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We are on the brink of the upheaval. The next few years will show
results in the tennis game that were not thought of before the
War. Tennis is becoming an organized sport, with skilled
management. Modern methods, where efficiency is the watchword, is
the new idea in tennis development.
Tennis is on the verge of the greatest increase in its history.
Never before has tennis of all types been so universally played,
nor by such great multitudes. Its drawing power is phenomenal,
hundreds of thousands of people witnessing matches the world
over, and played during the season of 1920.
There are more players of fame now before the public than at any
previous time since tennis became established. The standard of
play of the masses and quality of game of the stars have risen
tremendously in the last decade. No less an authority than Norman
E. Brookes, whose active playing days cover a period of twenty
years, told me during the American Championships, last year at
Forest Hills, that in his opinion the game in America had
advanced fully "15" in ten years. He stated that he believed the
leading players of to-day were the superior of the Larneds,
Dohertys, and Pims of the past.
The most remarkable advance has been along the lines of junior
play: the development of a large group of boys ranging in age
from thirteen to eighteen, who will in time replace the
Johnstons, Williams, and M'Loughlins of to-day.
American tennis has passed through a series, of revolutionary
stages that have changed the complex of the game. English tennis
has merely followed its natural development, unaffected by
external influences or internal upheaval, so that the game today
is a refined product of the game of twenty years ago. Refined but
not vitalized. The World War alone placed its blight on the
English game, and changed the even tenor of its way. Naturally
the War had only a devastating effect. No good sprang from it. It
is to the everlasting credit of the French and English that
during those horrible four years of privation, suffering, and
death the sports of the nations lived.
The true type of English tennis, from which American tennis has
sprung, was the baseline driving game. It is still the same.
Well-executed drives, hit leisurely and gracefully from the base-
line, appealed to the temperament of the English people. They
developed this style to a perfection well-nigh invincible to cope
with from the same position. The English gave the tennis world
its traditions, its Dohertys, and its Smiths.
Tennis development, just as tennis psychology, is largely a
matter of geographical distribution. This is so well recognized
now in America that the country is divided in various geographic
districts by the national association, and sectional associations
carry on the development of their locality under the supervision
of the national body.
Naturally new countries, with different customs, would not
develop along the same lines as England. America, Australia, and
South Africa took the English style, and began their tennis
career on the baseline game. Each of these has since had a
distinct yet similar growth--a variance to the original style.
American tennis followed the English baseline style through a
period that developed Dr. Dwight, R. D. Sears, Henry Slocum, and
other stars. Tennis, during this time, was gaining a firm hold
among the boys and young men who found the deep-driving game
devoid of the excitement they desired. Americans always enjoy
experiments, so the rising players tried coming to the net at any
reasonable opening. Gradually this plan became popular, until
Dwight Davis and Holcombe Ward surprised the tennis world with
their new service, now the American twist, and used it as an
opening gun in a net attack.
This new system gave us besides Davis and Ward, the Wrenn
brothers, George and Robert, Malcolm Whitman, M. G. Chace, and
finally Beals C. Wright. The baseline game had its firm adherents
who followed it loyally, and it reached its crest in the person
of William A. Larned. Previous to this time, speed, cyclonic
hitting and furious smashing were unknown, although rumours of
some player named M'Loughlin combining these qualities were
floating East from the Pacific Coast. Not much stock was taken in
this phenomenon until 1908, when Maurice Evans M'Loughlin burst
upon the tennis world with a flash of brilliancy that earned him
his popular nickname, "The California Comet."
M'Loughlin was the turning-point in American tennis. He made a
lasting impression on the game that can never be erased. His
personality gained him a following and fame, both in America and
England, that have seldom been equalled in the sporting world.
M'Loughlin was the disciple of speed. Cyclonic, dynamic energy,
embodied in a fiery-headed boy, transformed tennis to a game of
brawn as well as brains. America went crazy over "Red Mac," and
all the rising young players sought to emulate his game. No man
has brought a more striking personality, or more generous
sportsmanship, into tennis than M'Loughlin. The game owes him a
great personal debt; but this very personal charm that was his
made many players strive to copy his style and methods, which
unfortunately were not fundamentally of the best. M'Loughlin was
a unique tennis player. His whole game was built up on service
and overhead. His ground strokes were very faulty. By his
personal popularity M'Loughlin dwarfed the importance of ground
strokes, and unduly emphasized the importance of service.
