Jack Kramer, the first executive director of the ATP and one of the game’s finest players, passed away Saturday night in Los Angeles at 88 years of age. He had been diagnosed with soft tissue cancer in July."Jack Kramer was truly one of the greats of the game and was instrumental in the growth and development of the sport in so many ways, both on and off the court,” said ATP Executive Chairman and President Adam Helfant. “He was like a father figure to so many in tennis and his wisdom, enthusiasm and advice will be sadly missed. On behalf of everybody at the ATP I would like to pass on our sincere condolences to his family."
Kramer was a vocal advocate for a more unified tour, and joined with other leading professionals in 1972 to create the Association of Tennis Professionals. As the newly elected Executive Director, one of the initial acts Kramer undertook was the establishment of a computer ranking system – today’s South African Airways ATP Rankings – that provided fair analysis of a player's performance as well as an objective means to determine entries into tournaments.
During his playing career, Kramer was the world’s No. 1 player for a number of years in the 1940s. He won three Grand Slam titles – at the US Championships in 1946-47 and Wimbledon in 1947 – and captured six Grand Slam doubles titles. He also was a member of the U.S. Davis Cup squad that defeated Australia in the 1946-47 finals.
After retiring due to injuries in 1954, Kramer continued his involvement in tennis as a promoter. In addition to devising a Grand Prix – a series of tournaments leading to a Masters Championship featuring the eight best players, held for two decades – he and his family have owned and operated the ATP tournament in his hometown of Los Angeles since the late 1970s. The LA Tennis Open, once called the Jack Kramer Open, is currently run by his son Bob Kramer.
Kramer, who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1968, saw his last tennis match at the LA Tennis Open this past summer, when Pete Sampras and Marat Safin faced off in the Millennium Challenge – a rematch of the 2000 US Open final. Bob Kramer told the Los Angeles Times, “Dad thought Pete was one of the greatest players ever, probably because he played a lot like he did [in a serve-and-volley style]."
Kramer passed away at his home surrounded by his five sons – Bob, David, John, Michael and Ron – and eight grandchildren. His wife, Gloria, died last year.
John Albert Kramer (August 1, 1921 - September 12, 2009) was an American tennis player of the 1940s. A World Number 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. When the Association of Tennis Professionals was founded in 1972, he was the first executive director and in that role was the leader of an ATP boycott of Wimbledon in 1973. 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.
Tennis Gondomar hereby presente is Homage to one of the ALL TIME GREATS!
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário