John Thomas Godfray Hope Doeg (December 7, 1908 – April 27, 1978) was a male

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player from the United States. In August 1929 Doeg won the singles title at the Seabright Invitational defeating

Richard Norris Williams Richard "Dick" Norris Williams II (January 29, 1891 – June 2, 1968), generally known as R. Norris Williams, was an American tennis player and RMS ''Titanic'' survivor. Biography Williams was born in Geneva, Switzerland, the son of Philadel ...

in three straight sets. About a year later, he fulfilled his promise and won his first and only major singles tournament, the 1930 U.S. National Championships at Forest Hills, defeating Frank Hunter in the quarterfinals,

Bill Tilden William Tatem Tilden II (February 10, 1893 – June 5, 1953), nicknamed "Big Bill", was an American tennis player. Tilden was the world No. 1 amateur for six consecutive years, from 1920 to 1925, and was ranked as the world No. 1 professional b ...

in the semifinals and

Frank Shields Francis Xavier Alexander Shields Sr. (November 18, 1909 – August 19, 1975) was an American amateur tennis player of the 1920s and 1930s, and an actor known for ''Hoosier Schoolboy'' (1937). Tennis career Between 1928 and 1945 he was ranked e ...

in the final in four sets. He proceeded to reach a career-high singles world ranking of No. 4 in the same year. In 1962, he was inducted into the

International Tennis Hall of Fame The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an indo ...

. Doeg was the son of tennis player Violet Sutton and the nephew of Wimbledon and U.S. National singles tennis champion

May Sutton May Godfrey Sutton (September 25, 1886 – October 4, 1975) was an American tennis player who was active during the first decades of the 20th century. At age 16 she won the singles title at the U.S. National Championships and in 1905 she became ...

. Born in Mexico, he became a U.S. citizen in 1933.

Playing style

Although his name is not well known today Doeg in his heyday often was considered among the premier servers in tennis history:

Don Budge John Donald Budge (June 13, 1915 – January 26, 2000) was an American tennis player. He is most famous as the first tennis player — male or female, and still the only American male — to win the Grand Slam, and to win all four Grand Slam ev ...

in his book ''Budge on Tennis'' later stated the same sentiment: Budge, however, was careful to note the shortcomings of the rest of Doeg's game. In his 1969 memoir Budge observes "John never achieved the greatest stature in the sport because many facets of his game, his ground strokes, for instance, were somewhat lacking," then proclaimed Doeg "one of the most effective servers of all time":

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 title)

Doubles (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

Publication

In 1931, he wrote an educational tennis book titled ''"Elements of Lawn Tennis"'', with sportswriter

Allison Danzig Allison "Al" Danzig (February 27, 1898 – January, 27 1987) was an American sportswriter who specialized in writing about tennis, but also covered college football, squash, many Olympic Games, and rowing. Danzig was the only American sportswriter ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doeg, John 1908 births 1978 deaths American male tennis players Sportspeople from Sonora People from Guaymas Stanford Cardinal men's tennis players International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees United States National champions (tennis) Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles