On this day: Dwight Davis tops Ernests Black in first Davis Cup match!

In 1899, four players from the Harvard University tennis team decided to make an international competition and challenge the rivals from Great Britain (British Isles). That summer, Davis and his friends traveled to the West Coast to try their skills against California's finest players, enjoying the time on the court and deciding to create an international competition. The United States Lawn Tennis Association had liked the plan, giving the green light for it and bringing Dwight Davis, one of those Harvard players who came up with tournament format and also with the trophy, to this story. Davis spent $750 on silver trophy bowl that would become one of the most significant awards in tennis, completed in February 1900 and ready for the first presentation six months later. Players from Great Britain were considered the best in the world at that time, and they agreed to come to the USA, setting the ground for the first Davis Cup in August 1900 at the Longwood Cricket Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, on the grass surface.

Davis came up with a three-day format that would stand ever since in the past 119 years before introducing the Davis Cup Finals, with two singles encounters on day one and three, and doubles one between those. A few weeks earlier in Boston, Davis required a formation of the committee in charge of everything related to the competition, receiving a definite answer from James Dwight, the president of the United States National Lawn Tennis Association. The very first Davis Cup match took place on August 8, and Dwight Davis defeated Ernests Black 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 to write the history of the competition that he founded. The court was wet and slippery after heavy rain, although the organizers gave their best to allow the action. Davis was the more aggressive player, rushing to the net and keeping the points on his racquet after moving the Briton around the baseline.

The first Davis Cup was played in August 1900 in Brookline.

In the second match of the day, Malcolm Whitman completed an excellent day for the USA and Collegiate players, beating the future three-time Wimbledon champion Arthur Gore 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 to send the USA 2-0 in front. It was the baseline battle as they both opted to stay behind and go to the net only after setting a smooth volley execution, with Whitman playing on a higher level on both serve and return to mover over the top. On the next day, Dwight Davis and Holcombe Ward (three-time US Open doubles champions) took down Ernests Black and Herbert Roper-Barrett 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to complete a clean sweep and win the very first Davis Cup. The first set was decided in the closing stages, with Davis and Ward winning the last three games at 3-4, taking 12 of the final 15 points. The Americans took a 2-0 lead in the second set and kept it throughout the set, holding at love in game ten for a 6-4, moving a set away from the triumph.

There was a similar outcome in set number three, with an early break for the home squad that secured the victory for them after a hold at 15 at 5-4. An exciting fourth rubber between Davis and Gore was interrupted due to rain at 9-9 in the second set and the match was never completed, leaving the official result at 3-0 for the USA. In the following years, Belgium, France, and Australasia joined the action and Davis Cup was turning into something extraordinary, with numerous epic encounters that have found the place in the history of our sport. 

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2DxxDXQ