View source for Jack Kramer

{{Short description|American tennis player (1921–2009)}}
{{about|the tennis player|the American football player|Jack Kramer (American football)|the baseball player|Jack Kramer (baseball)|the Norwegian footballer|Jack Kramer (footballer)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}

{{Infobox tennis biography
| name                              = Jack Kramer
| image= Jack Kramer.jpg
| caption                           = Kramer in the late 1940s
| fullname                          = John Albert Kramer
| country                           = {{U.S.}}
| residence                         = 
| birth_date                        = {{birth date|1921|8|1|mf=y}}
| birth_place                       = [[Las Vegas]], Nevada, U.S.
| death_date                        = {{death date and age|2009|9|12|1921|8|1|mf=y}}
| death_place                       = [[Bel Air, Los Angeles|Bel Air, California]], U.S.
| height                            =  {{convert|6|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on}}
| college                           = [[Rollins College]]
| turnedpro                         = November 1947<small> (first senior amateur event 1937)</small>
| retired                           = 1954
| plays                             = Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
| tennishofyear                     = 1968
| tennishofid                       = jack-kramer
| singlesrecord                     = 707–305 (69.8%) <ref name="Jack Kramer: Career match record">{{cite web|title=Jack Kramer: Career match record|url=https://app.thetennisbase.com/?enlace=playern&player_input_enc=KRAMER%2C+JACK&player_input=KRAMER%2C+JACK&sub=2#aSubmenu|work=Tennis Base|access-date=September 22, 2021}}</ref>
| singlestitles                     = 35 <ref name="Jack Kramer: Career match record"/>
| highestsinglesranking             = [[World number 1 ranked male tennis players|no. '''1''']] (1946<small>, [[Pierre Gillou]], [[Harry Hopman]]</small>)<ref name="USLTAEncyclopedia">United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). ''Official Encyclopedia of Tennis'' (First Edition), p. 425.</ref><ref name="hopman1947">{{cite web|work=The Melbourne Herald|date=January 31, 1947|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/245861470|via=Trove |title=Kramer Tops Tennis Ranking }}</ref>
| currentsinglesranking             =
| AustralianOpenresult              =
| FrenchOpenresult                  =
| Wimbledonresult                   = '''W''' ([[1947 Wimbledon Championships – Men's singles|1947]])
| USOpenresult                      = '''W''' ([[1946 U.S. National Championships – Men's singles|1946]], [[1947 U.S. National Championships – Men's singles|1947]])
| Othertournaments                  =
| MastersCupresult                  =
| WTAChampionshipsresult            =
| Olympicssresult                   =
| Promajors                         = yes
| USProresult                       = '''W''' ([[U.S. Pro Tennis Championships#1948|1948]])
| WembleyProresult                  = '''W''' ([[Wembley Championships#1949|1949]])
| FrenchProresult                   = F ([[French Pro Championship draws#1950|1950]])
| WimbledonProresult                = 
| TOCresult              = 
| doublesrecord                     =
| doublestitles                     =
| highestdoublesranking             =
| grandslamsdoublesresults          =
| AustralianOpenDoublesresult       =
| FrenchOpenDoublesresult           =
| WimbledonDoublesresult            = '''W''' ([[1946 Wimbledon Championships – Men's doubles|1946]], [[1947 Wimbledon Championships – Men's doubles|1947]])
| USOpenDoublesresult               = '''W''' (1940, 1941, 1943, 1947)
| OthertournamentsDoubles           =
| MastersCupDoublesresult           =
| WTAChampionshipsDoublesresult     =
| OlympicsDoublesresult             =
| Mixed                             =
| mixedtitles                       =
| mixedrecord                       =
| AustralianOpenMixedresult         =
| FrenchOpenMixedresult             =
| WimbledonMixedresult              =
| USOpenMixedresult                 = '''W''' (1941)
| Team = yes
| DavisCupresult                    = '''W''' ([[1946 Davis Cup|1946]], [[1947 Davis Cup|1947]])
|
}}

'''John Albert Kramer''' (August 1, 1921 – September 12, 2009) was an American tennis player of the 1940s and 1950s, and a pioneer promoter who helped drive the sport towards professionalism at the elite level. Kramer also ushered in the [[serve-and-volley]] era in tennis, a playing style with which he won three Grand Slam tournaments (the U.S. Championships in 1946 and 1947, [[Wimbledon Championships|Wimbledon]] in 1947). He also led the U.S. [[Davis Cup]] tennis team to victory in the 1946 and 1947 Davis Cup finals.

Kramer won the U.S. Pro Championship at Forest Hills in 1948 and the Wembley Pro Championships in 1949. He won world professional championship 2-man tours in 1948 (against [[Bobby Riggs]]), 1949/50 (against [[Pancho Gonzales]]), 1950/51 (against [[Pancho Segura]]), and 1953 (against [[Frank Sedgman]]).

Kramer was ranked [[World number one male tennis player rankings|world no. 1]] amateur player for 1946 by Pierre Gillou, Harry Hopman and Ned Potter. He was ranked world no. 1 amateur player for 1947 by John Olliff, Pierre Gillou and Ned Potter. In 1948 he was ranked the U.S. no. 1 professional in the USPLTA contemporary rankings for U.S. pro tennis play. Some recent tennis writers have considered Kramer to be the world no. 1 player from 1946 to 1953, spanning his last amateur years and early pro years.

He was the leading promoter of professional tennis tours in the 1950s and 1960s, signing many of the most accomplished tennis players of the era to professional contracts. Kramer played an important role in the establishment of modern men's [[Open era|Open-era]] tennis.

==Tennis career==

=== Amateur player ===
Kramer began his tennis career by taking lessons from renowned teaching professional, [[Dick Skeen]]. Within a year, he was playing junior tournaments. He played on the Montebello High School tennis team with [[George E. Richards|George Richards]]. Because of his obvious ability and his family's lack of money, he came under the guidance of [[Perry T. Jones]]. at the [[Los Angeles Tennis Club]] (LATC). Jones was the President of the [[USTA Southern California|Southern California Tennis Association]] (SCTA). Kramer traveled many hours each day from his home in [[Montebello, California]], to play tennis at the LATC and the Beverly Hills Tennis Club. He was able to play against such great players as [[Ellsworth Vines]], [[Bobby Riggs]], and [[Bill Tilden]]. Kramer was the National Boys' Champion in 1936, and the winner of the 1938 National Juniors Interscholastics. He competed occasionally in men's tournaments on grass courts in the East. He won matches against nationally ranked men such as [[Elwood Cooke]]. Kramer also played with high school teammate [[George E. Richards|George Richards]], who later was nationally ranked.

