the time felt that Kramer would have eventually won the match against Hunt. Hunt was unable to obtain leave from the Navy in 1944 in order to defend his title. He was the U.S. no. 1 in 1943 and world no. 10 in 1939 by Gordon Lowe. Hunt was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1966. Pancho Segura, who had lost to Kramer in the semifinals, described Hunt as "a strong guy, big serve and volley, and took to grass, coming from the Southern California concrete". In a 2014 interview Segura added: "He was a very good-looking man with a body like Charles Atlas. He drew women to his matches. He would have been good for tennis. He was a credit to the game." Grand Slam finals Singles: 1 (1 title) Grand Slam tournament performance timeline Military service and death Hunt was a graduate from the Naval Academy at Annapolis. He became a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy during World War II and served a year on a destroyer in the Pacific and a year in the Atlantic. On February 2, 1945, close to his 26th birthday, Hunt was killed on a routine gunnery training mission off Daytona Beach, Florida when the fighter airplane that he was piloting, a Grumman Hellcat, went into a spin at an altitude of 10,000 feet from which he failed to recover. References External links 1919 births 1945 deaths Accidental deaths in Florida American male tennis players United States Navy personnel killed in World War II Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees Tennis people from California United States National champions (tennis) United States Navy officers Fairfax High School (Los Angeles) alumni Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1945 USC Trojans men's tennis players