Jack May (tennis)

John "Jack" Bernard May (17 November 1925 – 10 August 2012) was an amateur tennis player who won over 200 tennis titles in Australia.

Jack May
Country (sports) Australia
ResidenceSydney - Melbourne
Born(1925-11-17)17 November 1925
Died10 August 2012(2012-08-10) (aged 86)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian OpenF (1951)

History

May played many sports, but his favorite and best was tennis. One of his more important achievements was to reach the mixed doubles final of the 1951 Australian Championship.[1]

He was trained and practiced as a dental technician, and May became an employee of Spalding Australia (A.G Spalding). He grew Spalding from a small supplier to its becoming a big manufacturer, especially in golf ball production.[2]

In 1965, he and his family moved from Sydney to Melbourne (Spalding Head Office) where he remained for the rest of his life. He purchased the Sherrin Football Company in 1972, which manufactured AFL footballs in agreement with Tom Sherrin (Sherrin’s owner).[3]

May improved Spalding’s overall performance and market share in the large golfing market. Hot Dot and Top Flite golf balls became big sellers and took Spalding’s market share from under 20% to almost 70%. Spalding asked Jack to move to Canada with the intention of moving him to the U.S., but Jack’s family decided to remain in Australia, so he turned down the offer.

In his 1979 autobiography, Jack Kramer recalled that he saw May play in Australia. Unaware of who he was but impressed with his skills, he asked who was on the court. Kramer was told he is "just a weekend player", and Kramer said "he must be the best weekend player in the world".[4]

Achievements
  • Over 200 Tennis titles in Australia (recorded wins over Don Candy, Ken Rosewall, Frank Sedgman and John Newcombe)
  • Won Sydney Singles Championship 13 times
  • Won Sydney Doubles Championship 11 times[5]
  • Won Northern Suburbs Singles 11 times
  • Won Northern Suburbs Doubles 10 times[6]

Grand Slam finals
Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1951 Australian Championship Grass Australia Clare Proctor Australia Thelma Coyne Long
Australia George Worthington		 4–6, 6–3, 2–6

Honours
  • Life Member of the Australian Davis Cup Federation and President for 25 years.[7]
  • Tennis Australia National Award for Services to the Game [8]
  • Councillor of the Victorian Tennis Association. Awarded with Highly Commended Service Award in 1986 and Victorian Spirit of Tennis Award in 1999.[9]

Private life

Jack was married to Patricia May (Everitt) on 3 August 1957. They had four children: Michelle, Jon, Martin and Rod.

References
  1. "Australian Open Results Archive". Ausopen.com.
  2. "The Australian Davis Cup Tennis Foundation Newsletter" (PDF). October 2012. Jack was Managing Director of Spalding Australia for many years and won the Sydney Singles Championship on 13 occasions and the Sydney Doubles Championship on 11 occasions.
  3. "About Sherrin". Sherrin.com. The Sherrin business was sold in 1972 to Spalding Australia (...)
  4. Kramer, Jack (1979). The game: My 40 years in tennis. Putnam. ISBN 0399123369.
  5. "Sydney Lawn Tennis Club - Club Championships". sydneycricketground.com.au. Special mention should be made of J.B.May who, in the period following World War II, won the singles ("Club Captaincy") 13 times and the Doubles 11 times.
  6. International Who's Who in Tennis. World Championship Tennis, Inc. 1983. p. 509 – via Library of Congress Catalog No. 83-050904 - International Standard Book No. 0-9611296.
  7. "ADCTF Annual Report 2013" (PDF). Daviscupaustralia.com.au. October 2013. "Jack May, our second President served for 21 years, was most influential in leading the Foundation in the early years and ensured the Foundation was on a strong footing throughout his tenure".(p. 7)
  8. "Tennis Australia 2005/06 Annual Report" (PDF). Clearinghouseforsport.gov.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 April 2016. TENNIS AUSTRALIA NATIONAL AWARD FOR SERVICE TO THE GAME: 2003 Jack May (p. 34)
  9. "Tennis Victoria Annual Report" (PDF). Tennis.com.au. (p.32)
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