M'Loughlin gave us speed, dash, and verve in our tennis. It
remained for R. N. Williams and W. M. Johnston to restore the
balance of the modern game by solving the riddle of the
Californian's service. Brookes and Wilding led the way by first
meeting the ball as it came off the ground. Yet neither of these
two wizards of the court successfully handled M'Loughlin's
service as did Williams and Johnston.
M'Loughlin swept Brookes and Wilding into the discard on those
memorable days in 1914, when the dynamic game of the fiery-headed
Californian rose to heights it had never attained previously, and
he defeated both men in the Davis Cup. Less than one month later
Williams, playing as only Williams can, annihilated that mighty
delivery and crushed M'Loughlin in the final of the National
Championship. It was the beginning of the end for M'Loughlin, for
once his attack was repulsed he had no sound defence to fall back
on.
Williams and then Johnston triumphed by the wonderful ground
strokes that held back M'Loughlin's attack.
To-day we are still in the period of service and net attack, with
the cycle closing toward the ground- stroke game. Yet the circle
will never close, for the net game is the final word in attack,
and only attack will succeed. The evolution means that the ground
stroke is again established as the only modern defence against
the net player.
Modern tennis should be an attacking service, not necessarily
epoch-making, as was M'Loughlin's, but powerfully offensive, with
the main portion of the play from the baseline in sparring for
openings to advance to the net. Once the opening is made the
advance should follow quickly, and the point ended by a decisive
kill. That is the modern American game. It is the game of
Australia as typified by Patterson schooled under the Brookes
tutelage. It is the game of France, played by Gobert, Laurentz,
and Brugnon. It has spread to South Africa, and is used by
Winslow, Norton, and Raymond. Japan sees its possibilities, and
Kumagae and Shimidzu are even now learning the net attack to
combine with the baseline game. England alone remains obstinate
in her loyalty to her old standby, and even there signs of the
joint attack are found in the game of Kingscote.
Tennis has spread so rapidly that the old idea of class and class
game has passed away with so many other ancient, yet snobbish,
traditions. Tennis is universally played. The need of proper
development of the game became so great in America that the
American Lawn Tennis Association organized, in 1917, a system of
developing the boys under eighteen years of age all over the
United States.
The fundamental idea in the system, which had its origin in the
able brain of Julian S. Myrick, President of the United States
Lawn Tennis Association, was to arouse and sustain interest in
the various sections by dealing with local conditions. This was
successfully done through a system of local open tournaments,
that qualified boys to a sectional championship. These sectional
championships in turn qualified the winners for the National
junior Championship, which is held annually in conjunction with
the men's event at Forest Hills.
The success of the system has been stupendous. The growth of
tennis in certain localities has been phenomenal. In Philadelphia
alone over 500 boys compete in sanctioned play annually, while
the city ranking for 1919 contained the names of 88 boys under
eighteen, and 30 under fifteen, all of whom had competed in at
least three sanctioned events. The school leagues of the city
hold a schedule of 726 individual matches a year. The success of
the Philadelphia junior system is due to the many large clubs who
give the use of their courts and the balls for an open
tournament. Among these clubs are Germantown Cricket Club, Cynwyd
Club, Philadelphia Cricket, Overbrook Golf Club, Belfield Country
Club, Stenton A. C., Green Point Tennis Clubs and at times Merion
Cricket Club. The movement has been fostered and built up by the
efforts of a small group of men, the most important of whom is
Paul W. Gibbons, President of the Philadelphia Tennis
Association, together with Wm. H. Connell of Germantown, the late
Hosmer W. Hanna of Stenton, whose untiring efforts aided greatly
in obtaining a real start, Dr. Chuton A. Strong, President of the
Interscholastic League, Albert L. Hoskins, for years
Vice-President of the U.S.L.T.A., and others. This plan brought
great results. It developed such players as Rodney M. Beck, H. F.
