Category profile
- Dominance
- 94
- Peak
- 98
- Longevity
- 78
- Honours
- 92
- Statistics
- 92
Career timeline · Titles per season
| Season | Titles per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1932 | 40 | |
| 1933 | 50 | |
| 1934 | 60 | |
| 1935 | 70 | |
| 1936 | 79 | |
| 1937 | 89 | |
| 1938 | 99 | |
| 1939 | 94 | |
| 1940 | 90 | |
| 1941 | 85 | |
| 1942 | 81 | |
| 1943 | 76 | |
| 1944 | 71 | |
| 1945 | 67 | |
| 1946 | 62 | |
| 1947 | 57 | |
| 1948 | 53 | |
| 1949 | 48 | |
| 1950 | 44 | |
| 1951 | 39 | |
| 1952 | 34 | |
| 1953 | 30 | |
| 1954 | 25 |
Data sources
- ATP Tour records
- International Tennis Hall of Fame
- Grand Slam archives
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Don Budge ranks #14 in Tennis
Don Budge ranks 14th among Tennis athletes on GOAT Rank and 469th of 4013 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 90.9 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 94, Peak 98, Longevity 78, Honours 92, Statistics 92. Those categories are normalised against the full Tennis reference universe of 250 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1932–1954 with 23 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1938, which sets the Peak component at 98. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 98 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes calendar grand slams 1, major singles titles 6, major titles including doubles 14, davis cup titles 2.
Immediately ahead sits Björn Borg on 90.9, a gap of 0.0 points. Directly behind is Louise Brough on 90.7. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.
Don Budge GOAT Score explained
- Dominance94/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Budge stood above the field while competing. Scored 94/100 against the full Tennis cohort.
- Peak98/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1938. Scored 98/100.
- Longevity78/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 22 years of competition and 23 recorded seasons. Scored 78/100.
- Honours92/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 92/100.
- Statistics92/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 92/100.
Top Budge comparisons
Don Budge — frequently asked
- Is Don Budge the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Don Budge ranks 14th in Tennis with a GOAT Score of 90.9, behind Novak Djokovic on 97.6.
- What is Don Budge's GOAT Score?
- 90.9 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 94 (25%), Peak 98 (20%), Longevity 78 (20%), Honours 92 (20%), Statistics 92 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Don Budge rank all time?
- 469th of 4013 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 14th within Tennis.
- Don Budge vs Björn Borg: who ranks higher?
- Don Budge, on 90.9 against Björn Borg's 90.9 — a margin of 0.0 points.