International tournaments were canceled or suspended during the war, while Patriotic Tournaments raised funds and improved morale. Many players sacrificed promising careers to serve their countries, and some, their lives.
Australian Davis Cup Team (1939) by Max Peter HaasInternational Tennis Hall of Fame
Australian Davis Cup Team
Australians John Bromwich (left) and Adrian Quist (3rd from left) secured the Davis Cup, with Team Captain Harry Hopman (2nd from left) on the sidelines as Germany began its Blitzkrieg on Poland. All three men went on to serve for Australia in the military during the war.
Fashion designer serves Britain
Ted Tinling (left) put his successful couturier business on pause and joined the British Army as a Private. He eventually became a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Intelligence Corps for Great Britain. He served from 1939-1947 and was stationed in Algiers and Germany.
Jaroslav Drobny
Jaroslav Drobny represented the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia at Wimbledon, the only part of his homeland of Czechoslovakia not occupied by Nazis. He worked in munitions factories there during the war.
Frenchwoman Simonne Mathieu and the Corps Feminin Francais
Mathieu, was instrumental in the creation of the a volunteer force of women in the Free French Forces, which by 1941, had 100 volunteers willing to serve their country. In response to Mathieu’s activities, the Vichy government of France had reportedly condemned her to death.
Gottfried Von Cramm, Gottfried (1935) by London News AgencyInternational Tennis Hall of Fame
The Baron who opposed Hitler
Baron Gottfried von Cramm, after being released from a Gestapo prison, was drafted into military service. He saw action on Germany’s Eastern Front, for which he was awarded the Iron Cross.
Fred Perry
British Davis Cup great Fred Perry (whose medals are shown here) was drafted into the U.S. Navy to serve in World War II after becoming a naturalized American citizen.
Wilmer Allison and John Van Ryn
The American doubles team of Wilmer Allison (right) and John Van Ryn (left) was divided during the war years, with Van Ryn serving in the Navy as a Lieutenant Commander, while Colonel Allison joined the Army Air Forces and worked to establish radio relay stations overseas.
American, Art "Tappy" Larsen
A machine-gunner for the 17th Cavalry Squadron in France, Larsen witnessed half of his squadron killed in front of him in a single encounter.
He received psychological treatment for this traumatic event, and after discharge from active duty, doctors suggested he take up tennis as therapy. Larsen focused on the game, and, in 1950, he won the U.S. National Men's Singles Championship.
Helen Hull Jacobs, Navy WAVES (1940/1945) by U.S. NavyInternational Tennis Hall of Fame
Helen Hull Jacobs
Helen Hull Jacobs enlisted as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy on January 16. She served many different duties as part of the WAVES and the U.S. Navy Personnel Separation unit in New York.
Jacobs was one of five women to be named Commander of the Navy during World War II.
Joe Hunt
On February 2, 1945, American Davis Cupper and 1943 U.S. National Men's Singles Champion, Joe Hunt died as his Navy fighter plane crashed in the ocean off Florida. Hunt was 25 and the highest-regarded American player to die in the war.
Gardnar Mulloy
Lieutenant Gardnar Mulloy (left) received the U.S. Navy Citation for rescuing the shipwrecked crew of the Greek ship Iona off the coast of Greece. He sent this inscribed photo to S.Wallis "Pops" Merrihew, editor of American Lawn Tennis magazine.
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