Mike Davies
Mike Davies admits that a touch of nostalgia swept over him Friday when he took his first look at the display of the 2012 inductees to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I.
Photographs and mementos from more than 50 years in the game stared back at Davies, who, like the good Brit he is, kept a stiff upper lip. No tears as he thought back over the years.
His wife, Mina? No such stoicism from the American woman. Her lips quivered, and tears flowed.
"I told her, 'you have to wait until the induction ceremony. It will be worse tomorrow,' " Davis said.
Tomorrow comes today for Davies, who will be officially presented by former WTA CEO Ann Worcester as part of the 2012 class that also includes Jennifer Capriati, Gustavo Kuerten, Manuel Orantes and Randy Snow.
And today comes none too soon for the 76-year-old man from Wales, who will be inducted this afternoon at tennis' hallowed hall in the contributor category. For few have contributed more to the game, in so many ways, as has the long-time Sarasota resident.
All those colorfully clad professional tennis players picking up those big pay checks by smacking a little yellow tennis ball in between those 90- second changeovers should pause and give thanks to Davies.
Much of what the game looks like today has its roots in changes Davies was responsible for during his long career behind the scenes.
The yellow tennis ball? Davies' idea. The 30-second time limit between points? That also was Davies. The 90-second changeover every two games? He did that for television. Oh, and those television contracts? A Davies' vision that came to fruition in the first major network broadcast of a tennis event in 1972 when NBC aired a WCT match between Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall.
Colored clothing worn by players? That was for TV, too. He was a genius at sports marketing. He even introduced the tiebreaker to professional tennis.
Most of those innovations came when he led the WCT, a maverick tennis organization financed by Lamar Hunt that knocked the stuffing out of the stuffed shirts in tennis.
"I basically made the rules," Davies recalled Friday. "The only person I had to run them by was Lamar Hunt."
Those players who pick up a couple cool million for winning one tennis tournament today should also remember Davies when they look at their bank accounts.
Davies pulled the game along during his stints of running the WCT, ATP and ITF, all the major men's tennis organizations at one time or another.
"Mike Davies was a true trailblazer for the sport of tennis, and we should all be grateful for his forward-thinking mentality and perseverance to build and grow the professional game,' said Hall of Famer Tony Trabert, who serves as chairman of the Enshrinees Nominating Committee and was one of the first-hand witnesses to that path Davies helped blaze.
Davies has a daily reminder in his Sarasota condominium of just how far professional tennis has come.
And on Friday, the memory became even a little clearer when he arrived at the HOF site in Newport, R.I.
In 1957 Davies played a tournament on the same grounds he visited Friday. Davies reached the finals in singles, losing a five-set match. He won the doubles that same day, another five-set match.
His prize was a clock.
"That was it," Davies said. "That was it. No money. But the clock was really nice. I still have it. I wind it every five or six days and it keeps on ticking."
And Davies, who has been the CEO of the New Haven Open tennis tournament for the past 15 years, keeps on playing his part in the sport.
As a player, discovered by Fred Perry at the age of 11, Davies became Great Britain's No. 1 ranked player in 1957, 1959 and 1960. Until last week, he was the last male British player to reach the finals at Wimbledon.
It was shortly after that doubles match with Bobby Wilson in 1960 that Davies became part of a small group of players who turned professional, and were banished from the game.
Players like Laver, Rosewall, Trabert, Pancho Segura, Lew Hoad and Davies missed many chances to add titles to their resumes as they took up the fight to play professionally.
It is that group, pioneers who pushed the envelope and pulled the game into the open era, who Davies will be talking to today when he gives his acceptance speech.
"I am really dedicating the award to the guys who were banned," Davies said.
It is really an award honoring Davies as a player and, later, as a mover and a shaker who helped change the game.
"I guess it is a recognition of maybe I didn't do too badly," Davis said.
He is humbled. And Friday he admitted that he can't promise that he won't be the one shedding some tears today.