Former U.S. Open Champion Jack Kramer Dies

In fact, the news of Jack Kramer's death came during the broadcast of the Rafael Nadal-Juan Martin Del Potro semifinal at the U.S. Open, with ESPN’s Cliff Drysdale reporting. Analyst Pam Shriver confirmed that the family was aware of the network’s announcement.

Jack Kramer played serve-and-volley tennis, as did his compatriots during the era prior to the "open" era. This was a perfect game to play in the days of mostly grass courts. At the time, the U.S. Open was played on grass as well as Wimbledon and the Australian Open.

After his career, Jack Kramer became a promoter of the professional tennis tours and an advocate for the establishment of open tennis between amateur and professional players, which is where we are today.

When the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) was founded in 1972, he was its first executive director and in that role was the leader of an ATP boycott of Wimbledon in 1973.

Jack Kramer was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1968.