John Albert Kramer (August 1, 1921 – September 12, 2009) was an American
tennis player of the 1940s and 1950s. A
World No. 1 player for a number of years, and one of the most important people in the establishment of modern men's "Open"-era tennis, he was the leading promoter of professional tennis tours in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a relentless advocate for the establishment of
Open Tennis between amateur and professional players. An
International Tennis Federation (ITF) proposal to introduce Open tennis lost by five votes in 1960, but became a reality in 1968. In 1970, he created the
Men's Grand Prix points system. In 1972, he helped found the
Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) with
Donald Dell and
Cliff Drysdale, and was the first
Executive Director. He was unpaid at his request. In that role, he was the leader of an ATP boycott of Wimbledon in 1973, for the banning of
Nikola Pilic from the tournament.