Domkin, G. B. Pfingst, Carl Fischer, the most promising boy in
the city, who has graduated from the junior age limit, and
Charles Watson (third), who, in 1920, is the Philadelphia junior
Champion, and one of the most remarkable players for a boy of
sixteen I have ever seen.
New York City was fortunate in having F. B. Alexander, the famous
Internationalist, to handle the junior tennis there. He, together
with Julian S. Myrick, and several other men, built up a series
of tournaments around New York that produced some remarkable
young players. It is largely due to the junior system that
Vincent Richards has become the marvellous player that he is, at
such an early age. Second only to Richards, and but a shade
behind, are Harold Taylor and Cecil Donaldson, who have just
passed out of the junior age limit. Charles Wood, the Indoor Boys
Champion, is a remarkable youngster.
In New England, particularly in Providence, through the efforts
of J. D. E. Jones, junior tennis is rapidly assuming an important
place, and many young stars who will be heard of in the future
are coming to the fore. By a strange coincidence the list is
headed by the two sons of Jones. They seem to have inherited
their father's ability. Arnold W. Jones, the National Boy
Champion, is a player of marked ability, with a fine all-around
game. Following closely on his heels come J. D. E. Jones, Jr.,
and Wm. W. Ingraham. From the South one finds John E. Howard.
Around Chicago a group of men, led by Samuel Hardy, captain of
the 1920 Davis Cup team, and assisted by R. T. Van Arsdale, built
up a magnificent system of tournaments and coaching. Hardy left
Chicago and came to New York in 1919; but the work which he so
ably organized will continue under the supervision of the Western
Association. The leading juniors developed in Chicago were Lucian
Williams and the Weber brothers, James and Jerry.
From the Pacific Coast, the pioneer in junior development,
wonderful boys are continually coming East. A boy's tennis game
matures early in California. M'Loughlin was about eighteen when
he first came East; Johnston less than twenty-one when he won the
national title the first time; Marvin Griffin and Morgan Fottrell
are in 1920 the leading youngsters in California.
The success of the Californians is due largely to the efforts of
Dr. Sumner Hardy, brother of Samuel Hardy, and one of the most
remarkable figures in the tennis world. Dr. Hardy practically
carries the California Association single handed. He is a big
factor in American tennis success.
From up in Washington State, a fine young player, Marshall Allen,
has come to the fore.
Charles S. Garland, the Davis Cup star, is a former junior
Champion of America, and a product of the junior system in
Pittsburg, which is so ably handled by his father, Charles
Garland. Other young stars developing include George Moreland and
Leonard Reed.
Most of the foregoing is irrelevant, I suppose, but I have gone
into detail because I want to prove that America has gone into
the matter of junior developments, carefully, systematically, and
has produced results.
It has been proved conclusively that it is in the schools that
the most favourable progress could be made. Once tennis is placed
on the basis of importance it deserves, the boys will take it up.
At present there is a tendency to discount tennis and golf in
school. This is a big mistake, as these two games are the only
ones that a man can play regularly after he leaves college and
enters, into business. The school can keep a sport alive. It is
schools that kept cricket alive in England, and lack of
scholastic support that killed it in America. The future of
tennis in England, France, Australia, Japan, etc., rests in the
hands of the boys. If the game is to grow, tennis must be
encouraged among the youngsters and played in the schools.
England is faced with a serious problem. Eton and Harrow, the two
big schools, are firm set against tennis. The other institutions
naturally follow in the lead of these famous schools. The younger
generation is growing up with little or no knowledge of tennis.
One thing that forcibly bore in on my mind, during my trip in
1920, was the complete absence of boys of all ages at the various
tournaments. In America youngsters from ten years of age up swarm
all over the grounds at big tennis events. I saw very few of
either at Queen's Club, Wimbledon, Eastbourne, or Edgbaston where
I played. The boys do not understand tennis in England, and
naturally do not care to play it.
The English Lawn Tennis Association is very desirous of building
up tennis in the schools; but so far has not yet succeeded in
breaking down the old prejudice. It is really a question of life
or death with English tennis at this time. Major A. R. F.
