Davis cup yearbook 1999: the year in tennis

The Centenary year of the Davis Cup was the year of Australia, but it was more than that. It was the year of dramatic reversals of fortune. Todd Martin celebrated in Birmingham and then ended up dizzy and disillusioned one round later in the steamy heat of Boston. Partrick Rafter, the man who beat him in the decisive match, rode the shoulders of his teammates after his decisive victory and then missed the rest of the campaign because of an injury to one of his own shoulders. In his place, the Australian stars were a journeyman (Wayne Arthurs), an inexperienced teenager (Lleyton Hewitt), and a former David Cup outcast (Mark Philippoussis).

Though his own country, the United States, did not prosper for long, Dwight Davis would surely have enjoyed most of what transpired in 1999: the story lines, the quality of play, and the enthusiasm of the crowd in Nice that made it difficult for doubles partners to hear each other, even when they were shouting from close range. Davis also would surely have been astonished at the continued growth of the competition he has launched by issuing a transatlantic challenge to the British in 1900.

This book, written by International Herald Tribune sports correspondent and longtime New York Times contributor Christopher Clarey, is an extended and thoughtful examination of the matches and personalities that defined this special season. With much of its material gathered form exclusive interviews, it provides a unique perspective on the game’s premier team event: an event that has been making tennis heroes and his troy for one hundred years.