Kramer competed at the [[US Open (tennis)|U.S. National Championships]] seven times from 1938 through 1947. He lost his first match in 1938 in straight sets, winning only two games. At the [[1939 U.S. National Championships (tennis)|1939 U.S. Championships]] he was beaten in the second round by 11th-seeded and fellow Californian [[Joe Hunt]]. In 1940 Kramer defeated fourth-seeded [[Frank Parker (tennis)|Frank Parker]] in a five-set quarterfinal but lost to second-seeded and eventual champion [[Don McNeill (tennis)|Don McNeill]] in the semifinal. At the [[1941 U.S. National Championships (tennis)|1941 Championships]], he was seeded for the first time, at no. 11, and reached the quarterfinal where third-seeded [[Frank Kovacs]] proved too strong. In 1942, Kramer won the men's singles in the [[Ojai Tennis Tournament]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JmcXafmtgPsC&dq=ojai+tennis+tournament+jack+kramer&pg=PA112|page=112|title=Ojai|author1=Richard Hoye|author2=Jane McClenahan|isbn=9780738555775|date=2007|publisher=Arcadia Pub.}}</ref> Kramer received a leave from his duties in the United States Coast Guard to compete at the [[1943 U.S. National Championships (tennis)|1943 Championships]]. Seeded second, he reached the final, despite being weakened by food poisoning, but lost it to Joe Hunt in four sets.<ref name="collins2016">{{cite book|last=Collins|first=Bud|author-link=Bud Collins|title=The Bud Collins History of Tennis|year=2016|publisher=New Chapter Press|location=New York|isbn=978-1-937559-38-0|pages=636–637|edition=3rd}}</ref> During World War II, he continued to win prizes in the United States as the war had effectively put an end to international tennis, but did not compete in the U.S. Championships in 1944 and 1945.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/sport-obituaries/6190140/Jack-Kramer.html | work=The Daily Telegraph | location=London | title=Jack Kramer | date=September 14, 2009}}</ref>

The first Grand Slam tournament Kramer entered after the war was the [[1946 Wimbledon Championships]] where he was seeded second but was upset in by [[Jaroslav Drobný]] in a five-set fourth round match. At the [[1946 U.S. National Championships (tennis)|1946 U.S. Championships]], he was seeded third but managed to win his first Major singles title after a straight-set victory in the final against [[Tom Brown (tennis)|Tom Brown]], losing just a single set in the tournament. He was ranked world no. 1 amateur in 1946 by Pierre Gillou,<ref name=":12">{{Cite news|date=January 7, 1947|title=Les Meilleurs Joueurs et Joueuses de Tennis : M. Pierre Gillou, Président de la F.F.L.T. donne son classement mondial|language=French|trans-title=The best male and female tennis players: Mr. Pierre Gillou, President of the FLTF gives his world rankings|pages=4|work=Le Figaro|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t564178c}}</ref> Harry Hopman<ref>{{cite news|date=January 31, 1947|title=KRAMER TOPS TENNIS RANKING|page=12|newspaper=The Herald (Melbourne)|issue=21,747|location=Victoria, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article245861470|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=November 25, 2021}}</ref> and Ned Potter.<ref name=":potter1946">{{cite magazine |date=October 1968 |title=The World's First Ten: How The World's Best Were Rated From 1914 To The Present |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_tennis-illustrated_1968-10_16_5/page/32/mode/2up |magazine=World Tennis |location=New York |publisher= |volume=16 |issue=5 |pages=32–33 |access-date=}}</ref>

At the [[1947 Wimbledon Championships]], Kramer was seeded first and justified it by winning the title after another straight-sets win against Brown in a final that lasted only 48 minutes.<ref name="collins2016"/> At [[1947 U.S. National Championships (tennis)|1947 U.S. Championships]], number one seed Kramer faced Frank Parker in the final. Parker won the first two sets as Kramer struggled to find form. Then, Kramer "changed suddenly from a stumbling novice to a raging perfectionist"<ref>The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, September 15, 1947</ref> and went on to win in five sets to retain his title. Kramer was ranked world no. 1 amateur in 1947 by [[John Olliff]],<ref>{{cite news|date=November 6, 1947|title=BROMWICH RATED FOURTH|volume=63|page=5|edition=THIRD|newspaper=The West Australian|issue=19,130|location=Western Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article46812602|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=November 22, 2021}}</ref> Pierre Gillou<ref>{{Cite news|date=October 11, 1947|title=Jack Kramer : incontestable leader du tennis mondial 1947|language=French|trans-title=Jack Kramer: indisputable leader of the tennis world for 1947|pages=1, 3|work=L'Auto|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t599564m}}</ref> and Ned Potter.<ref>{{Cite news|date=October 21, 1948|title=Overseas Champions : Visit to Hamilton|volume=25|page=1|work=Putaruru Press|issue=1302|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/PUP19481021.2.3}}</ref>

Kramer made his debut for the US [[Davis Cup]] team in 1939 in the final of the World Group against Australia. He and [[Joe Hunt (tennis)|Joe Hunt]] lost the doubles match against [[John Bromwich]] and [[Adrian Quist]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article25777117 |title=Davis Cup doubles to Australia |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |volume=CLI |issue=21,458 |date=September 5, 1939 |page=14 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref name="wp2009"/> In 1946 and 1947 he was part of the winning US team, defeating Australia in both finals and winning all four of his singles matches. After 1947 he became ineligible to play for the Davis Cup on account of becoming a professional player. He compiled a Davis Cup match record of seven wins and two losses.<ref>{{cite web|title=Davis Cup – player profile|url=http://www.daviscup.com/en/players/player/profile.aspx?playerid=10003830|publisher=International Tennis Federation (ITF)}}</ref>

=== Professional player ===
;1947
Kramer turned professional in November 1947, signing a $50,000 per year contract with promoter Jack Harris, the largest pro contract offer ever made to that point in the history of tennis.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/81785026/|title=Jack Kramer turns pro at $50,000 year|work=Lincoln Evening Journal|agency=AP|date=November 13, 1947|page=14|quote=Jack Kramer, twice national amateur singles tennis champion, and hero in America's last two Davis Cup matches with Australia, Wednesday joined the professional ranks at an annual salary of $50,000, largest contract ever offered a tennis star.|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=subscription }}</ref> He made his pro debut against [[Bobby Riggs]] on December 26, 1947, at [[Madison Square Garden (1925)|Madison Square Garden]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article103336126 |title=Kramer Also Joins Ranks Of "Pro's" |newspaper=Goulburn Evening Post |date=November 13, 1947 |page=5|edition=Daily and Evening |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> 15,114 people showed up for the match in one of the [[North American blizzard of 1947|worst snow storms in New York history]] to watch Riggs win.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bobby Riggs Spoils Jack Kramer's Pro Debut, Winning Garden Match In 4 Sets Before Record Crowd|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Uf8rAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3MYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2523%2C4472627|newspaper=Times Daily|date=December 27, 1947|author=Hugh Fullerton Jr|page=8|agency=AP|via=Google News Archive}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=Tennis In A Blizzard|url=https://www.si.com/vault/issue/42731/77/2|magazine=Sports Illustrated|author=Dave Anderson|pages=M3–M4|date=January 21, 1963|volume=18|issue=3}}</ref>

;1948
Kramer trailed Riggs on January 16 by an 8 to 6 edge, however Kramer had already begun to win more often by adopting a net-rushing style of play. The two players were tied at 14 to 14, and then Kramer took control as Riggs weakened, going on to win the tour against Riggs 69 to 20. Kramer beat Riggs in the final of the US Professional Championships at Forest Hills NY in June 1948 in four sets. Riggs "blew a 5-3 lead in that all-telling opening set, and after that he was licked, showing obvious fatigue even though he did manage to rally to win the third set".<ref>{{cite web|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=June 21, 1948|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/381333776|via=Newspapers.com |title=The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California }}</ref> Kramer was awarded $1,450 for winning the singles, and $412 for winning the doubles.<ref>Gregory Ruth, "Pancho's Racket and the Long Road to Professional Tennis", 2017. p. 206</ref> Kramer also won tours of South America and Australasia<ref>''The Argus'' (Melbourne), November 15, 1948</ref> in 1948.

