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Dwight Davis When Dwight's father passed away in the summer of 1894, he thought he would try his hand at tennis. He and his mother Maria decided to take a holiday at the fashionable Oceanside Hotel near Magnolia in Massachusetts. Oceanside was, in fact, one of the resorts stretching up along the coast northeast of Boston that included Nahant where, just 20 years before, the game of Lawn Tennis was introduced to America.
As a left-hander, he hit his first tennis ball on clay courts and continued to play throughout the summer, fascinated by the marvellous game. As tennis was a new sport, very few on American soil knew what they were doing and the following statistic concurs to that point. Fifty of the 82 entrants for the National Championship at Newport, Rhode Island, were making their first appearance in the event in that summer of 1895. He was born in St. Louis July 5, 1879, and Dwight Davis soon became a big-serving Harvardian who won the Inter-collegiate singles title in 1899. He was six feet in height and a weighty 190lbs, but this didn´t stop Dwight Filley Davis being ranked in the United States top ten four times between 1898 and 1901 and at number two in 1899 and 1900. But he is best known for launching in 1900 the great worldwide team competition that bears his name: Davis Cup. He intended for it to be called the International Lawn Tennis Challenge Trophy when he purchased the silver bowl at the Boston jeweler, Shreve, Crump & Low. His fellow members at Longwood Cricket Club, where the inaugural was staged in 1900, jocularly referred to it as: "Dwight's little pot." Soon, just-plain "Davis Cup" was the accepted handle. Dwight Davis was a quiet, reserved individual, not given to flamboyancy or eye-catching gestures, but had a power and strength on a tennis court. His riches were not the sole attraction, but he often held the attention of 'belle of the ball'. He had a commanding presence, made even more attractive because it was understated. He was a leader who exuded authority. He grappled with his new obsession, mastering a powerful serve and although he failed to qualify for his first U.S. Nationals, a year later he proved good enough to take a set off Robert Wrenn, a former champion.
In the autumn of 1896, Davis began to study the game, while at Harvard, and with the help of three friends of similar inclination in Holcombe Ward, Malcolm Whitman and Beals Wright, they dedicated themselves to turn ordinary players into exceptional ones. Unfortunately for Davis his superiority on the grass courts, failed to mirror in his academic studies and Harvard subsequently asked him to retake his sophomore year. Through sporting promotion however he was able to deflect attention from his academic failings. Having reached the National finals, at the Newport Casino in 1899, losing to Whitman in straight sets, he set off across America in the company of Ward, Whitman and Wright to spark interest in a game that was beginning to lose its initial appeal. Tennis was being seen as a passing fad, especially if we look at the number of USNLTA clubs affiliated to the association. There had once been 106 clubs, but now in 1895 only 44 were registered. His pals made up the original United States Davis Cup team, all coming from Harvard, Davis captained and he and his schoolmates Whitman and Ward played in a 3-0 victory over the British Isles. Davis was a member of President Coolidge's cabinet as Secretary of War, having served during World War I and also served his country as Governor-General of the Philippines. Davis died on 28th November, 1945 in Washington D.C., U.S.A. Grand Slam Record U.S. Championships Singles 1889; Doubles 1899-1901; Doubles finalist 1889, 1903 Wimbledon Doubles finalist 1901 United States Davis Cup team member 1900 and 1902; winning side 1900 and 1902 |
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