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The First Match With the Boer War rumbling on, the first Davis Cup match had been hastily arranged for August 1900, at the Longwood Cricket Club, in Boston. Without the services of Reggie and Laurie Doherty the L.T.A had sent messages that the British side would be weakened. The Americans had suffered similar experiences with William Larned and Robert Wrenn unable to compete following fighting in Cuba.
Malcolm Whitman, Dwight Davis and Holcombe Ward comprised the American team of largely untested youth. The British, with a side who had never crossed the Atlantic were nervous with anticipation. A handful of well-wishers waved them off from Euston station bound for a ship in Liverpool, at the insistence of the LTA. Arthur W. Gore, Wimbledon champion of the previous year, Herbert Roper Black, a solicitor, and Earnest Black, a northerner completed the trio, dubbed 'The Dauntless Three.' With no practice facilities assigned to the English trio, it was decided that a trip to Niagara Falls was in order, and without informing the USNLTA; they set off for the Canadian border. Docking in New York on Saturday, August 4th, they managed to find their way to Dr Dwight and the committee some 48 hours later, which means that they can't have stayed long at 'The Falls.' The schedule had to be changed on the insistence of Roper Barrett, who although only contested 30 games, playing the doubles match, but had to leave exactly a week later. So play was brought forward to Tuesday, 7th August. Barrett later exclaimed: "There was no one else to represent England so I felt I had to go." American spirit was high; newspapers exclaimed victory, although the favourites were England, with Wimbledon now an established tradition. With rain on the Monday after practice and thunderstorms on the intended start date, play had to commence like it had originally been scheduled to be, on Wednesday, 8th August. The grass courts were cut slightly longer than the players had expected and the fact that the English players hadn't practiced a great deal on them, made the tie equal.
Longwood Cricket Club, had originally been built for cricket in 1877, but kept up with the changes in sporting culture by adding grass tennis courts a year later. Shortly after the first Davis Cup tie, it moved to Chestnut Hill. Twelve hundred spectators gathered for this fashionable occasion, below parasols, attired in their finest clothes. The match had well and truly caught the cities imagination and on this boiling hot sunny day, ladies wore their frilly frocks and hats, while the men, sweltered in their jackets, collars and ties, with only boater hats for protection. At 2.00pm on Wednesday 8th August 1900, Earnest Black hit the first serve to Dwight Davis, the donor of the cup. Black was to take the first set 6-4, but Davis with a precise left-handers serve used the slick grass to his benefit and prevailed 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4, much to the galleries glee. Arthur Gore's match against American Malcolm Whitman was not to last long. The American's had prepared for the slippery courts by wearing spikes. The English were left floundering as they grasped for the wide shots. Gore's most useful asset was his speed, but Whitman capitalised upon the fact that Gore was struggling by rushing the net and volleying. Whitman dominated the match winning 6-1, 6-3, 6-2.
Both Davis and Whitman had left the court after the first set, to be rubbed down, shower and change into fresh whites. The British accepted this with good grace, but this idea highlights the difference between the way Americans and the rest of the world play their sport. The doubles match was to be played the following day, with the reverse singles to be played on the Friday. This format hasn't changed ever since, despite the possibility of two 'dead' singles rubbers. Davis and Holcombe Ward beat Black and Roper Barrett 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 the following day and ensured that 'Dwight's little pot' wouldn't be travelling the Atlantic quite yet. Friday's reverse singles encounters, which were effectively 'dead' rubbers' provided the crowd with some of the British's fighting spirit. Gore lost the first set 9-7 to Davis and at 9-all in the second a torrential thunderstorm ended the day's play and the first Davis Cup, with the result already decided. That evening members of the Longwood Cricket Club and the two teams dined at Somerset House, dressed in all their splendour, feasting on clams, Filets of Sea Bass au Vin Blanc and Yellow Leg Plover Salad. After the speeches the British trio set off for New York, onboard the night train. The court conditions had not been ideal and the British, once again without the services of the Doherty brothers didn't accept the challenge the following year, but would return intent on revenge in 1902. The first tie had been a great success but both American and English players questioned the court conditions of the inaugural match. Roper Barrett wrote: 'The ground was abominable. The grass was long. Picture yourself a court in England where the grass had been the longest you have ever encountered; double the length of that grass and you have the courts as they were at Longwood at that time. The net was a disgrace to civilised lawn tennis, held up by guy ropes which were continually sagging, giving way as much as 2 or 3 inches every few games and frequently requiring adjustment. As for the balls, I hardly like to mention them. They were awful - soft and motherly looking - and when served with the American twist came at you like an animated egg-plum. I do not exaggerate. Neither Beals Wright nor Holcombe Ward nor Karl Behr can make the balls used at Wimbledon break as much as these did. They not only swerved in the air, but also in hitting the ground broke surely 4 to 5 feet. Our team was altogether at a disadvantage. We had never experienced this service before and it quite nonplussed us. The spectators were most impartial and the female portion thereof not at all unpleasant to gaze upon.'
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