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joe hunt

USTA Names U.S. Military Appreciation Day In Honor Of 1943 Champion Joe Hunt

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The USTA has announced that the US Open’s annual Military Appreciation Day will be named in honor of Lt. Joe Hunt.  Hunt, who won the U.S. Nationals in 1943 by beating Jack Kramer while on leave from the Navy, was killed when his Navy fighter plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in February of 1945.  He is the only U.S. Nationals or US Open champion to lose his life in service to his country.

“Lt. Joe Hunt was a special player whose career was tragically shortened in dedication and service to his country,” said Patrick Galbraith, USTA Chairman of the Board and President.  “His family remains very active in tennis, and are great supporters of the sport, and we are proud to name our Military Appreciation Day in his honor.”

US Open Military Appreciation Day is traditionally held on Labor Day Monday throughout the day and evening sessions in Arthur Ashe Stadium.  This year, in addition to honoring Lt. Joe Hunt, military families and wounded warriors from around the country will be recognized on the court and will participate in the coin toss prior to all matches.

Hunt, a native of Southern California, is the only man in history to win the U.S. Nationals boys’, juniors, collegiate and U.S. men’s singles titles. As a freshman at the University of Southern California, he went undefeated in both singles and doubles, and at 17, he became one of the youngest men to reach the top ten in the U.S. rankings.  At 20, he played Davis Cup for the U.S.  Hunt transferred to the U.S. Naval Academy, where he played both tennis and football, winning the Intercollegiate singles championship and earning the game ball from the Army-Navy gridiron battle as a running back.  Hunt made back-to-back runs to the semifinals of the U.S. Nationals in 1939 and 1940 before breaking through and capturing the singles title at 24 years of age while on leave in 1943. His story is also featured in the book “Trojan Tennis: A Storied History Of The Tennis Program at the University of Southern California” available here: https://www.amazon.com/Trojan-Tennis-University-Southern-California/dp/1937559823

The USTA has recognized many individuals and institutions since the inaugural Military Appreciation Day at the US Open in 2012, including the launch of a Public Service Announcement featuring Dr. Jill Biden that highlighted the USTA’s efforts to use tennis to support military families; the honoring of dozens of Wounded Warriors from all branches of the service during the event; and the inclusion of top military officials and veterans in Military Appreciation Day Ceremonies at the Open throughout the years.

Also of note, since 2014, US Open Sponsor Chase has annually donated US Open tickets to be distributed to various military affiliated organizations to attend Military Appreciation Day, including USO New York, Naval Weapons Station Earle, and the U.S. Coast Guard to name a few. In 2017, the US Open offered the First-Ever Military Discount to Day and Night Sessions.

Lt. Hunt was previously honored at Military Appreciation Day during the 2014 US Open with members of the Hunt family joined on court by Vice Admiral Walther E. “Ted” Carter in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

 

Joe Hunt
Joe Hunt

DRAMATIC – AND UNUSUAL – FINISHES AT THE US OPEN

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The US Open always has matches of high drama and tension and the date September 6 has had its fair share of them. From this excerpt from September 6 from the book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.TennisHistoryBook.com), some of the great matches are detailed as follows…

1943 – An unusual ending to a major final occurs in the men’s singles final at the U.S. Championships as Joe Hunt, a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, defeats Jack Kramer of the U.S. Coast Guard 6-3, 6-8, 10-8, 6-0 at Forest Hills. As Hunt serves at match point in the fourth set, Kramer’s forehand return of serve lands long as Hunt buckles to the court with cramps. Writes Allison Danzig in the New York Times, “As Kramer knocked the last ball out of the court, Hunt, turned at the baseline to run to the net to greet his opponent, fell to the ground in pain, seized with a cramp in his left leg, which had been bothering him through the last set. Kramer walked over to his fallen rival and, with Hunt holding on to his leg, they shook hands on the turf as camera men rushed to “snap” the unusual scene.” Says Kramer of the match in The Bud Collins History of Tennis, “I hit a forehand long on match point. If I’d kept that ball in court I think I would have been the champ by default.” Hunt does not defend his title in 1944, due to his military obligations, and is killed in a plane crash on a training mission in 1945 off Daytona Beach, Fla.

