Kings of the Court: Fred Perry

World champion: in table tennis and then tennis.

Fred Perry became the world table tennis champion at 19, and then looked for a new realm to conquer. And conquer he did. A paragon of speed and style, he became the number one player in the world, and stayed there for four years, from 1934 to 1938.

Perry was the first man ever to win all four majors titles, though not in the same year. Now over 70 years later, he remains the youngest to achieve that feat, at the age of 26.

Perry played with a continental grip with part of his hand on top of the handle, and pressured his opponents by taking the ball early, giving them less time to react.

Jack Kramer described the experience of playing him this way: "He rushed me right off the court the first time I ever got on the court with him. I could hardly get my breath he rushed me so much.

“And so the next time I said, “Well, I’ll be ready for him this time.” I was a little more ready but the same thing happened again. It took me about three matches or four to play against…