Dr. Jack KlapperImagine never losing in high school. Dr. Jack Klapper, the standout tennis player from Denver East, can make that statement. He never lost a match or set in high school competition. In fact, when he did lose in the summer, it was to one of his East teammates.
Dr. Klapper was just the second prep tennis player to win three state individual titles when he finished the 1957 season. Only Jack Cella (Regis Jesuit) had done that previously. In fact, the Denver East team won the team title all three years Dr. Klapper was on the squad, but his time on the team set the tone for a run of five straight team titles for the Angels.
The left-handed player first started playing tennis on the public courts in Wichita. Once the family moved to Denver when he was 11, Dr. Klapper continued his love for tennis and several tennis professionals took interest in his development. A left-hander, rare at the time, he took lessons from these experts throughout the summer.
Dr. Klapper and Tag Grossman were rivals through Jack's junior years and were the state’s top junior players. Grossman occasionally defeated Dr. Klapper in summer play, but always lost the high school team tryouts.
He was active and successful with Colorado and Intermountain junior tennis tournaments. Throughout his junior career, he was consistently in the top 5 players in the Intermountain Region.
Dr. Klapper went on to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he played tennis and squash and even played on the Cuban Davis Cup team with a MIT teammate. He skipped his senior year to enroll in medical school.
Dr. Klapper has served Denver as a neurologist for over 50 years and does research on Alzheimer’s Disease. He received his medical degree from the University of Colorado School of Medicine in 1964 and trained in psychiatry
