German tennis player Gottfried von Cramm was BOTD in 1909. Born in Bettlingen in the German Empire. Born to an aristocratic family, he began playing tennis in his teens, entering the professional tennis circuit in 1931. He won his first individual Grand Slam title at the French Open in 1934, making him a national hero in Germany. Known for his courtesy and sense of fair play, he refused to take a match point in the 1935 Davis Cup Interzone Final, notifying the umpire that the ball had tipped his racquet, resulting in his losing the match. He was the men’s singles runner-up at the Wimbledon Championships for three consecutive years, losing successively to Fred Perry and Don Budge, though finally beat Perry in the 1936 French Open. Blond, handsome and from impeccable aristocratic stock, he became a target for the Nazi Party, who attempted to exploit his success as a symbol of Aryan supremacy. Adolf Hitler reportedly telephoned von Cramm minutes before the men’s finals of the 1937 Davis Cup to wish him luck; he subsequently lost the match. Despite significant pressure from Hermann Göring, von Cramm refused to join or endorse the Nazi Party, and was privately critical of Hitler. He married fellow aristocrat Elisabeth con Dobeneck in 1930, but carried on a discreet affair with Jewish actor Manasse Herbst for several years, arranging for Herbst’s emigration to Palestine in 1936 to escape Nazi persecution. In 1938, von Cramm was arrested and tried for homosexual offences, and sentenced to a year’s imprisonment. His conviction prompted international outrage, with his friends including Budge and King Gustaf V of Sweden campaigning for his release. Von Cramm was paroled in 1939 and allowed to return to competitive tennis. He won the Queen’s Club Championship in London, famously beating the American tennis star Bobby Riggs, but was prevented from competing at Wimbledon due to his criminal record. Following the outbreak of World War Two, he was conscripted into the German Army, commanding a company who served on the Eastern Front. Awarded the Iron Cross for bravery, he was later dismissed in 1942 due to his criminal record. After the war, he continued playing tennis, winning the German national championships in 1948 and 1949. He retired in 1953, and worked for the German Tennis Federation. He entered into a marriage of convenience with Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton in 1955, reputedly to support her with depression and drug abuse, but divorced four years later. He is also thought to have had an affair with English writer Cecil Roberts. He was killed in a car accident in Egypt in 1976, aged 67.