The face of tennis and the king of flowery pants, Arthur Worth "Bud" Collins, Jr., was an incomparable personality. A tennis commentator since the 1960s and the sole voice for the sport in its infancy, Collins was more than just well-known to the current and previous generation of tennis fans.
A gifted tennis player in his youth, Collins would eventually find his calling in life as the voice of the sport he so dearly loved.
Collins died today at the age of 86. His wife, Anita Russling Klauthen, announced the unfortunate news via Facebook.
Born June 17, 1929, in Lima, Ohio, Collins was a special person to the world of clay courts and rackets. After growing up in Barea, Collins served in the Army before attending Boston University.
He attempted to get a degree in public relations, but would go on to do bigger and better things, and failed to finish his degree until May 2009. Boston University awarded him with a master's degree in public relations considering the large body of work he had written about tennis and its culture. After leaving B.U., he would go on to work for the Boston Herald's sports staff and became a lead columnist by 1959.
He coached Brandeis University's tennis team, as his love for the sport knew no bounds. He switched publications, moving on to the Boston Globe in 1963, before becoming a television personality. He covered the Nationals for NBC in 1964 and the U.S. Open for CBS from 1969-1972.
Afterwards, he did play-by-play for "Breakfast at Wimbledon" since its inception in 1979. Collins was a terrific tennis player as well, winning the national indoor mixed doubles tournament at the Longwood Cricket Club with teammate Janet Hopps. He would also reach the final of the French Open senior men's doubles tournament in 1975 with partner Jack Crawford.
He would go on to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I., in 1984. In 1989, Collins released the book "My Life with the Pros," which depicted vivid stories of his various interactions and adventures with tennis pros from all around the world.
He would support millionaire Jimmy Van Alen because of his desire to revolutionize the way the world played tennis. Collins often called Alen "The New Port Bolshevik" due to this intrinsic desire to make long-term changes to the way we play tennis, which resulted in the tennis establishment adopting tie-breakers. In September 2015, he attended a ceremony at the U.S. Open that presented a brand new media center built in his honor. The plaque on the center reads: "journalist, commentator, historian, mentor, friend."
Collins is survived by Klaussen and their family.