Kramer was ranked the no. 1 pro in the U.S. for 1948 by the USPLTA. The USPLTA no. 1 professional ranking was described as encompassing official recognition as the best professional player "in the United States", rather than a world no. 1 ranking.<ref>{{cite news |title=Kramer finally gets recognition as leading pro |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/147125514/ |work=Reno Evening Gazette |date=November 5, 1948 |page=19 |quote=Jack Kramer of Los Angeles today gained official recognition as the best professional player in the United States. He drew the no. 1 spot in the 1948 rankings of the Professional Lawn Tennis Association|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=limited}}</ref> The professional rankings of the USPLTA and later of the PTPA were based on major professional tournament play in the United States. Those rankings apparently did not include consideration of the world pro tours, which were not inclusive events but restricted to a small group of usually two players. Some recent tennis writers have considered Kramer to be world no. 1 for the 1948 period with the observation on that period in one article that "in those days ranking systems were less organized and credible than today's computer-driven listings."<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last=Dwyre |first=Bill |date=September 14, 2009 |title=Jack Kramer dies at 88; champion ushered in era of pro tennis |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-jack-kramer14-2009sep14-column.html |work=Los Angeles Times}} "Between 1946 and 1953, he was considered the no. 1 player in the world, though in those days ranking systems were less organized and credible than today's computer-driven listings."</ref><ref name="chino">{{cite web |last=Napoles |first=Marianne |date=October 9, 2021 |title=David Kramer named Citizen of the Year |url=https://www.championnewspapers.com/news/article_2636f5a8-2867-11ec-ba65-ef19f06e992a.html |publisher=Chino Champion |via= |quote="His father was tennis legend Jack Kramer, considered the number one player in the world from 1946 to 1953"}}</ref><ref name="bowers">{{Cite web|url=http://www.tennisserver.com/lines/lines_10_01_10.shtml|title=Tennis Server – Between The Lines – Remembering Jack Kramer|website=www.tennisserver.com}}</ref>{{sfnp|Underwood|2019|p=174}} Kramer was referred to as "world professional tennis champion" after the tour with Riggs was concluded.<ref>{{cite web|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer|date=July 4, 1948|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/100409249|via=newspapers.com |title=The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=Daily News|location=New York|date=October 8, 1948|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/445885341|via=newspapers.com |title=Daily News from New York, New York }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=The Age|location=Melbourne|date=October 13, 1948|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/124517186|via=newspapers.com |title=The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Victoria, Australia }}</ref>

;1949
In early June 1949, Kramer won the Wembley Professional Championships in London, England, edging Segura in a close five-set semifinal, and defeating Riggs in the final. "Riggs set a fast pace in the first set, but he appeared to burn himself out in the early stages of the match".<ref>{{cite web|work=The Hartford Courant|date=June 5, 1949|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/369827375|via=newspapers.com |title=Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut }}</ref> Kramer did not defend his U.S. Pro Championships title at Forest Hills N.Y., where Riggs defeated Budge in the final. However, Kramer won the Slazenger Pro at Scarborough, England in July 1949 beating Segura in the semifinal and Budge in the final.<ref>Daily Mirror, August 1, 1949, p.11</ref> In early 1950, Kramer was described as "world champion in 1949".<ref>{{cite web|work=Nevada State Journal|date=January 10, 1950|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/78942437|via=newspapers.com |title=Nevada State Journal from Reno, Nevada }}</ref> Kramer was not ranked by the USPLTA for 1949 due to insufficient play within the United States. Kramer did not play at Forest Hills or at the Philadelphia Indoor.<ref>{{cite web|work=The Bradenton Herald|date=December 18, 1949|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/682850927|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=limited |title=The Bradenton Herald from Bradenton, Florida }}</ref> Some recent tennis writers have considered Kramer to be world no. 1 for the 1949 period.<ref name="bowers"/><ref name="latimesobit">{{cite web|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=September 16, 2014 |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-jack-kramer14-2009sep14-column.html |title=Jack Kramer dies at 88; champion ushered in era of pro tennis }}</ref><ref name="chino"/>{{sfnp|Underwood|2019|p=174}}

;1950
In 1949–50, Kramer beat [[Pancho Gonzales]] 94 matches to 29 in the World Series.<ref>{{cite web|work=The Des Moines Register|date=May 22, 1950|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/127958095|via=newspapers.com |title=The Des Moines Register from des Moines, Iowa }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=The San Bernardino County Sun|date=May 22, 1950|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/49530542|via=newspapers.com |title=The San Bernardino County Sun from San Bernardino, California }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=Newport Daily News|date=May 22, 1950|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/57019775|via=newspapers.com |title=Newport Daily News from Newport, Rhode Island }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=Star-Gazette|location=Elmira, New York|date=May 22, 1950|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/275472161|via=newspapers.com |title=Star-Gazette from Elmira, New York }}</ref> Kramer lost the final of the U.S. Pro Indoor at Philadelphia to Gonzales. At the U.S. Pro in June 1950 played at Cleveland on clay, Kramer lost a close five-set semifinal to Segura. Kramer was ranked U.S. no. 2 professional behind Segura for 1950 by the USPLTA.<ref>The history of Professional tennis, Joe McCauley, 2000, p.53</ref> Some recent tennis writers have considered Kramer to be world no. 1 for the 1950 period.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="chino"/><ref name="bowers"/>{{sfnp|Underwood|2019|p=174}} Kramer was described as "world professional champion" throughout 1950.<ref name="bowers"/><ref>{{cite web|work=The Californian|location=Salinas|date=January 21, 1950|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/527154103|via=newspapers.com |title=The Californian from Salinas, California }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Clarion-Ledger|location=Jackson|date=April 16, 1950|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/183271239|via=newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=The Bellingham Herald|date=December 24, 1950|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/768950844|via=newspapers.com |title=The Bellingham Herald from Bellingham, Washington }}</ref>

;1951
In the 1950–51 World Series, Kramer beat [[Pancho Segura]] 64 matches to 28. Kramer won the Philadelphia U.S. Pro Indoor round robin event in March 1951, defeating Gonzales in the final.<ref>{{cite web|work=The Billings Gazette|date=April 1, 1951|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/412758444/|via=newspapers.com |title=The Billings Gazette from Billings, Montana }}</ref>

At the Philadelphia U.S. Pro Indoor, the service "drives" (not "forehand drives" as sometimes reported) of a number of players were electronically measured and compared to Tilden's reported service "drive" speed of 151&nbsp;mph made by stopwatch and film in 1931. The service speeds were measured at the net, and not at the racquet face, as is currently the standard practice. Gonzales was recorded as hitting the fastest serve, 112.88&nbsp;mph, followed by Kramer at 107.8, and Van Horn at 104.<ref>{{cite web|work=The Evening Standard|location=Uniontown|date=March 28, 1951|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/27656487|via=newspapers.com |title=The Evening Standard from Uniontown, Pennsylvania }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=March 29, 1951|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/177964916|via=newspapers.com |title=The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania }}</ref> Kovacs, who possessed a big serve, played in the Philadelphia tournament but did not participate in the service speed measurements. Segura and Riggs participated in the test, but their results were not reported.

Kramer did not play in the Cleveland International Pro (Cleveland U.S. Pro according to PTPA). At the USPLTA U.S. Pro at Forest Hills N.Y., in 1951, Kramer withdrew with back trouble after a five-set win over Parker. Kramer was not ranked in the USPLTA professional ranking due to insufficient U.S. tournament play (having withdrawn from the Forest Hills U.S. Pro and having been absent from the Cleveland U.S. Pro). Kramer was ranked U.S. no. 4 professional for 1951 behind Kovacs, Segura, and Gonzales by the PTPA.<ref>"Kovacs top pro net star". ''The Shreveport Times'', July 19, 1951. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com.</ref> Some recent tennis writers have considered Kramer to be world no. 1 for the 1951 period.<ref name="bowers"/><ref name=":0" /><ref name="chino"/>{{sfnp|Underwood|2019|p=174}} Kramer was described as "world champion" or "world's professional champion" throughout 1951.<ref name="bowers"/><ref>{{cite web|work=Waco Tribune-Herald|date=January 14, 1951|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/47979326/|via=newspapers.com |title=Waco Tribune-Herald from Waco, Texas }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=Tucson Citizen|date=February 1, 1951|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/581118841|via=newspapers.com |title=Tucson Citizen from Tucson, Arizona }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=Birmingham Post-Herald|date=June 9, 1951|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/792788460|via=newspapers.com |title=Birmingham Post-Herald from Birmingham, Alabama }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=December 28, 1951|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/126141350|via=newspapers.com |title=The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia }}</ref><ref>''Sydney Morning Herald'', December 28, 1951. "Jack Kramer, world's professional tennis champion and coach of the present American Davis Cup Team has Peters Ice Cream for breakfast every day. "Champions need energy" says Jack. "In U.S.A. top-line sportsmen just naturally eat ice-cream for breakfast, and you Australians have the world's finest ice-cream, Peters."</ref>

;1952
At the Philadelphia Masters Indoor, Kramer lost both of his matches to Gonzales, who won the tournament. At the Roland Garros Round Robin Professional event in Paris, Kramer defeated Gonzales but lost to Segura, who won the tournament.<ref>{{cite web|work=The San Francisco Examiner|date=June 30, 1952|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/458373424|via=newspapers.com |title=The San Francisco Examiner from San Francisco, California }}</ref> At the 1952 Wembley Professional Championships, Kramer lost a close five-set final to Gonzales, regarded as one of the classic all-time matches. Kramer was not ranked in the 1952 U.S. professional rankings by the USPLTA or the PTPA, both of which ranked Segura professional no. 1 followed by Gonzales at no. 2. Kramer did not play at the U. S. Pro (billed title Cleveland International Pro), which was won by Segura. Some recent tennis writers have considered Kramer to be world no. 1 for the 1952 period.<ref name="bowers"/><ref name=":0" /><ref name="latimesobit" />{{sfnp|Underwood|2019|p=174}}

;1953
Kramer beat [[Frank Sedgman]], 54–41, in the 1953 World Series<ref>{{cite web|work=The Times|location=San Mateo, California|date=June 1, 1953|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/38976419|via=newspapers.com |title=The Times from San Mateo, California }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=June 1, 1953|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/385489677|via=newspapers.com |title=The Los Angeles Times 01 Jun 1953, page 71 }}</ref> and was referred to as "world champion" again.<ref name="bowers"/><ref>{{cite web|work=Albuquerque Journal|date=June 1, 1953|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/156799066|via=newspapers.com |title=Albuquerque Journal from Albuquerque, New Mexico }}</ref> Kramer did not play in any of the larger tournaments in 1953. Kramer was ranked no. 3 professional for 1953 by the Players' Committee of the Cleveland World Pro in June behind Gonzales and Segura.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=March|first=Jack|author-link=Jack March|date=July 1953|title=Gonzales Wins Pro Title|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_tennis-illustrated_1953-07_1_2/page/30/mode/2up|magazine=World Tennis|location=New York|publisher=|volume=1|issue=2|page=31|access-date=}}</ref> Kramer was given a world no. 1 professional tennis player reference by The Sacramento Bee newspaper for 1953.<ref>''The Sacramento Bee'', January 2, 1954 – via Newspapers.com.</ref> He was ranked world no. 1 pro by Frank Sedgman in October 1953.<ref>{{cite web|work=Weekly Times|location=Melbourne|date=October 7, 1953|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/225646122|via=Trove |title=Sedgman Says Kramer is Best Player }}</ref> Kramer was ranked behind the World no. 1 ranked Sedgman in the 1953 Tennis de France full season rankings, which included the results from Europe, published by Philippe Chatrier.<ref>Chatrier, Philippe, ed. (February 1954). "Annual rankings". Tennis de France. no. 10. pp. 3, 4, 5.</ref> Some recent tennis writers have considered Kramer to be world no. 1 for the 1953 period.<ref name="bowers"/><ref name=":0" /><ref name="chino"/>{{sfnp|Underwood|2019|p=174}} Kramer retired from competitive tennis in 1954 due to [[arthritis|arthritic]] back problems and went on to promote his Pro Tour.<ref name="independent2009">{{cite web|author1=Steve Flink|author-link=Steve Flink|title=Jack Kramer: Tennis player who won Wimbledon and went on to lead the men's game into the professional era|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/jack-kramer-tennis-player-who-won-wimbledon-and-went-on-to-lead-the-mens-game-into-the-professional-1787355.html|website=The Independent|date=September 14, 2009}}</ref>

;1954 & 1956
Kramer played matches during an Asia tour in September and October 1954 with Pancho Gonzales, Frank Sedgman and Pancho Segura.<ref>{{cite web|work=The Montgomery Advertiser|date=October 28, 1954|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/257278026|via=newspapers.com |title=The Montgomery Advertiser from Montgomery, Alabama }}</ref> In 1956, Kramer played a few undercard matches against Segura on the main tour (Gonzales and Trabert were the feature match).<ref>{{cite web|work=St. Louis Globe-Democrat|date=June 4, 1956|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/574371033|via=newspapers.com |title=St. Louis Globe-Democrat from St. Louis, Missouri }}</ref> Kramer also played a South American tour in late June and early July 1956 with Gonzales, Sedgman and Trabert.<ref>{{cite web|work=Deseret News|date=June 22, 1956|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/595499760|via=newspapers.com |title=Deseret News from Salt Lake City, Utah }}</ref> Kramer played in the Masters at Los Angeles in July–August 1956, losing all of his matches.<ref>{{cite web|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer|date=August 6, 1956|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/103695265|via=newspapers.com |title=The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio }}</ref>

