Bio:
Dr. Jack A. Wright was born in Nelson, B.C., on Nov. 11, 1901 and was raised in nearby Trail, B.C. He died in Montreal in September of 1949. He captained the McGill tennis team for four years and graduated from medical school in 1928. For a decade, he exerted and influential role on tennis in Canada with Willard Crocker -- another McGill Sports Hall of Fame inductee. On his best days, Wright was unbeatable, especially in doubles play. He perfected an American-style twist serve, backed up with a mechancially flawless forehand and backhand. He had played some of the best in the United States and Australia, and had beaten them.
On one occasion, the combined Oxford-Cambridge team stopped at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club for a courtesy match against the McGill-Toronto matchup that consisted of Wright, Crocker, Gil Nunns and Walter Martin.
Ranked third in the world at one point in his career, he was the nation's top-ranked tennis player in five separate years (1926-29 and 1931). He played on the Canadian Davis Cup team for 11 consecutive years (1923-33) and holds the Davis Cup record for most matches played by a Canadian (40).
Wright was inducted to the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1955 and the Canadian Tennis Hall of Fame in 1991. He won the Canadian international men's singles title in 1927, 1929 and 1931. He added four Canadian doubles titles in 1923, 1925, 1929 (each time with McGill teammate Willard Crocker) and in 1931 with Marcel Rainville.
In 1920-21, Wright teamed with Crocker to win the intercollegiate doubles title as McGill swept Toronto for the CIAU title. In 1922-23, he was not eligible to compete in intercollegiate play but captured the doubles title with Crocker at the Canadian indoor championships in Montreal.
In 1923-24, Wright teamed with Crocker to win the indoor and outdoor Quebec, Ontario and Canadian championships. In the fall, he won the inaugural Dr. Charles Martin Cup, emblematic of the singles title on campus, then went on to intercollegiate doubles title in Toronto with partner Dave Morrice.
In 1924-25, Wright captained the McGill team, winning the Martin Cup again after beating Crocker in front of some 500 fans who witnessed some of the best tennis ever seen in the city. Wright prevailed in five tough sets, winning 6-1, 06, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Wright also won the Canadian intercollegiate singles title and repeated as doubles champion in CIAU play, in addition to winning at the Quebec, Ontario and Canadian championships. He teamed with Crocker to score Canada's first Davis Cup win in years by defeating Cuba.
In 1925-26, Wright and Crocker helped a McGill-Toronto all-star team defeat a combined Oxford-Cambridge all-star squad. He took part in several summer tournaments in and around New York, where he met and defeated many of the premier Americans and forced Bill Tilden, considered to be the world's greatest player, to a 14-12 set before admitting defeat. Partnered with Crocker, he won the Castle Point doubles trophy. On his return to Canada, he was runner-up to Crocker in the Quebec singles championship and teamed up with Crocker to take the doubles crown. Representing Quebec at the Canadian championships in Vancouver, he was eliminated by an American in the semifinal singles but won the doubles title with Crocker. In the fall, he won McGill's Vaughn Cup for the third straight year, in addition to the CIAU intercollegiate singles and doubles titles, and was a runner-up in both events at the Canadian indoor championships.
In 1926-27, he teamed with Crocker to win the Canadian indoor doubles title and represented Canada at the Davis Cup matches against Cuba. He captured another Martin Cup and led McGill to a fourth straight CIAU championship winning both singles and doubles.
In 1927-28, his final year at McGill, Wright captured his fourth straight Martin Cup as campus singles champion and repeated as CIAU singles champion for the third time. He also won the Canadian indoor doubles title.