Kingscote, the youngest of the leading players in England, is
older than any man in the American First ten, with the single
exception of Walter T. Hayes. J. C. Parke has stated definitely
that 1920 marked his retirement from the game. He is just under
forty. Young players must be found to replace the waning stars.
The danger is not immediate, for all the players who proved so
good in 1920 seemed certain of several more years of first- class
play; but what of the next ten years?
The future development of tennis is dependent largely upon the
type of court that will become the standard. All big fixtures
to-day are played on grass wherever possible. There is little
question but that the grass game is the best. In the first place,
it is the old-established custom, and should be maintained if
possible. Secondly, the game is more skilful and more interesting
on turf. Thirdly, grass is far easier on the eyes and feet of the
players than any other surface.
There are drawbacks to grass courts. Grass cannot grow in all
climates. The grass season opens late and closes early. The
expense of upkeep is very great, and skilled groundsmen are
required at all clubs that have grass courts.
The hard court of clay or dirt, cinder, en-tout-cas, or asphalt
allows more continuous play and uniform conditions in more kinds
of weather. The bound is truer and higher, but the light and
surface are harder on the player. The balls wear light very
rapidly, while racquets wear through quite soon.
The advantages are a much longer season on hard courts, with less
chance of weather interrupting important meetings. The courts
require far less care in upkeep than grass.
What has been the actual tendency in the last decade? In America
the hard courts erected have been approximately nine to one
grass. America is rapidly become a hard-court country. France is
entirely on a hard-court basis; there are no grass courts at all.
Play in South Africa is entirely on hard courts. Australia and
the British Isles have successfully repelled the hard-court
invasion thus far, although during the past two years the number
of hard courts put up in England has exceeded grass.
The en-tout-cas court of peculiar red surface is the most popular
composition in England and the Continent.
There seems little doubt but that the hard court is the coming
surface in the next decade. Grass will continue to be used for
the most important events, but the great majority of the tennis
played, exclusive of the championships, will be on hard courts.
The result on the game will be one of increasing the value of the
ground stroke and partially cutting down the net attack, since
the surface of a hard court is slippery and tends to make it hard
to reach the net to volley. Thus the natural attack will become a
drive and not a volley. Hard-court play speeds up the ground
strokes, and makes the game more orthodox.
The installation of hard courts universally should spread tennis
rapidly, since it will afford more chance to play over a longer
period. The growth of public courts in the parks and the
municipal play grounds in America has been a big factor in the
spread of the game's popularity. Formerly a man or boy had to
belong to a club in order to have an opportunity to play tennis.
Now all he needs is a racquet and balls, and he may play on a
public court in his own city. This movement will spread, not only
in America but throughout the world. England and France have some
public courts; but their systems are not quite as well organized
as the American.
The branch of tennis which England and France foster, and in
which America is woefully lax, is the indoor game. Unfortunately
the majority of the courts abroad have wood surfaces, true but
lightning fast. The perfect indoor court should retain its true
bound, but slow up the skid of the ball. The most successful
surface I have ever played upon is battleship linoleum--the heavy
covering used on men-of-war. This gives a true, slightly retarded
bound, not unlike a very fast grass court.
Indoor play in America is sadly crippled by reason of no adequate
facilities for play. The so-called National Indoor Championship
is held at the Seventh Regiment Armoury in New York City on a
wood floor, with such frightful lighting that it is impossible to
play real tennis. The two covered courts at Longwood Club,
Boston, are very fine, well lighted, with plenty of space. There
is a magnificent court at Providence, and another at Buffalo.
Utica boasts of another, while there are several fine courts,
privately owned, on Long Island. New York City uses the big
armouries for indoor play; but the surface and light in these are
not fit for real tennis. The Brooklyn Heights Casino has the only
adequate court in the Metropolitan district.
Philadelphia and Chicago, cities of enormous populations and
great tennis interest, have no courts or facilities for indoor
play. This condition must be rectified in America if we wish to
keep our supremacy in the tennis world. The French players are
remarkable on wood. Gobert is said to be the superior of any
player in the world, when playing under good conditions indoors.
