International Lawn Tennis Challenge 1938

The US Secretary of State Cordell Hull presents the first-round draw to the Japanese Ambassador, Yakichiro Suma. The drawing was based on the original trophy from 1900 .

The International Lawn Tennis Challenge 1938 was the 33rd edition of the competition for men's national tennis teams organized by the ITF . The competition was held in two continental zones, the European and American zones . The winners of the two zones played a playoff for the finals.

In the continental playoff, Australia prevailed against the German Empire , but were defeated by defending champions USA in the final from September 3rd to 5th . It was the 13th US title so far.

Attendees

Including the defending champion, 26 countries took part in the competition. The following teams played for a final ticket against the defending champion.

European zone

Belgium  British India  Denmark  German Empire  France  Greece

Great Britain  Ireland  Italy  Yugoslavia  Monaco  New Zealand

Netherlands  Norway  Austria  Poland  Romania  Sweden

Switzerland  Czechoslovakia  Hungary

America Zone

Australia

Japan

Canada

Mexico

The tournament

In the following illustrations, the host of each game is in italics and the winner is printed in bold . Games without a marked host took place on neutral ground.

European zone

1st round April 29th – 10th May

2nd round 5th - 23rd May

Quarterfinals 26-29 May

Semi-finals 21-23 July

Final 29–31 July

German Empire

bye

German Empire

5

Norway

0

bye

Norway

German Empire

3

Hungary

1

Hungary

bye

Hungary

Where

New Zealand

bye

New Zealand

German Empire

3

France

2

Monaco

bye

Monaco

0

France

5

Netherlands

2

France

3

France

4th

Italy

1

Poland

5

Denmark

0

Poland

2

Italy

3

Ireland

1

Italy

4th

German Empire

3

Yugoslavia

2

Great Britain

3

Romania

2

Great Britain

0

Yugoslavia

5

Yugoslavia

3

Czechoslovakia

2

Yugoslavia

3

Sweden

1

Sweden

bye

Sweden

4th

Switzerland

1

bye

Switzerland

Yugoslavia

5

Belgium

0

British India

bye

British India

Where

Austria

bye

Austria

British India

1

Belgium

3

Greece

bye

Greece

0

Belgium

5

bye

Belgium

America Zone

	Semi-finals 28–31 July					Final 12-14 August
		Australia	5
		Mexico	0
							Australia	3
							Japan	1
		Canada	0
		Japan	5

Playoff

In the playoff between the two winners of the continental zones, Australia triumphed over the German Empire. The German Reich could not win a single sentence.

5 0 Venue: Boston ( USA ) Date: August 18-20 , 1938 Surface:
player	player	Result
John Bromwich	Henner Henkel	6: 2, 6: 3, 6: 3
Adrian Quist	George of Metaxa	6: 3, 6: 2, 6: 1
John Bromwich Adrian Quist	Henner Henkel Georg of Metaxa	6: 2, 6: 1, 6: 4
Adrian Quist	Henner Henkel	6: 1, 6: 0, 8: 6
John Bromwich	George of Metaxa	6: 3, 6: 2, 6: 1

final

In the final between defending champions USA and Australia the USA prevailed 3-2. It was the United States’s 13th title to date. The final was to be the first of 16 consecutive finals between the US and Australia, as well as the first of 25 with Australian participation in a row.

United States	final	Australia
Team Don Budge Gene Mako Bobby Riggs Captain Walter Pate	Date: September 3-5, 1938 Location: Philadelphia ( USA ) Surface: Lawn Bobby Riggs 4: 6, 6: 0, 8: 6, 6: 1 Adrian Quist Don Budge 6: 2, 6: 3, 4: 6, 7: 5 John Bromwich Don Budge Gene Mako 6: 0, 3: 6, 4: 6, 2: 6 John Bromwich Adrian Quist Don Budge 8: 6, 6: 1, 6: 2 Adrian Quist Bobby Riggs 4: 6, 6: 4, 0: 6, 2: 6 John Bromwich Result: 3: 2	Team John Bromwich Adrian Quist   Captain Harry Hopman

Web links

• Official website of the Davis Cup

credentials

1. ↑ Davis Cup - Tie details - 1938 - Australia vs Germany ( English ) Retrieved July 9, 2012.
2. ↑ Davis Cup - Tie details - 1938 - USA vs Australia ( English ) Retrieved July 9, 2012.