Virtual tour shows off Davis Cup history

 

Originally published on: 30/11/11 16:01

Spain host Argentina in this weekend’s Davis Cup final at Seville’s Olympic Stadium and ahead of the occasion, the ITF has created a virtual tour that commemorates the competition’s great battles of days gone by.

The Davis Cup trophy, originally donated by the competition’s founder Dwight Davis in 1900 as the prize for an international match between USA and the British Isles, features in interactive 360-degree form on the official Davis Cup website.

Visitors to the site can learn about the history of the Davis Cup by clicking on any of the engraved plaques that display the players and nations who fought it out for the trophy. The virtual tour also provides audio commentary about each and every one of the finals.

Made in Boston Massachusetts, the Davis Cup trophy was originally simply a lone sterling silver punchbowl, but three plinths have since been added to accommodate the engraved plaques. The prestigious trophy is now 1.10m tall, 1.07m wide and weighs in at 105kg.

“The Davis Cup is one of the most iconic trophies in world sport,” said ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti. “The Virtual Tour displays its magnitude in a way that has never been seen before, giving fans the opportunity to explore the detailed architecture and share the wonderful history of Davis Cup.”

London-based company Spherical Images worked alongside the ITF to create the virtual tour and the project, says director Henry Stuart, was a significant challenge.

“We had to photograph the trophy as a whole from every angle, and include a close-up of each individual plaque,” said Stuart. “We used specialist jewellery photographers to ensure the silver was truly represented, and also had to deal with weather changes, clay on the court and difficult reflections to achieve the final result.
 
“It was a pleasure to work on such a prestigious trophy, and be able to share that experience, through the 360-degree image, with tennis fans around the world,” he added.

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