1975 – Four years after her debut at the U.S. Open as a 16-year-old, Chris Evert wins her first Open title, defeating Evonne Goolagong 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 in the women’s singles final. “All through the match, I never thought I’d win,” says Evert. “I was pretty down the whole way.” The final marks the first year the tournament is played on clay and Evert goes on to dominate the Open on the surface, not losing a singles match during the event’s three-year-run on clay from 1975 to 1977. After Jimmy Connors beats Bjorn Borg 7-5, 7-5, 7-5 in the first men’s semifinals, Manuel Orantes performs one of the greatest comebacks in tennis history, saving five match points in defeating Guillermo Vilas 4-6, 1-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 in 3 hours, 44 minutes after trailing two sets to love and 0-5 in the fourth set.

1977 – Top-seed Bjorn Borg dramatically quits his round of 16 match with Dick Stockton at the U.S. Open – a sore right shoulder not allowing him to continue as Stockton advances into the quarterfinals by a 3-6, 6-4, 1-0, ret. score-line. Says Stockton, “I’ll take the victory any way I can get it, but I would liked to have seen the match continue. I think I would have won it anyway.“ Also in the round of 16, Manuel Orantes ends the debut U.S. Open of John McEnroe, defeating the 18-year-old New Yorker 6-2, 6-3.

1986 – Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf complete one of the greatest U.S. Open women’s semifinal matches ever as Navratilova comes back from three match points down to claim a 1-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (10-8) semifinal victory over the 17-year-old West German. Navratilova, who displays fist-shaking and finger-waving emotion, leads 4-1 in the first set before the match is delayed a day due to rain and completes the inspired victory in a total match-playing time of 2 hours, 19 minutes. Writes Roy Johnson of the New York Times, “It took more than 24 hours to complete, with emotions that ranged from exultation to disappointment. In between, two players tested and stretched one another and provided a sellout crowd at the National Tennis Center with the most dramatic match of the tournament.”

1998 – Patty Schnyder defeats Steffi Graf 6-3, 6-4 in the round of 16 in what ultimately becomes Graf’s final match at the U.S. Open. Graf announces her retirement 11 months later on August 13, 1999.

2001 – At 12:14 am, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi complete one of the greatest tennis matches of all time as Sampras finishes off a 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5) victory in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open. Neither player has his serve broken in the 3-hour, 32-minute match. As the clock strikes midnight, the fourth set-tie break is played and both players receive a standing ovation from the 23,033 fans in attendance.

2003 – Andy Roddick saves a match point and advances into the final of the U.S. Open – his first major final – defeating David Nalbandian of Argentina 6-7 (4), 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-1, 6-3. Roddick, who fires 38 aces in the match, saves his match point at 5-6 in the third set tie-breaker with a service winner. Says Roddick, “The turning point was clearly the third set tie-break. At that point I was nearly down and out. I had no pressure at that point so just went for it.”

1991 – Seventeen-year-old Monica Seles and 15-year-old Jennifer Capriati slug it out in the dramatic women’s semifinal at the U.S. Open with Seles hanging on to advance into the U.S. Open final for the first time with a nail-biting 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (4) victory. Capriati serves for the match on two occasions – at 5-4 and 6-5 in the final set, but is unable to convert. Says Capriati, “I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.” Says Seles, “We both didn’t want to give up unitl the last ball…There was a lot of pressure on me because she was running every ball down.” In the first women’s semifinal, 34-year-old Martina Navratilova knocks off top-ranked Steffi Graf 7-6 (2), 6-7 (6), 6-4.

2003 – Twenty-two hours after walking off the court after a dramatic semifinal win over Jennifer Capriati, Justine Henin-Hardenne becomes the first Belgian to win a U.S. title, defeating countrywoman Kim Clijsters 7-5, 6-1 in all-Belgian women’s singles final. In the wee-hours of the morning the night before, Henin-Hardenne finally defeats Jennifer Capriati 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4) in the women’s semifinal in a match that concludes at 12:27 a.m. The Capriati-Henin-Hardenne match lasts 3 hours, 3 minutes with Capriati serving for the match in both in the second and third sets. She is two points from winning the match 11 times, but is unable to break through. Curiously, both Capriati and Henin-Hardenne win 127 points in the match.

2000- At 1:22 am, Todd Martin completes an incredible two-sets-to-love comeback to defeat former world No. 1 Carlos Moya of Spain 6-7 (3), 6-7 (7), 6-1, 7-6 (6), 6-2 in the fourth round of the U.S. Open. Martin saves a match point at 6-5 in the fourth-set tie-break to win the 4-hour, 17-minute struggle. Following the match, Martin laps center court and exchanges high-fives with the die-hard fans that stay to the bitter end of the match.