;1957–1959
Kramer made a comeback on a four-man world tour with Hoad, Rosewall, Segura, and Sedgman in the fall of 1957. Kramer led Hoad for most of the tour, before being slightly edged by the new recruit 16 to 14.<ref name="smh1957">{{cite news |title=Hoad... £6'10 a minute? |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=lL5f5cZgq8MC&dat=19571201&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |work=Sydney Morning Herald |date= December 1, 1957|page=13 |via=Google News}}</ref> Hoad claimed that he had great trouble learning to read Kramer's service motion, which he found very deceptive.<ref>Bud Lessor Oral History Archive, International Tennis Hall of Fame, July 12, 1980</ref>

Kramer beat Hoad at the Wembley tournament. "Kramer, as accurate as ever, seldom hit a loose shot and Hoad, closely confined by so much admirable lawn tennis, did not seem to have patience enough to fight his way out of his difficulties."<ref>{{cite web|work=The Guardian|date=September 26, 1957|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/259753262|via=newspapers.com |title=The Guardian from London, Greater London, England }}</ref> Kramer lost his next match in the semifinals to Rosewall, but beat Gonzales in the third place match.

Gonzales and Hoad were the headliners for Kramer's upcoming world championship tour in 1958, in which Kramer substituted for some of the undercard matches in the New Zealand portion of the tour. Following his tour loss to Gonzales in 1957, Rosewall had requested to Kramer to be included in the 1958 championship tour, and Rosewall rejected Kramer's offer of an undercard position against Trabert. Kramer fared poorly against Rosewall in the 1957 series, and he lost again to Rosewall in the quarterfinals of the 1958 French Professional Championships. Trabert beat Kramer in the quarter-finals of the Wembley tournament in 1958.<ref>{{cite web|work=The Courier|location=Waterloo|date=September 25, 1958|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/355723606|via=newspapers.com |title=The Courier from Waterloo, Iowa }}</ref> Kramer lost in the first round at the Wembley tournament in 1959 to Rosewall.<ref>{{cite web|work=The Commercial Appeal|location=Memphis|date=September 20, 1959|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/770024773|via=newspapers.com |title=The Commercial Appeal from Memphis, Tennessee }}</ref>

===Assessment===
Tall and slim, he was the first world-class player to play "the Big Game", 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", which he learned from Cliff Roche, a retired automotive engineer, at the [[Los Angeles Tennis Club]] (LATC). This strategy maximized his efforts on certain points and in certain games during the course of a match to increase his chances of winning. The key was to hold serve at all costs, which was one of many things that made up Kramer's mature game.

Kramer was regarded by some tennis historians as one of the greatest players ever.<ref name="latimes2008">{{cite web | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-aug-01-sp-briefing1-story.html | title=Kramer might have been best ever |date=August 1, 2008 |author=Thomas Bonk |website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref><ref name="wtm2011">{{cite web | url=http://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/6007 | title=Analyzing the Greatest Players of All Time | website=Worldtennismagazine.com | date=December 16, 2011 | access-date=September 4, 2012 | archive-date=September 29, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929023739/http://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/6007 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="SIrank">{{cite web | url=https://www.si.com/tennis/2012/03/27/top-100| title=A look at Tennis Channel's Top 100 | website=SI.com|date=March 27, 2012|author=Bruce Jenkins}}</ref>

In 1975, Don Budge ranked his top five players of all time and rated Kramer number two behind Vines. He also said Kramer had the best forehand.<ref>{{cite web|work=The South Bend Tribune|date=August 10, 1975|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/515677308/|via=newspapers.com |title=The South Bend Tribune from South Bend, Indiana }}</ref>

In 1978, Ellsworth Vines ranked his all-time top 10 in ''Tennis Myth and Method'' and rated Kramer number two, behind Budge.<ref>''Tennis Myth and Method'', Ellsworth Vines & Gene Vier, 1978, Viking Press, p.6</ref>

In the Tennis Channel series "100 Greatest of All Time" in 2012, Kramer was ranked the 21st greatest male tennis player of all time, just ahead of longtime rival Pancho Gonzales at 22nd, and close behind his former pro recruit Lew Hoad at 19th.

In the early years of the 21st century, [[Sidney Wood (tennis)|Sidney Wood]] compiled his list of the Greatest Players of All Time (later published posthumously in a memoir "The Wimbledon final that never was and other tennis tales from a bygone era"). Wood first entered Wimbledon in 1927 and won the title in 1931. "From that time on, through to the late 1970s (doubles only towards the end), I was privileged to compete against virtually every top player in the world" said Wood. Wood ranked Kramer number two, behind Budge.<ref>{{cite web|work=World Tennis Magazine|date=December 16, 2011|url=http://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/6007|title=Analyzing the Greatest Players of All Time|access-date=September 5, 2012|archive-date=September 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929023739/http://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/6007|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2014, Frank Sedgman ranked Kramer number one in his greatest male tennis players of all-time list in his autobiography 'Game, Sedge and Match'.<ref>{{cite web|title=Frank Sedgman names Jack Kramer and Roger Federer in front of Rod Laver in best-ever list|url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/more-sports/frank-sedgman-names-jack-kramer-and-roger-federer-in-front-of-rod-laver-in-bestever-list/news-story/d6bd63c447737c28cbc1d8830cad04f3|website=heraldsun.com}}</ref>

===Promoter===
Kramer was involved in the 1948 agreement between the touring professionals and the USPLTA, which represented the teaching professionals and tennis professionals not under contract for the pro tours.<ref>Ruth, Gregory I., "Pancho's Racket and the Long Road to Professional Tennis" (2017). Dissertations. 2848, p.207. "As a tennis professional in 1931, Bill Tilden organized the Professional Player's Association for the handful of top players touring for a living. While never strong, that organization existed apart from the PLTA in functioning essentially as a way for the few top tennis players to discourage competition from other professionals who might think of starting a rival tour. Division among those labeled as professional tennis players reached a boiling point on June 12, 1948, when the PLTA announced that only full members of their organization were allowed to play in the National Professional Championship sponsored by the PLTA and hosted by the West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills. That excluded Kramer, Riggs, Pails, Segura, and Budge; however, without those players that fans across the country most associated with professional tennis, the tournament's draw underwhelmed. Both teaching professionals and playing professionals recognized this, and in final negotiations tour players agreed to forsake their own professional organization in favor of the tennis teacher-focused PLTA if the latter organization would not interfere with the best players' efforts to tour when the PLTA sponsored championship was not going on." Murray Janoff, '"Doomed' Pro Tourney Gets Late Reprieve," ''American Lawn Tennis'' 47, no. 2 (June 1948): 9, 32; Roy Miller, "Among the Pros," ''American Lawn Tennis'' 42, no. 3 (July 1, 1948): 32-33.)</ref> The agreement established cooperation between the contract professionals and the USPLTA over the holding of the U.S. Pro at Forest Hills, and the touring pros agreed to become members of the USPLTA and to refrain from establishing a separate contract player's organization. The issue emerged again in 1951 when a group of touring pros established the Professional Tennis Players Association, which supported the Cleveland event as the U.S. Pro. The PTPA included the important pros who were no longer involved in the major professional tours, namely Kovacs, Segura, and Gonzales, and there was discussion of the PTPA creating an alternative pro tour. The PTPA apparently did not continue beyond 1952. Kramer remained on good terms with the USPLTA into the 1960s.

