Jay Gould

As the grandson of the railroad multimillionaire and robber baron, Jay Gould, Jay Gould, II was able to add virtually unlimited financial resources to his considerable natural ability and he developed into the finest court tennis player in the world. In 1900 a private court was built at the family’s palatial residence at Lakewood, New Jersey and apart from retaining Frank Forester as his personal professional until 1915, Jay Gould also engaged many other professionals to provide both tutoring and competition.

When only 17, Gould won the U.S. Amateur Championship and held the title until his retirement from singles play in 1926. He was also the first amateur ever to win the World Championship (in 1914) and in 1908 Jay Gould won the Olympic jeu de paume competition without the loss of a set. Gould was equally outstanding as a doubles player, winning eight U.S. titles with W. T. H. Huhn and a further six titles with Joseph Wear, the 1904 Olympic tennis bronze medalist. Throughout his career, Gould lost only once in both singles and doubles. Gould was also a very capable squash racquets player.

Gould never had to work, but did manage the family fortune and real estate interests from offices in New York City – into which he had a court tennis dedans built. In an obscure Olympic relation, Gould was the great-great-uncle of USA cyclist Georgia Gould, who competed in 2008-12.