John Alexander Wright M.D., C.M. (November 11, 1901 – September 21, 1949) was a Canadian

tennis player 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 cove ...

and physician and surgeon. He won the singles title at the Canadian Open in 1927, 1929 and 1931. His tennis game was characterized by a powerful service and groundstrokes. Wright captured the Canadian Open tennis tournament singles title three times, in 1927, 1929, and 1931. He won the doubles title four times with his Davis Cup teammate

Willard Crocker Willard Frederick Crocker (21 July 1898 – 7 February 1964) was a Canadian National singles and doubles tennis champion and Canadian Davis Cup player. Born in Newton, Massachusetts, Crocker studied at Tufts University and then moved to Montre ...

in 1923, 1925, and 1929, and once with Marcel Rainville, in 1931. At one point in 1927 he was ranked third in the world, the highest ranking achieved by a Canadian singles player until

Milos Raonic Milos Raonic (; sr, Милош Раонић, Miloš Raonić, ; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian inactive professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), wh ...

in 2016. Wright was also Canada's top ranked tennis player for five years (1926-29 and 1931). In the 1929 Canadian Open Championships, he defeated two prominent American players in the semifinal and final in four-set matches,

John Doeg John Thomas Godfray Hope Doeg (December 7, 1908 – April 27, 1978) was a male tennis player from the United States. In August 1929 Doeg won the singles title at the Seabright Invitational defeating Richard Norris Williams in three straight sets. ...

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 ...

. These two players would contest the final of the U.S. Open Tennis Championships the following season, Doeg defeating Shields. Wright competed in the U.S. National Championship for singles tennis five times and reached the round of 16 twice, in 1924 and 1927, losing to

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 ...

and

Bill Johnston Bill or Billy Johnston may refer to: * Bill Johnston (cricketer) (1922–2007), Australian cricketer * Bill Johnston (golfer) (1925–2021), American golfer and golf course architect * Bill Johnston (tennis) William Marquitz "Little Bill" John ...

respectively. He lost in the first round of

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

in 1929, to

Wilbur Coen Wilbur Franklyn Coen Jr (known also as Junior Coen, 23 December 1911 – 5 February 1998) was an American tennis player. In 1928, at age , he became the youngest tennis player to ever represent the United States in the Davis Cup, and the youngest ...

in four sets, in his only appearance there. Wright played 14

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

ties for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, over 11 years. He had 6 wins against 20 losses in singles and went 3 and 11 in doubles. Wright's most famous Davis Cup singles win occurred in 1927, when he defeated Japan's

Takeichi Harada was an amateur tennis player from Japan who competed in the 1920s and 1930s, including the 1924 Summer Olympics. He was ranked World No. 7 in 1926 by A. Wallis Myers of ''The Daily Telegraph''. Harada was also ranked World No. 10 by Myers and ...

, then ranked No. 7 in the world, in three straight sets. In 1932, he lost a close five-set Davis Cup match to

Ellsworth Vines Henry Ellsworth Vines Jr. (September 28, 1911 – March 17, 1994) was an American tennis champion of the 1930s, the World No. 1 player or the co-No. 1 in 1932, 1934, 1935, 1936 and 1937, able to win Pro Slam titles on three different surfaces. ...

, who won at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships that year. Jack Wright served in WWII as a captain in the Royal Canadian Medical Corps and the Canadian Scottish Regiment in Normandy and France. He died in Vancouver, Brtish Columbia in 1949. Wright was inducted into the Canada's

Sports Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

in 1955 and the

Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame The Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame is an honour roll of the top Canadian Olympic athletes, teams, coaches, and builders (officials, administrators, and volunteers). It was established in 1949. Selections are made by a committee appointed by the Canad ...

in 1972. He was inducted into the McGill Redmen Hall of Fame in 2000. In a Canadian newspaper poll in 1950, he was ranked Canada's top tennis player of the first half of the 20th century.Dr. Jack Wright. http://www.sportshall.ca/hall-of-famers/hall-of-famers-search.html?proID=464&catID=all&lang=

References

External links

* *
McGill Sports Hall of Fame inductee page
1901 births 1949 deaths Canadian male tennis players McGill University alumni People from Nelson, British Columbia Racket sportspeople from British Columbia 20th-century Canadian people {{Canada-tennis-bio-stub