Kramer incorporated his company World Tennis Inc. Tours in 1952 to manage the major professional world tours.<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|author=Ruth, Gregory I.|title=Pancho's Racket and the Long Road to Professional Tennis|date=2017|page=297|quotation=Dissertations. 2848|url=https://ecommons.luc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3847&context=luc_diss|website=Ecommons.luc.edu}}</ref> He signed Frank Sedgman and [[Ken McGregor]] to contracts for the 1953 world tour, which cemented Kramer's position as the foremost promoter in the professional game. He subsequently signed a succession of amateur players to professional contracts: [[Tony Trabert]] and [[Rex Hartwig]] in 1955, [[Ken Rosewall]] in 1956, [[Lew Hoad]] in 1957, [[Ashley Cooper (tennis)|Ashley Cooper]], [[Mal Anderson]] and [[Mervyn Rose]]<ref>{{cite web|work=The Springfield Daily News|date=November 21, 1958|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/377420543/|via=newspapers.com |title=Springfield News-Sun from Springfield, Ohio }}</ref> in 1958, [[Alex Olmedo]] in 1959, [[Mike Davies (tennis)|Mike Davies]], [[Andrés Gimeno]], [[Robert Haillet]], [[Kurt Nielsen]],<ref>{{cite web|work=Hartford Courant|date=September 21, 1960|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/240634928|via=newspapers.com |title=Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut }}</ref> [[Barry MacKay (tennis)|Barry MacKay]] and [[Butch Buchholz]]<ref>{{cite web|work=Tampa Bay Times|date=December 22, 1960|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/318205017/|via=newspapers.com |title=Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida }}</ref> in 1960 and [[Luis Ayala (tennis)|Luis Ayala]] in 1961.<ref>Ruth, Gregory I., "Pancho's Racket and the Long Road to Professional Tennis" (2017). Dissertations. p. 299</ref> Some of these amateurs were pitted against Pancho Gonzales in marathon head-to-head match series for the title of World Professional Champion, which were played primarily in the U.S.. Gonzales won a four-man tour over Segura and Sedgman in 1954, a world series marathon against Trabert in 1956, another long tour against Rosewall in 1957, and against Hoad in 1958.

In 1959 and 1960 Kramer arranged four-man tours for the World Championship title. Gonzales frequently complained about the financial arrangements which guaranteed much more money to the new pro recruits than to himself. However, Hoad stated "I never had a problem with Jack Kramer".<ref>Bud Lessor Oral History Archive, International Tennis Hall of Fame, July 12, 1980.</ref> It was said that Kramer never had a signed contract with [[Pancho Segura]], but operated entirely on a handshake basis with the Ecuadorian star. During the heyday of the Kramer pro tours in the late 1950s, with 11 Hall of Fame tennis players under contract, Kramer's troupe of players were reported to be among the best paid athletes in the world of professional sports, comparable to the best paid baseball players.<ref>Chicago Tribune, March 1, 1959, p. 258</ref> Laver later stated "He was a huge figure in tennis. We all needed money and he helped a lot of players get some."<ref name="latimesobit"/>

During the years of Kramer's management, the major professional tours gradually transformed from the traditional two-man head-to-head marathon series to a more inclusive arrangement of tournaments linked by points systems which included all of the contract professionals. This transition was necessitated by the growing number of prominent players under contract to Kramer. In 1959, Kramer organized a year-long series of 15 tournaments in Australia, North America, and Europe linked by a points system to create a ranking of all the 12 professionals under contract to his World Tennis Inc. Tours, with a significant bonus money award to the number one finisher. Kramer also arranged a tournament points series for 1960, although both Gonzales and Hoad withdrew and there were no announced final results. In 1964, Kramer advised and helped arrange a five-month series of 17 tournaments in the United States and Europe with a points system to determine the rankings of the touring pros. These points series of tournaments paved the way for more recent and current professional rankings and tours.

Kramer had planned an important women's professional tour for 1955 between [[Maureen Connolly]] and defending world professional champion [[Pauline Betz]], but it failed to materialize due to Connolly's career-ending injury. It was expected that Connolly would earn about $75,000 from her contract.<ref name="Scholar">{{Cite web|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=8408166016021329600|title=Connolly v. Pre-Mixed Concrete Co., 49 Cal. 2d 483 - Cal: Supreme Court 1957 |website=Scholar.google.com|access-date=February 7, 2022}}</ref><ref>"...She planned to go on a three-months' professional tennis tour, for which she had been offered a percentage of the receipts, with a guarantee of $30,000. It was estimated that she would have received $62,500 if the tour had continued outside the United States, that she would have received additional sums from various sources, such as endorsements of sporting goods and other articles, and that she would have cleared $50,000 during that year. Other witnesses estimated that her earnings during her first year as a professional would have been $75,000. There was evidence that plaintiff had not yet reached the peak of her career and that she could expect at least seven or eight years' participation as a professional."</ref> Kramer apparently gave testimony at Connolly's trial for damages.<ref name="Scholar"/>

Kramer terminated his own company World Tennis Inc. Tours in early 1960, but remained as promoter and manager of the new International Professional Tennis Players Association, which was owned by the players themselves and assumed responsibility for the pro player contracts.<ref name="auto1"/>

[[Ramanathan Krishnan]] rejected a record three-year $150,000 guarantee offer from Kramer in 1959.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thehindu.com/sport/tennis/Jack-Kramer-a-wonderful-human-being-Ramanathan-Krishnan/article16881356.ece|title=Jack Kramer, a wonderful human being: Ramanathan Krishnan|first=S.|last=Thyagarajan|date=September 14, 2009|access-date=February 7, 2022|website=Thehindu.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/260150-remembering-jack-kramer-tennis-most-significant-figure|title=Remembering Jack Kramer: Tennis' Most Significant Figure|first=Goutham|last=Chakravarthi|website=Bleacher Report|access-date=February 7, 2022}}</ref> [[Neale Fraser]] rejected a $50,000 two-year contract from Kramer in 1960.<ref>{{cite web|work=Hartford Courant|date=December 17, 1960|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/367822510/|via=newspapers.com |title=Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut }}</ref> Both [[Rod Laver]] and [[Roy Emerson]] rejected contract offers from Kramer in 1961,<ref>{{cite web|title=World Tennis 1961-12|volume=9|page=56|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_tennis-illustrated_1961-12_9_7/page/64/mode/2up|website=Archive.org|date=December 1961|issue=7 }}</ref> and Kramer was not able to field a world tour in 1962, retiring as promoter and manager that year, being succeeded by Tony Trabert.<ref>McCauley (2000) p. 118</ref> Kramer continued to assist in the pro tour occasionally thereafter, and helped to arrange an $80,000 offer to Emerson in 1964, which Emerson rejected.

