Budge alert but still in critical condition

Former tennis great Don Budge was alert but remained in critical condition following an accident in which his car struck a tree in the Pocono Mountains.

Former tennis great Don Budge was alert but remained in critical condition following an accident in which his car struck a tree in the Pocono Mountains.

"Don Budge is still listed in critical condition, but he seemed more alert now than before," Jon Wojcichowski, a spokesman at St Francis Hospital, said on Thursday.

Officials did not elaborate on the condition of the 84-year-old Budge, and wouldn't comment on the specific nature of his injuries.

Budge was driving in Milford in northeast Pennsylvania when his car went off the road on Tuesday morning. Rescue crews had to cut him from the wreckage. He was airlifted to St Francis Hospital.

Authorities who were at the scene of the accident said that Budge seemed to have lost control of the vehicle.

"We think he either fell asleep at the wheel or suffered some kind of mini-stroke," said Karl Merchant, a supervisory park ranger with the Delaware Water Gap, National Recreation Area in Pennsylvania. "But all the while I was with him he seemed alert and he talked for about 20 minutes before he was evacuated."

In 1938, Budge became the first player to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in the same year. He was The Associated Press athlete of the year in 1938.

Budge was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1964 and selected one of Tennis Magazine's 20 greatest players of the 20th century.