Early in the week, perhaps the most telling question in gearing up for the 75th Annual Payne Whitney Intercity Doubles Tournament was “why don’t we just hand the trophy to New York right now?” But when the dust cleared, the only team with an answer was the Racquet Club of Philadelphia, who proved that team camaraderie and pairing chemistry can not be over-estimated in Whitney Cup competition. Philadelphia defeated the favored home team from the Racquet & Tennis Club (NY) three matches to one in today’s thrilling all final. All of today’s matches went to three sets.
Michael Do
(RCOP Does it Again! Standing from Left: Barney Tanfield, Peter Vogt, Andrew Purcell, Norris Jordan (Captain) Ted Manges, Peter Hill, Dick Tanfield, and Sam Howe. Kneeling beside the Whitney Cup: Drew McGowan and PJ Yeatman)
This year marked a change in the playing format, which was met with great praise. The new round-robin schedule utilizes both Racquet and Tennis Club courts and guarantees that all sixty players have at least two meaningful matches. The winners from each round robin group (New York and Philadelphia) met in Sunday’s final. Of particular note in the first round was the strength of a revived BosPort side and the steadily up-and-coming team from the International Tennis Club of Washington. Washington lost two three-setters in their three matches to two loss to Philadelphia. While BosPort won more games than New York (56 to 55) while falling three matches to two. For the most part, everyone crushed Tuxedo and Greentree as expected.
Results from the two round robin groups:
Group One
Philadelphia defeated Tuxedo four matches to one
Philadelphia defeated Washington three matches to two
Washington defeated Tuxedo three matches to two
Group Two
New York defeated BosPort three matches to two
New York defeated Greentree five matches to zero
BosPort defeated Greentree five matches to zero
Lineups and Results from 2005 Whitney Cup (Team Handicaps in Parentheses):
All matches and results held to handicap form with the exception of eight upsets:
The Racquet Club of Philadelphia has proved time and again that they feel right at home at the Whitney Cup as their win this year is their 12th win in the last 20 years; 5th win in the last 9 years; and 2nd win in a row. Philadelphia surely won’t share the secrets of their success, but it is clear that first-year captain, Norris Jordan is not only quite persuasive in captains’ meetings, but he continued Jamie Dodderidge’s tradition of fielding a side with five excellent chances to win three matches. Furthermore, Philadelphia seems to bring pairings who have played well together for years; and as we have come to expect, the team supported each other all weekend, with every one of their matches being well-attended by a full gallery of enthusiastic supporters.
Michael Do
(Victorious Philadelphians! From Left: Dick Tanfield, Ted Manges, PJ Yeatman, Peter Hill, Peter Pell (presenting), Norris Jordan (Captain), Andrew Purcell, Barney Tanfield, Drew McGowan, Sam Howe, and Peter Vogt)
It was wonderful to see Whitney family members Peter diBonaventura, and Dan de Roulet competing in the Whitney Cup for the first time in several years and to see Jock Whitney’s granddaughter Whitney Miller in attendance. We hope that the Whitney Family continues its legacy of splendid stewardship of the Whitney Cup and of the game of court tennis.
All were grateful to Mike Gooding, Ged Eden, Andrew Fowler, Rich Smith, James Challice, Bob Gresler, and the staff of the Racquet and Tennis club for hosting, administering, and marking a superb tournament.