Kramer was a relentless advocate for the establishment of [[History of tennis#Open era|Open Tennis]] between amateur and professional players. An [[International Tennis Federation]] (ITF) proposal to introduce Open tennis lost by five votes in 1960,<ref>{{cite web|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=October 2, 1960|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/123223278/|via=newspapers.com |title=The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia }}</ref> but became a reality in 1968. In 1970, he created the [[Grand Prix tennis circuit|Men's Grand Prix points system]].<ref>{{cite web|work=The Guardian|date=February 11, 1970|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/259748951/|via=newspapers.com |title=The Guardian from London, Greater London, England }}</ref> In 1972, he was the first executive director of the ATP.<ref>{{cite web|work=The Vancouver Sun|date=September 8, 1972|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/494178966/|via=newspapers.com |title=The Vancouver Sun from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada }}</ref> He was unpaid at his request.<ref>The Game, Jack Kramer with Frank Deford, 1981 André Deutsch edition, p. 106</ref> In this role, he was a key figure in an ATP boycott of Wimbledon in 1973, for the banning of [[Nikola Pilić]] from the tournament.<ref>''The Game'', Jack Kramer with Frank Deford, 1981 André Deutsch edition, p. 104-122</ref>

=== Author ===
In his 1979 autobiography ''The Game: My 40 Years in Tennis'', Kramer calls [[Helen Wills Moody]] the best women's tennis player that he ever saw. "She was the champion of the world, when I was 15 and played her. – she won Seven [[US Open (tennis)|Forest Hills]] and Eight [[Wimbledon Championships|Wimbledons]]...I beat her, but Helen played a very good game."<ref name=b1/>

Kramer ranked the best possessors of tennis shots as of 1979:<ref name=b1>Jack Kramer and Frank Deford (1979) ''The Game, My 40 Years in Tennis''. Putnam. pp. 295–296. {{ISBN|0-399-12336-9}}</ref>
[[File:Tony Trabert and Jack Kramer 1955-10-19.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Tony Trabert]] and Jack Kramer in 1955]]
* First serve: [[Ellsworth Vines]] had the finest serve, but [[Pancho Gonzales]] was "more consistent with his in the tightest spots. Tilden, too, must be ranked, for speed and deception".
* Second serve: [[John Newcombe]] by far.
* Forehand: [[Pancho Segura]] was best, then Fred Perry, followed by Bill Tilden and [[Ellsworth Vines]].
* Backhand: [[Donald Budge]] was the best, with [[Frank Kovacs]], [[Ken Rosewall]] and [[Jimmy Connors]] in the next rank.
* Return of serve: [[Don Budge]] was the best, followed by Connors.
* Forehand volley: [[Wilmer Allison]], followed by [[Budge Patty]], then Newcombe.
* Backhand volley: Close among [[Frank Sedgman]], [[Don Budge]] and [[Ken Rosewall]], with Sedgman having the edge.
* Overhead: [[Ted Schroeder]] was the best, ahead of Vines, Rosewall and Newcombe.
* Lob: [[Bobby Riggs]] was the best, "but Segura, Bitsy Grant and Rosewall were almost as effective".
* [[Half volley]]: [[Pancho Gonzales]] and [[Ken Rosewall]].
Kramer's serve and forehand were equal to the best players in the game, but he would not talk about his own strokes.

Kramer attended Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, and he played on the tennis team in the 1941 and 1942 seasons. [[Pauline Betz]] was there at the same time.

=== Commentator ===
Kramer started working for the BBC as a commentator on the [[Wimbledon Championships]] in 1960, a role in which he was very popular because of his intimate off-court knowledge of most of the players.<ref name="nyt2009"/><ref name="collins2016"/> He was paired with [[Dan Maskell]] in the commentators booth. However, he was dropped by the BBC in 1973 because of his role in the [[Association of Tennis Professionals|ATP]] boycott of Wimbledon that year, which saw 81 players, including defending champion [[Stan Smith]], stay away from the tournament.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Michael Gray|title=Jack Kramer obituary|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2009/sep/13/jack-kramer-obituary|website=The Guardian|date=September 13, 2009}}</ref> Kramer returned to the BBC to commentate on the 1976 Wimbledon championships and the 1996 Australian Open men's singles final. Kramer was the first host of BBC TV's Wimbledon evening highlights programme called Match of the Day from 1964 to 1970. He also commentated for NBC from 1954 to 1962, ABC from 1965 to 1973 and CBS from 1968 to 1973.

===Thoroughbred racing===
A fan of [[Thoroughbred racing]], Kramer owned and raced a number of Thoroughbred horses.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19620712.1.28&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1 |title=Longden Plans Summer Tor of Riding Duty at Del Mar |work=San Bernardino Sun|volume=68|page=28 |date=July 12, 1962 |access-date=February 14, 2020}}</ref>

==Early and personal life==
[[File:Jack Kramer with son David 1947.jpg|thumb|Kramer with his son David in 1947]]
Kramer was the son of a blue-collar railroad worker for the [[Union Pacific]] railroad.<ref name="wp2009">{{cite news|author1=T. Rees Shapiro|title=Jack Kramer, 88, Dies; Wimbledon Champion Helped Found Tennis Pro Organization|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/13/AR2009091302859.html|newspaper=Washington Post|date=September 14, 2009}}</ref> As a boy he was a fine all-round athlete, particularly in basketball and tennis. When he was 13, the family moved to San Bernardino, California, and after seeing [[Ellsworth Vines]], then the world's best player, play a match, Kramer decided to concentrate on tennis.

