Dwight F. Davis

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Dwight Davis

Dwight Filley Davis (July 5, 1879 – November 28, 1945) was an American tennis player and politician. He is best remembered as the founder of the Davis Cup international tennis competition.

Davis was born St. Louis, Missouri. He was the runner-up for the men's singles title at the US Championships in 1898. He then teamed-up with Holcombe Ward won the men's doubles title at the championships for three years in a row from 1899-1901. Davis and Ward were also men's doubles runners-up at Wimbledon in 1901.

In 1900, Davis developed the structure for, and donated a silver bowl to go to the winner of, a new international tennis competition designed by him and three others known as the International Lawn Tennis Challenge, which was later renamed the Davis Cup in his honor. He was a member of the US team that won the first two competitions in 1900 and 1902, and was also the captain of the 1900 team.

Though educated as a lawyer, Davis was never a practicing attorney. He was, however, politically active in his home town of St. Louis and served as the city's public parks commissioner from 1911 to 1915. During his tenure, he expanded athletic facilities and created the first municipal tennis courts in the United States. He served President Calvin Coolidge as Assistant Secretary of War (1923-25) and then as Secretary of War (1925-29) and then served as Governor General of the Philippines (1929-32). Davis died in Washington, D.C. in 1945.

Davis has been honored with a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

[edit] External links

International Tennis Hall of Fame profile

Preceded by: John W. Weeks	United States Secretary of War 1925–1929	Succeeded by: James W. Good
Preceded by: Eugene Allen Gilmore	Governor-General of the Philippines 1930-1932	Succeeded by: Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.