Carl Earn (March 7, 1921 – April 4, 2007) was an American tennis player who competed on the amateur and professional circuits in the 1940s and 1950s. He reached as high as world No. 7 in the professional ranks in 1946.
| Country (sports) |  United States |
|---|---|
| Born | March 7, 1921 Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Died | April 4, 2007 (aged 86) Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Turned pro | 1946 (amateur tour from 1940) |
| Retired | 1956 |
| Plays | Left-handed (1-handed backhand) |
| Singles | |
| Highest ranking | No. 7 (1946, PPA ranking) [1] |
| Professional majors | |
| US Pro | SF (1954, 1955) |
| Wembley Pro | QF (1951) |
Biography
editEarn grew up in Los Angeles, and was Jewish.[2] He graduated from the Manual Arts High School in 1939.[3] He played tennis at Compton Junior College.[3] In 1940 he won the doubles at the Ojai Tennis Tournament with Walter Bugg.[4] He joined the U.S. Navy at the start of World War II and served until 1945.[3]
At the Pacific Southwest Championships in September 1945 he reached the semifinals, after a victory in the quarterfinal over U.S. Championships finalist Bill Talbert.[5] Earn turned professional in early 1946, a year after being honorably discharged from the Navy, and joined Bill Tilden's Professional Players Association.[3] He won his professional debut match against Bobby Riggs in Omaha. The left-hander reached as high as world No. 7 in the professional ranks (confirmed by Tilden) in 1946.[1] He reached the quarter-finals of the 1950 U.S. Pro Championships, where he lost to Jack Kramer.[6]
He was the head professional at the Beverly Hills' Hillcrest Country Club and the Beverly Hills Tennis Club.[7][3]
Earn was inducted into the Southern California Tennis Hall of Fame in 2002, and the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.[8] The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) established a grant in his name in 2007 for student-athletes on their tennis team.[9] He died at his home in Los Angeles.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b Steve Pratt (April 9, 2007). "Carl Earn, 86; L.A. tennis pro taught Hollywood celebrities". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on September 1, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
- ^ Carin Davis (June 3, 2004). "Jewish Sportsmen?! No Joke". Jewish Journal.
- ^ a b c d e f Steve Pratt. "Carl Earn, 86". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 1, 2024. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
- ^ "Past Champions - Ojai Tennis Tournament". mafiadoc.com. Archived from the original on May 1, 2024. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
- ^ "Talbert loses in Los Angeles tennis tourney". Chicago Tribune. September 22, 1945. p. 15. Archived from the original on May 1, 2024. Retrieved January 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Myths of the "talented lazy" Federer and the "non-talented hardworker" Nadal". Mens Tennis Forums. Archived from the original on May 1, 2024. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
- ^ "Celebrity tennis instructor Carl Earn dies". UPI. April 12, 2007.
- ^ "Hall of Fame – Southern California Tennis Association". USTA. May 18, 2017. Archived from the original on October 16, 2017. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
- ^ "Carl Earn Memorial Men's Tennis Grant-in-Aid". UCLA. Archived from the original on May 1, 2024. Retrieved January 19, 2020.