| Tony Trabert Cup |
 | | Italy, Tony Trabert Cup winners 2007 |
The Tony Trabert Cup is the ITF's Men's 40 Competition.
Tony Trabert, the archetypal 1950s American athlete with a strong physique, crewcut and pugnacious personality, is known to tennis fans today as former tournament director of the US Open. But in 1955 he achieved a stranglehold over men’s tennis, winning three of the four Grand Slam championships and capturing 18 singles and 12 doubles titles at the 23 tournaments he entered. Unusually for a player in that era he was equally good on all surfaces, because in addition to an attacking game with firm volleys he owned superb ground strokes - particularly on the backhand. Between 1950 and 1955, he was a stalwart of the US Davis Cup team, joining Vic Seixas in his country’s only victory over Australia in an eight year stretch in 1954.
His Grand Slam singles parade began in 1953, when he won his first US title without losing a set, brushing aside French champion Ken Rosewall in the last four and finishing with a decisive 64 61 61 victory over Seixas, the reigning Wimbledon champion. In 1954 and 1955 he was unbeaten at Roland Garros, trouncing Art Larsen and Sven Davidson in the two finals. No other American won the title until Michael Chang in 1989.
Trabert went on to win Wimbledon in 1955 without dropping a set, taking out Jaroslav Drobny, the holder, in the quarterfinals, Budge Patty, the 1950 champion, in the semifinals and crushing Kurt Nielsen 63 75 61 in the final. He repeated the feat at Forest Hills, allowing Lew Hoad only seven games in the semifinals and avenging his one blemish of the year against Ken Rosewall in the title round. Rosewall had wrecked Trabert’s chances of winning the Grand Slam in the semifinals of the Australian Championships.
Trabert also had a strong doubles record. When his playing career ended in the early 1960s he became a coach and a television commentator and served as the US Davis Cup captain in 1978 and 1979, leading the team to victory both times.
The Tony Trabert Cup was first presented by the United States Tennis Association in honour of Tony Trabert in 2000.
The 2006 event was held from 17-22 April in Durban, South Africa. France won, defeating the Netherlands in the final. Results can be found below.
The 2007 competition took place from 23-28 April in Antalya, Turkey. Italy won the Cup for the first time, beating defending champions France in the final. Results can be found below.
| The above documents are in Adobe Acrobat format. To view and print them you require the Acrobat Reader program installed on your computer. Click on the icon to download a free copy of the Reader. |  |
^ Back to Top
|
