Paul C. Kunkel (May 10, 1903 – March 1977) was an American amateur

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player in the early part of the 20th century.

Biography

Born in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, Kunkel played tennis at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and graduated in 1924. At the

Cincinnati Open The Cincinnati Open (also known as the Cincinnati Masters) is an annual professional tennis event held in Cincinnati, United States. Due to previous sponsorship, it has also been known as: the Thriftway ATP Championships, the Great American I ...

, Kunkel made six finals appearances between 1922 and 1927, winning the doubles title in 1927. Of the remaining five finals, two were in singles (1923 and 1924) and the other three were in doubles (1922, 1924 and 1926). He lost the 1923 singles final to

Louis Kuhler Louis Edwin Kuhler, Jr. (July 11, 1902 – March 21, 1925) was a promising young American tennis player who was ranked as high as No. 26 in the United States. Kuhler, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, was the son of Louis Sr. and Mary Fromeyer Kuhler. In ...

, and the 1924 final to future International Tennis Hall of Fame enshrinee

George Lott George Martin Lott (October 16, 1906 – December 3, 1991) was an American tennis player and tennis coach who was born in Springfield, Illinois. Lott is mostly remembered as being one of the great doubles players of all time. He won the U.S. titl ...

. To reach his doubles finals appearances, he paired with his brother Ray Kunkel in 1922 and 1926, and with future Hall of Famer Charles Garland in 1924. Kunkel also won the

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

state tennis title in 1930, was a semifinalist in both singles and doubles at the 1927 Western Championship. Kunkel was enshrined into the

Athletic Hall of Fame. He died in March 1977.

Sources

*''From Club Court to Center Court'' by Phillip S. Smith (2008 Edition; ) *1931 Wright & Ditson's Lawn Tennis Annual {{DEFAULTSORT:Kunkel, Paul 1903 births 1977 deaths American male tennis players Georgetown Hoyas men's tennis players Tennis players from Cincinnati