Cliff Drysdale, Wayne Ferreira and Frew McMillan receive Davis Cup commitment award
FREE TO USE PICTURES
Wimbledon, London – A trio of South African Davis Cup legends, including two former champions, have been presented with their Davis Cup Commitment Awards at this year’s Wimbledon Championships.
Cliff Drysdale, Wayne Ferreira and Frew McMillan were given their awards, which go to players who have competed in 20 Davis Cup home or away ties during their career, by ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti and Tennis South Africa President Gavin Crookes. The awards were presented at Wimbledon this week.
Drysdale, Ferreira and McMillan are three of just four men from their country to have won a Davis Cup Commitment Award. The other is Rik de Voest, who was presented with it at the Euro Africa Group 1 tie against Lithuania played on home soil earlier this year.
Drysdale and McMillan were part of the South African team in 1974 that went on to win the title, the latter McMillan holding the record for the most Davis Cup ties played by a South African (28 ties).
Among Ferreira’s career records is being the South African to have played Davis Cup for the most years (14 yrs.) and winning the most rubbers (41 rubbers).
South Africa will play in Europe/Africa Zone Group II next year.
The Davis Cup Commitment Award is presented by the ITF to players who have shown long-standing dedication to representing their country in this prestigious competition. Each Award recipient has competed in a minimum of 20 home or away ties or 50 ties at any level of the competition (including Zone Group Events) over their career.
The Award was conceived as part of the ITF’s 2013 Centenary celebrations and was launched at the 100th Davis Cup Final in 2012. A total of 320 players have met the criteria, with awards presented at ties throughout the year. All recipients are recognised on an honours board at the ITF headquarters and in a dedicated section on the official Davis Cup website. The record holder for the most ties played in all levels of the competition is Domenico Vicini from San Marino, who has so far played a total of 89 ties. With 66 ties played, Italy’s Nicola Pietrangeli heads the elite list of players who have competed in 20 home or away ties for their country.
Picture credit : Paul Zimmer/ITF
Picture credit : Paul Zimmer/ITF
