International Lawn Tennis Challenge 1939

John Bromwich and Adrian Quist with the Davis Cup (Sydney, November 1939)

Australian Davis Cup team after returning to Australia

The International Lawn Tennis Challenge 1939 was the 34th edition of the competition organized by the ITF for men's national tennis teams . The competition was in two continental zones of Europe - and the America Zone discharged, the Americas zone to North and Central America Group and South America group were divided. The winners of the two zones played a playoff for the finals. In the continental playoff, Australia prevailed against Yugoslavia , and defeated defending champions USA in the final from September 2nd to 5th . It was Australia's seventh title to date, and the first since 1919 .

Attendees

Including the defending champion, 28 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

Great Britain  Ireland  Italy  Yugoslavia  Monaco

New Zealand  Netherlands  Norway  Poland  China

Romania  Sweden  Switzerland  Czechoslovakia  Hungary

America Zone

The America Zone consisted of six participants in the North and Central America group, and one participant in the South America group.

North and Central America group

Australia  Japan

Canada  Cuba

Mexico  Philippines

South America group

Brazil

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 5-7 May

2nd round 11-21 May

Quarter-finals 25-28 May

Semi-finals 2nd – 5th June

Final 28-30. July

Great Britain

bye

Great Britain

3

New Zealand

2

bye

New Zealand

Great Britain

3

France

2

France

bye

France

4th

Republic of China

1

bye

Republic of China

Great Britain

0

German Empire

5

Sweden

bye

Sweden

4th

Denmark

1

bye

Denmark

Sweden

1

German Empire

4th

German Empire

5

Switzerland

0

German Empire

3

Poland

2

Poland

4th

Netherlands

1

German Empire

2

Yugoslavia

3

Romania

2

Hungary

3

Hungary

1

Yugoslavia

4th

Yugoslavia

5

Ireland

0

Yugoslavia

3

Italy

2

Italy

bye

Italy

3

Monaco

0

bye

Monaco

Yugoslavia

3

Belgium

2

Belgium

bye

Belgium

3

British India

2

bye

British India

Belgium

5

Norway

0

Norway

bye

Norway

Where

Czechoslovakia

bye

Czechoslovakia

America Zone

The winners of the two groups played in a continental playoff for a place in the playoff against the winner of the European zone .

North and Central America group

Quarterfinals June 21–2. July

Semi-finals 14.-16. July

Final 10-12 August

Philippines

bye

Philippines

0

Australia

5

Australia

5

Mexico

0

Australia

5

Cuba

0

Canada

1

Cuba

4th

Cuba

Where

Japan

bye

Japan

South America group

Brazil , as the only participant in the South American group, was by definition the winner.

Continental playoff

Brazil did not play for the intra-continental playoff against Australia .

In the playoff, Franjo Punčec (pictured) defeated John Bromwich 6: 2, 8: 6, 0: 6, 6: 2

Playoff

In the playoff between the two winners of the continental zones, Australia triumphed over Yugoslavia.

4 1 Venue: Boston ( USA ) Date: August 24-26 , 1939 Surface:
player	player	Result
Adrian Quist	Dragutin Mitic	6: 0, 6: 4, 6: 3
John Bromwich	Franjo Punčec	2: 6, 6: 8, 6: 0, 2: 6
John Bromwich Adrian Quist	Franjo Kukuljević Franjo Punčec	6: 2, 6: 3, 6: 3
John Bromwich	Dragutin Mitic	6: 1, 6: 3, 6: 2
Adrian Quist	Franjo Kukuljevic	6: 2, 6: 3, 6: 4

final

In the final between the defending champions USA and Australia, the challenger was just able to prevail 3-2. It was Australia's seventh title so far.

United States	final	Australia
Team Joseph Hunt Jack Kramer Frank Parker Bobby Riggs Captain Walter Pate	Date: September 2-5, 1939 Location: Haverford ( USA ) Surface: Lawn Bobby Riggs 6: 4, 6: 0, 7: 5 John Bromwich Frank Parker 6: 3, 2: 6, 6: 4, 1: 6, 7: 5 Adrian Quist Jack Hunt Jack Kramer 7: 5, 2: 6, 5: 7, 2: 6 John Bromwich Adrian Quist Bobby Riggs 1: 6, 4: 6, 6: 3, 6: 3, 4: 6 Adrian Quist Frank Parker 0: 6, 3: 6, 1: 6 John Bromwich Result: 2: 3	Team John Bromwich Adrian Quist     Captain Harry Hopman

Web links

• Official website of the Davis Cup

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Davis Cup - Tie details - 1939 - Australia vs Brazil ( English ) Retrieved on July 9, 2012th
2. ↑ Davis Cup - Tie details - 1939 - Australia vs Yugoslavia ( English ). Accessed July 9, 2012.
3. ↑ Davis Cup - Tie details - 1938 - USA vs Australia ( English ) Retrieved July 9, 2012.