In 1944, he married Gloria, and they had five sons: Bob, David, John, Michael and Ron.<ref name="nyt2009">{{cite web|author1=Richard Goldstein|title=Jack Kramer, 88, Champion, Promoter and Powerful Force in Tennis, Is Dead|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/sports/tennis/14kramer.html|website=The New York Times|date=September 13, 2009}}</ref> They lived in Bel Air, California. He invested in the Professional Tennis Tour, the Jack Kramer Tennis Club in Palos Verdes, California., two Golf courses at the Los Serranos Country Club in Chino Hills, California, and racehorses. Starting in 1948, the Jack Kramer Autograph tennis racket from Wilson Sporting Goods became the most popular selling racket of all time for over 35 years (Wilson Sporting Goods-1984).<ref name="wp2009"/>

== Death ==
Jack Kramer died from a soft tissue cancer on September 12, 2009, at his home in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-jack-kramer14-2009sep14,0,2060439.column |title=Jack Kramer, tennis champ and promoter, dies at 88 |first=Bill |last=Dwyre |work=Los Angeles Times |date=September 13, 2009 | access-date=September 13, 2009}}</ref><ref name="wp2009"/>

==Awards and honors==
Kramer was inducted into the [[International Tennis Hall of Fame]] in Newport, Rhode Island in 1968.<ref>{{cite news|title=5 Are Selected for Net Honor|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lUoaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VygEAAAAIBAJ&dq=tennis%20hall%20fame%20jack%20kramer&pg=4697%2C3018870|newspaper=The Milwaukee Journal|date=August 6, 1968}}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> From 1979 until 1981 the [[LA Tennis Open|Los Angeles Tennis Open]], a tournament he was involved with since the 1950s, was known as the "Jack Kramer Open".<ref>{{cite web|title=Tennis Great Jack Kramer Dead at 88|url=http://www.foxnews.com/us/2009/09/13/tennis-great-jack-kramer-dead/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101117181557/http://www.foxnews.com/us/2009/09/13/tennis-great-jack-kramer-dead/|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 17, 2010|website=Fox News|date=September 13, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=World of Tennis : a BP yearbook.|year=1980|publisher=Queen Anne Press|location=London|isbn=9780362020120|pages=100, 101|editor=John Barrett|editor-link=John Barrett (tennis)}}</ref> He was portrayed by actor [[Bill Pullman]] in the 2017 movie ''[[Battle of the Sexes (2017 film)|Battle of the Sexes]]''.

==Grand Slam finals==
===Singles (3 titles, 1 runner-up)===

{| class="sortable wikitable" 
!Result
!Year
!style="width:160px"|Championship
!Surface
!style="width:135px"|Opponent
!style="width:160px" class="unsortable"|Score
|-
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss || [[1943 U.S. National Championships – Men's singles|1943]] || style="background:#ccf;"|[[US Open (tennis)|U.S. Championships]] || Grass||{{flagicon|USA}} [[Joe Hunt (tennis)|Joe Hunt]] || 3–6, 8–6, 8–10, 0–6
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || [[1946 U.S. National Championships – Men's singles|1946]] || style="background:#ccf;"|U.S. Championships <small>(1)</small> || Grass|| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Tom Brown (tennis)|Tom Brown]] || 9–7, 6–3, 6–0
|- 
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || [[1947 Wimbledon Championships – Men's singles|1947]] || style="background:#cfc;"|[[Wimbledon Championships|Wimbledon]] ||Grass||{{flagicon|USA}} Tom Brown || 6–1, 6–3, 6–2
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || [[1946 U.S. National Championships – Men's singles|1947]] ||style="background:#ccf;"| U.S. Championships <small>(2)</small> || Grass||{{flagicon|USA}} [[Frank Parker (tennis)|Frank Parker]] || 4–6, 2–6, 6–1, 6–0, 6–3
|}

===Doubles (6 titles)===

{| class="sortable wikitable"
!Result
!Year
!style="width:160px"|Championship
!Surface
!style="width:135px"|Partner
!style="width:135px"|Opponents
!style="width:100px" class="unsortable"|Score
|- 
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1940 || style="background:#ccf;"|[[US Open (tennis)|U.S. Championships]] || Grass || {{flagicon|USA|1912}} [[Ted Schroeder]] || {{flagicon|USA|1912}} [[Gardnar Mulloy]] <br /> {{flagicon|USA|1912}} [[Henry Prusoff]] || 6–4, 8–6, 9–7
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1941 || style="background:#ccf;"|[[US Open (tennis)|U.S. Championships]] || Grass || {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Ted Schroeder || {{flagicon|USA|1912}} [[Wayne Sabin]] <br /> {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Gardnar Mulloy || 9–7, 6–4, 6–2
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1943 || style="background:#ccf;"|[[US Open (tennis)|U.S. Championships]] || Grass || {{flagicon|USA|1912}} [[Frank Parker (tennis)|Frank Parker]] || {{flagicon|USA|1912}} [[Bill Talbert]] <br /> {{flagicon|USA|1912}} [[David G. Freeman|David Freeman]] || 6–2, 6–4, 6–4
|- 
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1946 || style="background:#cfc;"|[[1946 Wimbledon Championships|Wimbledon]] || Grass || {{flagicon|USA}} [[Tom Brown (tennis)|Tom Brown]] || {{flagicon|AUS}} [[Geoff Brown (tennis)|Geoff Brown]] <br /> {{flagicon|AUS}} [[Dinny Pails]] || 6–4, 6–4, 6–2
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1947 || style="background:#cfc;"|[[Wimbledon Championships|Wimbledon]] || Grass || {{flagicon|USA|1912}} [[Bob Falkenburg]] || {{flagicon|GBR}} [[Tony Mottram]] <br /> {{flagicon|AUS}} [[Bill Sidwell]] || 8–6, 6–3, 6–3
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1947 || style="background:#ccf;"|[[US Open (tennis)|U.S. Championships]] || Grass || {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Ted Schroeder || {{flagicon|USA|1912}} [[Bill Talbert]] <br /> {{flagicon|AUS}} Bill Sidwell || 6–4, 7–5, 6–3
|}

==Pro Slam finals==
===Singles (2 titles, 1 runner-up)===
{| class="sortable wikitable"
!Result
!Year
!style="width:160px"|Championship
!Surface
!style="width:135px"|Opponent
!style="width:160px" class="unsortable"|Score
|- 
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1948 || style="background:#ccf;"|[[U.S. Pro Tennis Championships|US Pro]] || Grass|| {{Flagicon|USA}} [[Bobby Riggs]] || 14–12, 6–2, 3–6, 6–3
|- 
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1949 || style="background:#cfc;"|[[Wembley Championships|Wembley Pro]] || Indoor || {{Flagicon|USA}} Bobby Riggs || 2–6, 6–4, 6–3, 6–4
|-
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss || 1952 || style="background:#cfc;"|[[Wembley Championships|Wembley Pro]] || Indoor || {{flagicon|USA}} [[Pancho Gonzales]] || 6–3, 6–3, 2–6, 4–6, 5–7
|}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
* ''Tennis is my Racket'' (1949), Bobby Riggs
* ''Man with a Racket'' (1959), Pancho Gonzales
* ''Big Bill Tilden, The Triumph and the Tragedy'' (1979), Frank Deford
* ''Tennis Players are Made, not Born'' (1976), Dick Skeen
* ''Little Pancho'' (2009), Caroline Seebohm
* ''The Factory System'' (August 1950), Perry T. Jones in Life Magazine
* ''Mental Tennis'' (1994), Vic Braden
* ''As It Was'' (2009), Gardnar Mulloy
* ''Never Make the First Offer'' (2009), Donald Dell
* {{cite book|last=Underwood|first=Peter|title=The Pros: The Forgotten Era of Tennis|publisher=New Chapter Press|isbn=978-1937559915|year=2019}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{ATP}}
* {{ITF profile}}
* {{DavisCup player}}
* {{Tennis Hall of Fame}}
* [http://tennis.quickfound.net/history/jack_kramer.html Excerpts from The Game]

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