The Jack Kramer Autograph: A Tale of Hope

[klacr]

Geoff,
Thanks for sharing. Nice article. A great racquet for a great era. Something magical about the power of a nice racquet in your hand. Gives you the confidence to take on Goliath and beat him.
They don't make them like that anymore. Literally and figuratively.

We have a wooden racquet tourney/mixer each year at my club. A few Jack Kramer's appear. Always love to give them a swing. Great feel. Once in a while I play against some of the better male members. They use their frames, I use a wooden racquet. I manage to make magic happen. Undeafeated, so far...

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[gzhpcu]

Cool Geoff, I grew up playing with Jack Kramer rackets. I would get them as hand-me-downs from my father. Problem was my dad would pick up the balls on court by rubbing the racket on the ground near his foot, so that the top of the racket was worn thin. Very thin.

Later, we had the Pancho Gonzales model... In those days, Sam Match had a tennis shop near the Beverly Hills tennis club, and about the only rackets you could get were the Wilson Jack Kramer racket, a Slazenger model and a Spaulding model. The Wilson's were our favorites, along with the Wilson tennis balls, in a yellow pressurized can. On the hard courts in L.A. they would last a couple of hours and then become as bald as Yul Brynner...

[GeoffWilliams]

Here is a picture of Yannick Noah, shortly after the great champion, Arthur Ashe gave him a Jack Kramer autograph, strung with gut. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yannick_Noah

Noah said, "He gave me a dream.", and the dream came from that racquet. It is the dream of every great coach, to hand out dreams like tennis balls to passer bys!

I have a dream, and that dream is to create a world class serve, the best string job ever done, at the advanced old age of 58! Without Ashes' gift of the Kramer, Noah would have languished in Cameroon without the great man's help. So I dedicate this article to Ashe and his championship nature.

country France
Born 18 May 1960 (age 54)
Sedan, France
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Turned pro 1977
Retired 1996
Plays Right-handed (1-handed backhand)
Prize money $3,440,660
Int. Tennis HOF 2005 (member page)
Singles
Career record 476–210 (ATP, Grand Prix, WCT and Grand Slam level, and Davis Cup)
Career titles 23
Highest ranking No. 3 (7 July 1986)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open SF (1990)
French Open W (1983)
Wimbledon 3R (1979, 1985)
US Open QF (1983, 1985, 1989)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals QF (1982)
WCT Finals SF (1988)
Doubles
Career record 213–109 (ATP, Grand Prix, WCT and Grand Slam level, and Davis Cup)
Career titles 16

[johnyandell]

Let's discuss Geoff William's article, "The Jack Kramer Autograph:
A Tale of Hope"