Dwight Davis Descendants Continue To Grow Tennis

The Davis family name is a familiar one to those in the St. Louis tennis world. Dwight Davis Memorial Tennis Center calls Forest Park in St. Louis home. Besides being one of the best tennis players in the country in the late 19^th and early 20^th century, Dwight Davis dedicated his life to making public parks available to everyone. As Director of Parks in St. Louis in the early 20^th century, he removed, "Keep Off the Grass," signs that filled the parks before his tenure. He then built the first free public tennis courts and organized leagues in the city.

Dwight Davis paired up with his brothers to spearhead the tournament that now bears their name – the Davis Cup – in 1900. With Dwight Davis on the team, the Americans won the inaugural Davis Cup that year in Boston.

Dwight Davis’s descendants are still active in the game, including Chris Davis. The great, great nephew of Dwight Davis, Chris Davis took part this past fall when the St. Dominic High School Tennis team held a clinic with St. Louis Life, where Chris is a resident. Five of his fellow residents joined him at the clinic. Chris and the others participating enjoyed the day for the camaraderie with the high school players, as well as getting outside and staying active.

St. Louis Life is a residential program for adults with developmental disabilities in O’Fallon, Mo. with 16 residents who live independently in one-bedroom apartments with staff available 24 hours a day. The program offers residents job placement, job coaching assistance; as well as social, educational and recreational activities.

Nadine Ricketts of St. Louis Life said these type of activities are important to show the community that residents can do everything others can do despite having a disability.

“It is important to build these kind of relationships in the community so others can see how they are more alike than different,” she said.  “They love to meet new people - relationships and friendships are really important to them. They want to be treated as equals and that they matter.”

For Chris, it was old hat. Some of his best childhood memories involve playing tennis at St. Louis Country Club in Ladue. He grew up watching and admiring the greats like Boris Becker, Jennifer Capriati, Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras. Sports were central in Chris’s life growing up. He was active in several different sports. 

He is proud to be part of a family who is such a vital part of St. Louis tennis history. 

“There are a lot of tennis players in St. Louis and it is fun to think about how our family helped that,” he said.

An automobile accident in southern Missouri in 1996 when Chris was just 19 years old caused a permanent injury to his frontal lobe. Chris was in a medically induced coma for 27 days and in intensive care for several months. He has lived in places much like St. Louis Life since.

Chris is fortunate to have survived the accident. Had it not been for an EMT passing by immediately after the accident who performed life-saving measures and requested a medivac helicopter, the story may have had a tragic ending. He said one should never take one’s life or abilities for granted. In an instant, life can change forever.

Chis partially credits sports for his survival. He said he needed the strength athletics brought him to help heal his body in the months after the accident.

A love for tennis remains in Chris’s blood, as does the spirit behind why he thinks tennis is so great – meeting people and having fun. It is clinics like the one at St. Dominic, as well as participating in the Special Olympics in recent years that spark his vigor for life.  Maybe it fuels a bit of competitiveness, too. He loves connecting on a monster overhead smash.

“Tennis is really good exercise, but it also really fun,” he said. “It doesn’t really matter if you win or lose. It just matters that you had a great time.”