The game of tennis is worthy of having all types of play within
reach of its devotees. Why should a player drop his sport in
October because the weather is cold? Indoor play during the
winter means an improvement from season to season. Lack of it is
practically stagnation or retrogression.
The future will see a growth of hard-court play the world over.
Grass must fight to hold its position. Indoor play will come more
and more into vogue.
CHAPTER XI. THE PROBABLE FUTURE OF THE GAME
What will be the outcome of the world-wide boom in tennis? Will
the game change materially in the coming years? Time, alone, can
answer; but with that rashness that seizes one when the
opportunity to prophesy arrives and no one is at hand to cry
"Hold, hold," I dare to submit my views on the coming years in
international tennis.
I do not look to see a material change in the playing rules. A
revival of the footfault fiend, who desires to handicap the
server, is international in character and, like the poor, "always
with us." The International Federation has practically adopted a
footfault rule for 1921 that prohibits the server lifting one
foot unless replaced behind the baseline. It is believed this
will do away with the terrific services. The only effect I can
see from it is to move the server back a few inches, or possibly
a foot, while he delivers the same service and follows in with a
little more speed of foot. It will not change the game at all.
Sir Oliver Lodge, the eminent scientist, has joined the advocates
of but one service per point. This seems so radical and in all so
useless, since it entirely kills service as other than a mere
formality, and puts it back where it was twenty-five years ago,
that I doubt if even the weight of Sir Oliver Lodge's eminent
opinion can put it over. To allow one service is to hand the game
more fully into the receiver's hands than it now rests in the
server's.
The playing rules are adequate in every way, and the perfect
accord with which representatives of the various countries meet
and play, happily, successfully, and what is more important,
annually, is sufficient endorsement of the fundamental
principles. The few slight variations of the different countries
are easily learned and work no hardships on visiting players. Why
change a known successful quantity for an unknown? It seldom
pays.
The style of play is now approaching a type which I believe will
prove to have a long life. To-day we are beginning to combine the
various styles in one man. The champion of the future will
necessarily need more equipment than the champion of to-day. The
present shows us the forehand driving of Johnston, the service of
Murray, the volleying of Richards, the chop of Wallace F.
Johnson, the smash of Patterson, the half volley of Williams, and
the back hand of Pell. The future will find the greatest players
combining much of these games. It can be done if the player will
study. I believe that every leading player in the world in 1950
will have a drive and a chop, fore- and backhand from the
baseline. He will use at least two styles of service, since one
will not suffice against the stroke of that period. He will be a
volleyer who can safely advance to the net, yet his attack will
be based on a ground game. He must smash well. In short, I
believe that the key to future tennis success lies in variety of
stroke. The day of the one-stroke player is passing. Each year
sees the versatile game striding forward by leaps and bounds.
The future champion of the world must be a man of keen intellect,
since psychology is assuming the importance that is its due. He
must train earnestly, carefully, and consistently. The day of
playing successful tennis and staying up till daybreak is over.
The game is too fast and too severe for that. As competition
increases the price of success goes up; but its worth increases
in a greater ratio, for the man who triumphs in the World's
Championship in 1950 will survive a field of stars beyond our
wildest dreams in 1920.
What of the various countries? America should retain her place at
or near the top, for the boys we are now developing should not
only make great players themselves, but should carry on the work
of training the coming generations.
England has but to interest her youth in the game to hold her
place with the leaders. I believe it will be done. I look to see
great advances made in tennis among the boys in England in the
next few years. I believe the game will change to conform more to
the modern net attack. England will never be the advanced
tennis-playing country that her colonies are, for her whole
atmosphere is one of conservatism in sport. Still her game will
change. Already a slight modification is at work. The next decade
will see a big change coming over the style of English tennis.
The wonderful sporting abilities of the Englishman, his ability
to produce his best when seemingly down and out mean that, no
matter how low the ebb to which tennis might fall, the inherent
abilities of the English athlete would always bring it up. I
sound pessimistic about the immediate future. I am not, provided
English boyhood is interested in the game.
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