May Jacks was a British

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 at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1890 she was the losing finalist in the Wimbledon Ladies Singles Championship, being defeated by

Lena Rice Helena Bertha Grace Rice (21 June 1866 – 21 June 1907) was an Irish tennis player who won the singles title at the 1890 Wimbledon Championships. She is to date the only female player from Ireland ever to win a singles title at Wimbledon. Bi ...

, and won the

British Covered Court Championships The British Covered Court Championships (BCCC) was an indoor tennis event held from 1885 through 1971 and played in London, England. The tournament dates fluctuated between October and March. History For its first five years the tournament was hel ...

the same year. She was active from 1886 to 1891 and contested 18 career singles finals, and won 8 titles.

Career

In 1886 she played at the

Middlesex Championships The Middlesex Championships. or Middlesex Lawn Tennis Championships and also known as the Middlesex Open Tennis Championships was a men's and women's grass court tennis founded at the Chiswick Park Lawn Tennis Club,Chiswick, Chiswick Park, Chiswick ...

where she reached the final before losing to a Miss. Douglas. In 1887 she played at the

Essex Championships The Essex Championships also known as the Essex County Lawn Tennis Championships or Essex Grass Court Championships was a combined men's and women's grass court tennis tournament established in 1881 at Brentwood, Essex. In 1946 it was moved to the ...

where she reached the final where she lost in straight sets to Brenda James. Her other career singles highlights include winning the

Kent Championships The Kent Championships also known as the Kent All-Comers' Championships and later Kent Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts in Foxgrove Road, Beckenham, Kent, England between 1886 and 1996 and was held in the first half of ...

in 1888 and 1890. In 1889 she won the

London Championships London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Thame ...

when it was held at the London Athletic Club in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

. The same year she was a finalist at the

South of England Championships The South of England Championships, also known as the South of England Open Championships, was an outdoor tennis event held on grass courts at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club in Eastbourne, United Kingdom from 1881 until 1973. History The ...

where she lost to

May Langrishe Mary Isabella "May" Langrishe (31 December 1864 – 24 January 1939) was an Irish tennis player. In the most important tennis tournaments of the late 19th century she won the singles title at the presitigous Irish Championships held at the Fitz ...

. At the

1890 Wimbledon Championships The 1890 Wimbledon Championships was a combined men's and women's tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from 30 June until 7 July ...

only four competitors entered, the smallest entry ever for any competition at Wimbledon. Under the system at that time, Rice should then have played the defending champion,

Blanche Bingley Blanche Bingley Hillyard (née Bingley; 3 November 1863 – 6 August 1946) was an English tennis player. She won six singles Wimbledon championships (1886, 1889, 1894, 1897, 1898, 1900) and was runner up seven times, having also competed in the ...

, in the All Comers Final, but Bingley did not enter, so Rice had a walkover. May reached the final but was defeated by

in straight sets. In 1890 Jacks retained the title at the inaugural

when it had moved to the

Queen's Club The Queen's Club is a private sporting club in Barons Court, West Kensington, London, England. The club hosts the annual Queen's Club Championships grass court lawn tennis tournament (currently known as the "HSBC Championships" for spo ...

, beating

Maud Shackle Edith Maud Shackle (4 August 1870–16 February 1962) was an English tennis player active during the last decade and a half of the 19th century. She was a two time All-Comers finalist in singles at the Wimbledon Championships in 1892 and 1893. ...

6–2, 6–1. The following year she lost to Shackle 6–2, 4–6, 6–3. Also in 1890 she won the inaugural

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacks, May British female tennis players Year of birth missing Year of death missing Place of birth missing 19th-century female tennis players 19th-century English sportswomen English female tennis players