Jack Kramer as an amateur in 1947

John Albert Kramer (b. August 1, 1921, in Las Vegas, Nevada) was a champion U.S. tennis player of the 1940s. The World No. 1 player for a number of years, he is a possible candidate for the title of the greatest tennis player of all time. He was also, for many years, the leading promoter of the professional tennis tours and a relentless advocate for the establishment of Open tennis between amateur and professional players. Tall and slim, he was the first world-class player to play a consistent serve-and-volley game, in which he came to the net behind all of his serves, including the second serve. He was particularly known for his powerful serve and forehand, as well as his ability to play "percentage tennis", in which he maximized his efforts on certain points and certain games during the course of a match. Image File history File links Jack_Kramer_Time_Cover. ... Image File history File links Jack_Kramer_Time_Cover. ... August 1 is the 213th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (214th in leap years), with 152 days remaining. ... 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... This article is about the city of Las Vegas in Nevada. ... Official language(s) None Capital Largest city Carson City Las Vegas Area  - Total   - Width   - Length    - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 7th 110,567 sq mi  286,367 km² 322 miles  519 km 490 miles  788 km 0. ... The Australian Rod Laver, a candidate for the greatest player of all time This article is about the sport. ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... See also: List of ATP number 1 ranked players for somewhat different rankings for 1973 through 2006 World No. ... The Open Era in tennis began in 1968, when the Grand Slam events such as the Wimbledon Championships abandoned the longstanding rules of amateurism and allowed professionals to compete. ... Serve and volley is a strategy used in lawn tennis (and rarely in real tennis) where a player serves and immediately moves forward to make the next shot a volley and hopefully a winner. ...

Kramer was the son of a blue-collar railroad worker for the Union Pacific railroad. As a boy he was a fine all-round athlete, particularly in basketball and tennis. When he was 13, the family moved to San Bernadino, California, and after seeing Ellsworth Vines, then the world's best player, play a match Kramer decided to concentrate on tennis. The Union Pacific Railroad (NYSE: UNP) is the largest railroad in the United States. ... San Bernardino is the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... Ellsworth Vines was a champion tennis player of the 1930s, in the opinion of Jack Kramer the greatest player who ever lived. ...

Within a year he was playing junior tournaments and taking lessons from a leading professional, Dick Skeen. Because of his obvious ability, in spite of his family's lack of money he had also come under the guidance of Perry T. Jones, the leading member of the Los Angeles Tennis Club and of the Southern California Association, the centers of American tennis in the 1930s. Kramer commuted many hours each day from his new home in Montebello to play at the LATC and the Beverly Hills Tennis Club, sometimes with such great adult players as Vines and Bill Tilden. He was the national boys' champion in 1936 and the winner of the 1938 Interscholastics. He was also competing occasionally in men's tournaments on grass courts in the East and winning matches against nationally ranked men such as Elwood Cooke. Dick Skeen was a U.S. tennis player. ... The Los Angeles Tennis Club is a private tennis club that was established in 1920. ... View of Montebello and Pico Rivera from Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, notice the Downtown Los Angeles skyline in the distant background Montebello is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. ... Bill Tilden running for a backhand in the 1920s William Tatem Tilden II (February 10, 1893 – June 5, 1953), often called Big Bill, was an American tennis player who was the World No. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Elwood Thomas Cooke (born July 5, 1913 in Ogden, Utah – died April 16, 2004 in Apopka, Florida) was an outstanding amateur tennis player in the 1930s and 1940s. ...

Kramer (left) with Frank Sedgman (right), in Australia in the early 1950s

In his 1979 autobiography, Kramer calls Helen Wills Moody the best women's tennis player he ever saw. He writes that when he was "the national boys' champion, fifteen years old," he played a match against her. "She was the champion of the world at the time -- she won seven Forest Hills and eight Wimbledons.... I beat her, but Helen played a good game." Image File history File links Kramer_and_Sedgman. ... Image File history File links Kramer_and_Sedgman. ... Frank Allan Sedgman, born October 29, 1927, in Mt. ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... Cover of Time Magazine (July 26, 1926) Helen Wills Moody (October 6, 1905 – January 1, 1999) was one of the greatest womens tennis players of all time, dominating the 1920s and 1930s. ... Forest Hills is the name of some places in the United States of America: Forest Hills, Kentucky Forest Hills, Massachusetts (a suburb of Boston) Forest Hills, Michigan (a census-designated place) Forest Hills, Pennsylvania Forest Hills is also the name of a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New... Wimbledon may refer to: Wimbledon, London, a town in south-west London A constituency based around it, Wimbledon (UK Parliament constituency) Wimbledon station, a train station The Championships, Wimbledon, one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments Wimbledon (film), a movie based on the tennis championships Wimbledon F.C., a...

Kramer attended Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, and played on the tennis team there for at least the 1941 and 1942 seasons. Rollins College is an institution of higher learning located in Winter Park, Florida. ... Winter Park is a town located in Grand County, Colorado. ... Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Area  Ranked 22nd  - Total 65,794 sq mi (170,451 km²)  - Width 162 miles (260 km)  - Length 497 miles (800 km)  - % water 17. ...

Kramer was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1968. The International Tennis Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit tennis museum at the Newport Casino in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It maintains a Hall of Fame for prominent personalities and players from the tennis world. ... Newport as seen from the International Space Station. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ...

Grand Slam record

• Wimbledon Championships
• Singles champion: 1947
• Doubles champion: 1946, 1947

U.S. Championships Wimbledon logo Wimbledon is the oldest and most prestigious event in the sport of tennis. ... The U.S. Open is the fourth and final event of the Grand Slam in tennis. ...

• Singles champion: 1946, 1947
• Singles finalist: 1943
• Doubles champion: 1940, 1941, 1943, 1947
• Mixed Doubles champion: 1941
• Mixed Doubles finalist: 1940

Davis Cup Logo The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in mens tennis. ...

• Champion: 1939, 1946, 1947

Sources

• The Game, My 40 Years in Tennis (1979), Jack Kramer with Frank Deford (ISBN 0-399-12336-9)