Curator's Corner: Davis Cup

This April, both the men’s Davis Cup and women’s Fed Cup teams from the United States are competing to move onto the next round of play. The men’s team will take on Australia in the quarterfinals in Brisbane on April 7-9 and the women’s team will play the Czech Republic in Florida on April 22-23.

Andy Roddick – 2017 International Tennis Hall of Fame Inductee – sent us some amazing objects representing his career to be used in a tribute exhibit in the museum. The exhibit, which will celebrate all members of the Class of 2017 will open in June, just ahead of the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.

But, with Davis Cup just around the corner, we wanted to share a timely sneak peek at the exhibits. One of the artifacts that Andy has loaned to the museum is the Davis Cup that he received in 2007 when he led the US team to their first championship in 12 years. It’s hard to believe that the win was a decade ago! Roddick counts this victory as one of his personal highlights in a career filled with them.

The American team took on Russia in the World Group Final that year in Portland, Oregon. Roddick led the home team along with James Blake, Bob and Mike Bryan, and Captain Patrick McEnroe. Impressively, all four ties played by the United States were won by tallies of 4-1, and the entire team stayed intact all throughout the year – a rarity due to the rigorous tennis schedule. Before beating Russia, the United States had to go through the Czech Republic, Spain, and Sweden.

Did you know the rich history of the Davis Cup began right here in New England. In 1899, Hall of Famers and Harvard teammates Dwight Davis, Holcombe Ward, Malcolm Whitman, and Beals Wright proposed the idea of an international tennis competition. Davis bought and donated the trophy for the first contest – United States versus the British Isles. The Davis Cup has been presented to the winner of the competition ever since, which now includes more than 100 nations. 

Davis Cup photos by Susan Mullane.