great player, included Gottfried von Cramm in his list of the 21 greatest players of all time. Cramm was the subject of a radio play, titled Playing for His Life, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2011. The play focused on the 1937 Interzone Davis Cup final and on Cramm's personal life. Grand Slam finals Singles (2 titles, 5 runners-up) Doubles (2 titles, 1 runner-up) Mixed doubles (1 title) Notes Writing in 1979, Kramer considered the best ever to have been either Don Budge (for consistent play) or Ellsworth Vines (at the height of his game). The next four best were, chronologically, Bill Tilden, Fred Perry, Bobby Riggs and Pancho Gonzales. After these six came the "second echelon" of Rod Laver, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Gottfried von Cramm, Ted Schroeder, Jack Crawford, Pancho Segura, Frank Sedgman, Tony Trabert, John Newcombe, Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors. He felt unable to rank Henri Cochet and René Lacoste accurately but felt they were among the very best. References Further reading Fisher, Marshall Jon (2009). A Terrible Splendor: Three Extraordinary Men, a World Poised for War and the Greatest Tennis Match Ever Played. Simkin, John (6 July 2018). "Why was the anti-Nazi German, Gottfried von Cramm, banned from taking part at Wimbledon in 1939?". Spartacus Educational. Retrieved 23 July 2018 External links Official page 1909 births 1976 deaths Barons of Germany Bisexual sportspeople French Championships (tennis) champions German male tennis players Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees Recipients of the Silver Laurel Leaf German LGBT sportspeople LGBT tennis players People convicted under Germany's Paragraph 175 People from Hildesheim (district) Persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany Recipients of the Iron Cross (1939) Road incident deaths in Egypt United States National champions (tennis) West German male tennis players Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era) Woolworth family Tennis people from Lower Saxony