H. Ellsworth Vines, Jr., in full Henry Ellsworth Vines, Jr., (born Sept. 28, 1911, Los Angeles—died March 17, 1994, La Quinta, Calif.), U.S. tennis participant of the Nineteen Thirties who bounced again after a collection of losses at age 18 to win the Wimbledon and U.S. singles championships.
A flexible athlete, he attended the University of Southern California on a basketball scholarship earlier than making his tennis debut on grass courts. After shedding the 1929 Seabright match to Sidney Wood, Vines practiced in California for a yr, coming again to win the U.S. singles championship in 1931. In 1932 he grew to become the primary participant since Bill Tilden in 1921 to win each at Forest Hills (U.S.) and Wimbledon. Vines’s uncommon stroke, during which the racket traveled nearly an entire circle earlier than returning the ball, was thought-about to be nearly unreturnable, and it helped him and Keith Gledhill to win U.S. doubles in 1932.
After shedding twice within the 1933 Davis Cup match, Vines turned skilled, touring with Tilden. In 1940 he deserted tennis for novice golf. Vines turned skilled in 1942, and, although he by no means received a Professional Golfers’ Association match, he often ranked excessive among the many cash winners throughout his 15-year profession. Vines was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1962.