounts detailed his antics during his men’s doubles semifinal.

“[Menzel] was the whole circus in this event with Martin Legeay against Budge and [Gene] Mako--the elephants, the side show, the pink lemonade and the peanuts,” The Times wrote.

“Attired in a cute pair of shorts and eating his lunch between games--half a sandwich at a gulp drowned in a swig of coffee--Menzel had the capacity crowd of 4,000 strong in convulsions.”