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Dwight Davis: Cup Founder, Politician, Diplomat, and King of the Tennis Court
Published: October 4, 2010
Hmmm…Which career path to choose? How about...both?
Not many tennis stars go to college. John McEnroe, who is famously known for attending Stanford, only attended the university for a single semester. John Isner, a current tennis star, is the only one in the top 50 to obtain a degree (at the University of Georgia) before starting his ATP career.
Like Isner, Dwight Davis was a collegiate tennis singles champion. He played for Harvard University in 1899. The closest he came to a singles title was runner-up in the US Championships in 1898. A lefty, Davis made a name for himself in doubles. While at Harvard he also went out for baseball and played on the sophomore football team.
Quite a few US politicians were collegiate—or even professional—athletes before embarking on a life of public service. Among them: President Gerald R. Ford and Senator Jack Kemp. Dwight Davis can be counted among these public figures, as Davis served as the U.S. as Secretary of War from 1925-1929 under President Calvin Coolidge.
Being from an upper-class family, Davis would have seen his college career not as a stepping stone to sports immortality but as a nice hobby.
Nonetheless, in spite of his dearth of singles titles, Davis, like Frenchman Rene LaCoste 30 years later, was not only a winner but also a technical innovator. Davis became a key mover and creator in the sport.
At the turn of the 20th century, tennis was not only played in society clubs—it was also played in the street. To distinguish society tennis from that in the street, club tennis was known as "Lawn Tennis."
An iconoclastic visual of the times comes from the 1970s musical "Ragtime," which depicts turn-of the century upper-class types in the opening vignette as "fellows with tennis balls." In 1902, the visual would have included straw hats, slacks, and aft...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis
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