February 9, 1900 – The solid silver trophy known today as the Davis Cup is first put up for competition when American collegian Dwight Filley Davis challenges British tennis players to come across the Atlantic and compete against his Harvard team.
tennis
On This Day
Born on July 10, 1943, in Richmond, Virginia, Arthur Ashe became the first, and is still the only, African-American male player to win the U.S. Open and Wimbledon. He is also the first black American to be ranked No. 1 in the world. Always an activist, when Ashe learned that he had contracted AIDS via a blood transfusion, he turned his efforts to raising awareness of the disease, before finally succumbing to it on February 6, 1993.
On This Day
September 24, 1938 – Don Budge became the first tennis player to win all four of the major titles when he won the U.S. Tennis Open. He had already won the Australian Open, the French Open and the British Open.
Martina Navratilova
“Labels are for filing. Labels are for clothing. Labels are not for people.”
“Once you start believing in yourself, anything is possible. Once you start believing in yourself, your dreams take shape. The more you believe, the more you achieve.”
Billie Jean King, former World No. 1 player, said in 2006 that Navratilova is “the greatest singles, doubles and mixed doubles player who’s ever lived.” In 2005, Tennis magazine selected her as the greatest female tennis player for the years 1965 through 2005. Tennis historian and journalist Bud Collins has called Navratilova “arguably, the greatest player of all time.”
Roger Federer continued his impressive year by adding another title, as the second-seeded legend defeated No. 6 David Ferrer 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 in a back-and-forth affair to win the 2014 Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Sunday.
It was Federer’s sixth title at the Cincinnati Masters, adding to an all-time record at the event that already belonged to him. Andy Murray is the only member of the Big Four with more than one title in Cincinnati.
Elysian Waters 