The early years
United States · born Gold Hill, Nevada, 1879 · died 1965 · right-handed · twice US champion and the first non-British woman to play Wimbledon
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2
US singles titles, 1899 and 1902
4
US singles finals, 1898 to 1903
1900
First non-British woman to play at Wimbledon
2
Olympic bronze medals, Paris 1900, the first won by an American woman
Marion Jones was born in Gold Hill, Nevada, in 1879, the daughter of John Percival Jones, a five-term US senator for Nevada and a founder of Santa Monica, California. She was Southern California singles champion from 1894 to 1898, and in 1898 became the first Californian to reach the final of the US women's championships, losing to Juliette Atkinson in five sets.
She won the US title in 1899 and again in 1902, when Elisabeth Moore fainted and retired. Moore, her main rival, had beaten her in 1901 and beat her again in the 1903 final. Jones also won the US mixed doubles in 1901 with Raymond Little and the women's doubles in 1902 with Atkinson. In 1900 she played Wimbledon, the first woman from outside Britain to do so, reached the quarter-finals, and won two bronze medals at the Paris Olympics.
In 1903 she married the architect Robert Farquhar; the marriage ended in divorce. From 1920 to 1961 she lived in Greenwich Village, New York, where she was known as a violinist and voice coach, translated opera librettos and for a time ran the New York Chamber Opera. She returned to Los Angeles in 1961 and died there in 1965, aged 85. She was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2006.
| US singles finals | 1898: lost to Juliette Atkinson 3-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, 5-7. 1899: beat Maud Banks 6-1, 6-1, 7-5. 1902: beat Elisabeth Moore 6-1, 1-0, retired. 1903: lost to Moore 5-7, 6-8 |
|---|---|
| US 1901 | Lost the All-Comers match to Moore 6-4, 6-1, 7-9, 7-9, 3-6, after leading by two sets |
| US doubles and mixed | Mixed 1901 with Raymond Little, beat Myrtle McAteer and Clyde Stevens 6-4, 6-4, 7-5. Doubles 1902 with Juliette Atkinson, beat Maud Banks and Winona Closterman 6-2, 7-5. Doubles finalist 1901 with Moore and 1903 with Miriam Hall |
| Wimbledon 1900 | Quarter-finalist, lost to Ellen Evered 5-7, 2-6 |
| Paris 1900 | Olympic bronze in singles, losing in the semi-finals to Charlotte Cooper, and in mixed doubles with Laurie Doherty |
| US Championships | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1899 | Women's singles | |
| 1901 | Mixed doubles | with Raymond D. Little |
| 1902 | Women's doubles | with Juliette Atkinson |
| 1902 | Women's singles | |
| Pennsylvania Grass Court Championships (Merion) | ||
| 1903 | Women's singles†| |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
The person behind the player.
US Championships 1898
In the final set of the 1898 final she was one point from the title. Wright and Ditson's Lawn Tennis Guide for 1899 recorded that Atkinson's return struck a stray ball lying in the court, which levelled matters. Atkinson won the set 7-5.
Source: Wikipedia, quoting Wright and Ditson's Lawn Tennis Guide, 1899Wimbledon 1900
The Wimbledon Compendium's list of the first players from each country to compete at The Championships begins, for women, with M. Jones, U.S.A., 1900. The next newcomers came from Austria and Canada in 1907.
Source: Wimbledon Compendium 2025Paris, 9 July 1900
She won bronze medals in the singles and, with the British star Laurie Doherty, the mixed doubles, the first Olympic medals won by an American woman. Her sister Georgina also played in the 1900 Olympic tennis events.
Source: OlympediaUS Championships 1902
Her second title came when Elisabeth Moore, trailing 6-1, 1-0, fainted and retired from the final. Moore had beaten her the year before and beat her again in 1903.
Source: International Tennis Hall of FameGreenwich Village, 1920 to 1961
She lived for four decades in Greenwich Village as a violinist and voice coach, translated opera librettos into English and was for a short time head of the New York Chamber Opera. The Internet Broadway Database lists her as a lyricist.
Source: Olympedia; WikipediaFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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