Joe Hunt

Who was Joe Hunt?

Joseph "Joe" Raphael Hunt was an American tennis player of the late 1930s and early 1940s from Southern California. He became a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy during World War II and, fifteen days short of his twenty-sixth birthday, was killed on a training mission off Daytona Beach, Florida, when his Grumman Hellcat crashed for still-unknown reasons.

In 1943, he won the United States singles championship at Forest Hills while lying on the ground. On match point Hunt collapsed with cramps while his opponent, Jack Kramer, hit a return that barely went long. Had it been in, most observers at the time felt that Kramer would have eventually won the match against Hunt. Hunt was unable to obtain leave from the Navy in 1944 in order to defend his title.

He was the U.S. No. 1 in 1943 and was ranked World No. 5 for 1943 and 1944 by Karoly Mazak, World No. 6 for 1940 by Ray Bowers and World No. 10 in 1939 by Gordon Lowe.

Hunt was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1966.