Thread by @Paperclip_In

It was the David Cup inter-zonal final 1935. Germany were facing-off against the US. It was also a clash between the 2 stalwarts on either side: Don Budge of US and Gottfried von Cramm of Germany (1/n)

Both had won their respective singles matches. In the pivotal doubles match, von Cramm & his partner Kal Lund were engaged in a titanic battle with Allison & Van Ryn of US. The Germans had never won the trophy till then (2/n)

There was immense pressure on the players especially von Cramm coming in. On match point for the German duo, a return by the Americans came to mid-court. Both von Cramm & Lund lunged for it and it was latter who hit the winner (3/n)

Just as the German contingent was about to erupt in joy, von Cramm informed the referee that he had hit the ball first before his partner connected and by rules, the point was for the Americans (4/n)

The German pair went on to lose the titanic 5-setter.
The US won the contest 4-1 with von Cramm losing his duel with Budge as well. When confronted by his furious captain for his action, von Cramm had said (5/n)

"When I chose tennis as a young man, I chose it because it was a gentleman’s game, and that’s the way I’ve played it ever since I picked up my first racquet." His actions increased his unpopularity with the regime back home (6/n)

Baron Gottfried von Cramm was born in an illustrious noble family of Lower Saxony. Over 6 feet tall, with blond hair, green eyes, of blue blood, and a tennis champ, von Cramm was an ideal poster boy for the Nazi regime (7/n)

There was however a major problem. von Cramm abhorred the Nazi way of thinking. Moreover, he was a closet gay who had a Jewish lover. In 1936, he had aided his lover to move to Palestine and send him financial help as well subsequently (8/n)

With his private life under intense scrutiny, von Cramm squared off one more time against his old nemesis, Don Budge in the deciding rubber of the 1937 Davis Cup semis - a match that has often been dubbed in history as "the Greatest Tennis Match Ever" (9/n)

There have been unconfirmed reports that just before the match, von Cramm had received a phone call from Hitler itself. Watched on by Queen Mary & the German ambassador to England, von Cramm & Budge produced a spectacle (10/n)

von Cramm took a 2 sets lead but Budge levelled back. von Cramm led 4-1 in the 5th set but Budge once again turned it around to deliver an American win. Budge had later remarked than von Cramm looked pale & uneasy when the match began (11/n)

On 5th March, 1938, Gottfried von Cramm was arrested for homosexuality and sending money to his Jewish lover. von Cramm suffered a nervous breakdown & was subsequently imprisoned for one year (12/n)

Don Budge, his great friend, was outraged and started a signature campaign of high profile sport-persons & sent a protest letter to Hitler. von Cramm was released on parole after 6 months but came to be treated as a pariah (13/n)

Wimbledon allegedly refused to let him play in 1939 as he was a "convicted criminal." The USA rejected his visa application on the same ground denying him the opportunity to play at the US Nationals (14/n)

when war begun, von Cramm was conscripted into the German army and despite his noble lineage, was made a private. Although he won an Iron Cross at the Eastern Front, he was dismissed in 1942 citing his prior conviction on immoral behavior charges (15/n)

In post war Germany, von Cramm won the national championship twice - he was past 40 by then. Gottfried von Cramm even now holds the record for most Davis Cup wins (82) for the German team (16/n)

This unfortunate champion of a man, who could not be browbeaten to kowtow their line of thinking even by the might of the Nazi German regime, died #OTD in 1976 in a car accident in Cairo, Egypt (17/n)

Image used in thread courtesy: (i) legacyprojectchicago.org (ii) dw.com