Carl Earn

Summary

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.

Carl Earn
Country (sports) United States
Born(1921-03-07)March 7, 1921
Los Angeles, California, United States
DiedApril 4, 2007(2007-04-04) (aged 86)
Los Angeles, California, United States
Turned pro1946
(amateur tour from 1940)
Retired1956
PlaysLeft-handed (1-handed backhand)
Singles
Highest rankingNo. 7 (1946, PPA ranking) [1]
Professional majors
US ProSF (1954, 1955)
Wembley ProQF (1951)

Biography edit

Earn 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

  1. ^ a b Steve Pratt (April 9, 2007). "Carl Earn, 86; L.A. tennis pro taught Hollywood celebrities". Los Angeles Times.
  2. ^ Carin Davis (June 3, 2004). "Jewish Sportsmen?! No Joke". Jewish Journal.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Steve Pratt. "Carl Earn, 86". Los Angeles Times.
  4. ^ "Past Champions - Ojai Tennis Tournament". mafiadoc.com.
  5. ^ "Talbert loses in Los Angeles tennis tourney". Chicago Tribune. September 22, 1945. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Myths of the "talented lazy" Federer and the "non-talented hardworker" Nadal". Mens Tennis Forums.
  7. ^ "Celebrity tennis instructor Carl Earn dies". UPI. April 12, 2007.
  8. ^ "Hall of Fame – Southern California Tennis Association". USTA. May 18, 2017.
  9. ^ "Carl Earn Memorial Men's Tennis Grant-in-Aid". UCLA.

External links edit

  • Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame