Project Gutenberg surfs with a modem donated by Supra.
W >>
William T. Tilden, 2D >> Project Gutenberg surfs with a modem donated by Supra.
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 | 7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12
Japan is the country of the future. There is no more remarkable
race of students on the globe than the Japanese. They like
tennis, and are coming with increasing numbers to our
tournaments. They prove themselves sterling sportsmen and
remarkable players. I look to see Japan a power in tennis in the
next twenty-five years.
France, with her brilliant temperamental unstable people, will
always provide interesting players and charming opponents. I do
not look to see France materially change her present
position--which is one of extreme honour, of great friendliness,
and keen competition. Her game will not greatly rise, nor will
she lose in any way the prestige that is hers.
It will be many long years before the players of those enemy
countries, who plunged the world into the horrible baptism of
blood from which we have only just emerged, will ever be met by
the players of the Allies. Personally, I trust I may not see
their re-entry into the game. Not from the question of the
individuals, but from the feeling which will not down. There is
no need to deal at this time with the future of Germany and
Austria.
Australasia and South Africa, the great colonies of the British
Empire, should be on the edge of a great tennis wave. I look to
see great players rise in Australasia to refill the gaps left by
the passing of Wilding and the retirement of Brookes. It takes
great players to fill such gaps; but great players are bred from
the traditions of the former masters.
The early season of 1921 saw a significant and to my way of
looking at it, wise move on the part of New Zealand when the New
Zealand tennis association withdrew from the Australasian tennis
association and decided to compete for the Davis Cup in future
years as a separate nation.
No one can deny the great help Australia has been to New Zealand
in tennis development, but the time has come now for New Zealand
to stand on her own. Since the regrettable death of Anthony F.
Wilding, in whose memory New Zealand has a tennis asset and
standard that will always hold a place in world sport, the New
Zealand tennis players have been unable to produce a player of
skill enough to make the Davis Cup team of Australasia. It has
fallen to Australia with Norman E. Brookes, to whose unfailing
support and interest Australasian tennis owes its progress since
the war, G. L. Patterson, W. H. Anderson, R. L. Heath, and Pat
O'Hara Wood to uphold the traditions of the game.
The Davis Cup challenge round of 1921 was staged in New Zealand
in accord with the agreement between Australia and New Zealand
and also in memory of A. F. Wilding. The tremendous interest in
the play throughout the entire country showed the time was ripe
for a drastic step forward if the step was ever to be taken. So
after careful consideration the split of Australia and New
Zealand has taken place. What will this mean to New Zealand?
First it means that it will be years before another Davis Cup
match will be staged on her shores, for it takes time and plenty
of it to produce a winning team, but at the time, the fact is
borne in on the tennis playing faction in New Zealand that as
soon as they desire to challenge, their players will gain the
opportunity of International competition.
Experience matures players faster than anything else and I am
sure that the move that will place a team of New Zealand players
in the field in the Davis Cup will be the first and biggest step
forward to real world power in tennis. New Zealand produced one
Wilding, why should not another appear?
I was tremendously impressed by the interest existing among the
New Zealand boys in tennis. I met a great number during my few
weeks in Auckland and seldom have seen such a magnificent
physical type coupled with mental keenness. These boys, given the
opportunity to play under adequate supervision and coaching,
should produce tennis players of the highest class.
The New Zealand association has made a drastic move. I hope they
have the wisdom to see far enough ahead to provide plenty of play
for their young players and if possible to obtain adequate
coaches in the clubs and schools.
Frankly I see no players of Davis Cup calibre now in New Zealand.
I did see many boys whom I felt if given the chance would become
Davis Cup material.
The break with New Zealand will have no effect on Australia,
except to relieve a slight friction that has existed. Australia
has plenty of material coming to insure a succession of fine
teams for the Davis Cup in the future.
Both Australia and New Zealand handle their tennis in the country
in a most efficient manner and the game seems to me to be
progressing in a natural and healthy manner. The next ten years
will decide the fate of New Zealand tennis. If they organise a
systematic development of their boys I feel convinced they will
gain a place of equality with Australia. If they do not seize
their opening now, tennis will not revive until some genius of
the game such as Norman E. Brookes arises in their midst from
only the Lord knows where.
The future should see America and Australia fighting for
supremacy in the tennis world, with England and France close on
their heels, to jump in the lead at the first faltering.
It is only a matter of time before the last differences between
the International Federation and the America Association are
patched up. The fundamental desires of each, to spread the growth
of tennis, are the same. Sooner or later the bar will fall, and a
truly International Federation, worldwide in scope, will follow.
I look to see the Davis Cup matches gain in importance and public
interest as each year goes by. The growth of the public interest
in the game is seen at every hand. Wimbledon must seek new
quarters. The new grounds of the All England Club will provide
accommodation for 20,000 to witness the championships. This
enormous stadium is the result of public pressure, owing to the
crowds that could not be accommodated at the old grounds.
Westside Club, Forest Hills, where the American Championship was
held, is planning accommodation for 25,000, provided that they
are awarded the championship for a long term of years. Davis Cup
matches are now drawing from 10,000 to 15,000 where the
accommodation is available. What will the future hold?
I believe that 1950 will find the game of tennis on a plane
undreamed of to-day. Tennis is still in its infancy. May I have
the pleasure to help in rocking the cradle.
My task is completed. I have delved into the past, analysed the
present, and prophesied the future, with a complete disregard of
conventions and traditions.
The old order changeth, and I trust that my book may aid slightly
in turning the tennis thought in the direction of organized
developments. The day of self is past. The day of co-operation is
dawning. It is seen in the junior tennis, the municipal tennis,
and the spirit of international brotherhood in the game.
Assistance is necessary to success in any venture. My book has
been made possible only by the aid afforded me by several of my
companions on the Davis Cup team trip. The task of arranging the
material in coherent order and proper style is one of the most
important points. I owe a debt of gratitude to Mrs. Samuel Hardy,
wife of our captain, for her never-failing interest and keen
judgment in the matter of style.
Mr. Hardy, with his great knowledge of the game of tennis, as
player, official, and organizer, freely gave of his store of
experience, and to him I owe much that is interesting in the
tactics of the game.
R. N. Williams, my team-mate, was always a willing critic and
generous listener, and his playing abilities and decided ideas on
the game gave much material that found its way into these pages.
I wish to express my gratitude for his able assistance.
Charles S. Garland, my doubles partner and close friend, gave
never-wavering faith and a willing ear to my ravings over
strokes, tactics, and theories, while his orthodox views on
tennis acted as a stop on my rather Bolshevik ideas.
To all these people I express my thanks for their part in any
success I may attain with this book. I have a firm belief in the
future of tennis. I recommend it to all. It gives firm friends, a
healthy body, a keen mind, and a clean sport. It calls forth the
best that is in you, and repays you in its own coin.
THE 1921 SEASON
The season of 1921 was the most remarkable year in tennis history
throughout the whole world. More tennis was played and more
people viewed it than ever before.
The climax of famous Davis Cup competition was reached when
England, France, Japan, Australia, the Philippines, Denmark,
Belgium, Argentine, Spain, India, Canada and Czecho-Slovakia
challenged for the right to play America, the holding nation.
This wonderful representation naturally produced not only many
new stars, but also thousands of new enthusiasts in the various
countries where the matches were played.
The early rounds saw several brilliant matches and naturally some
defaults. Argentine and the Philippines could not put a team in
the field at the last moment. Belgium, after defeating
Czecho-Slovakia, was unable to finance her team to America to
meet the winner of England and Australasia.
England scored a fine victory over Spain when Randolph Lycett, F.
Gordon Lowe and Max E. Woosnam defeated Manuel Alonzo and Count
de Gomar in a close meeting. Notwithstanding his defeat by
Lycett, Manuel Alonzo proved himself one of the great players of
the world and one of the most attractive personalities in tennis.
India sprang a sensation by defeating France in their match in
Paris. Sleen, Jacob and Deane showed great promise for the
future. France was crippled owing to the loss of A. H. Gobert and
William Laurentz, the former through a seriously sprained ankle
sustained in the World's Championship at Wimbledon, and the
latter through illness. Samazieuhl, the new French champion, and
Brugnon could not cope with the steadiness of the Indian stars
and the team from the Orient won 3 matches to 2. Meanwhile the
Australian team of J. O. Anderson, J. B. Hawkes, C. V. Todd and
Norman Peach had arrived in America and journeyed to Canada,
where they swamped their Colonial cousins easily. Norman E.
Brookes, Gerald L. Patterson and Pat O'Hara Wood were unable to
accompany the team, so the greatest contender for the title was
weakened appreciably.
The Australians decisively defeated the Danish team of Tegner and
Van Ingersley at Cleveland, winning with ease. They proceeded to
Pittsburgh to await the arrival of the English players.
England sent her invading team, unfortunately without the
services of Col. A. R. F. Kingscote and Randolph Lycett, who were
unable to go owing to business affairs. J. C. Parke, her famous
international star, was also out of the game, having retired from
active competition last year. The English team was made up of
Gordon Lowe, Max Woosnam, J. C. Gilbert and O. E. H. Turnbull.
They were accompanied by that delightful author and critic A.
Wallis Meyers.
The English met the Australians at Pittsburgh in July. The latter
won three matches to two with J. O. Anderson, the outstanding
figure of a well played meeting. The tall Australian defeated
both Lowe and Woosnam in the singles and aided in the doubles
victory, thus scoring all the points for his team.
Meanwhile the Indian team had arrived in America and proceeded to
Chicago, where they met the Japanese team of Kumagae and
Shimidzu. The battle of the Orient resulted in a victory for the
Nipponese.
The final round found Australia playing Japan in the famous old
tennis center of Newport, R. I., where the National Singles so
long held sway. It was a bitter struggle, with the Australians
within two little points of victory in two matches they
afterwards lost. Shimidzu and Kumagae took all the singles, but
Kumagae was two sets down to Hawkes and one to two down to
Anderson. Thus Japan in its first year in Davis Cup competition
earned the right to challenge America for the treasured trophy.
It was a marvellous meeting of these two teams. Over 40,000
people watched the players in three days. Although America won
all five matches, Shimidzu came within two points of defeating me
in straight sets and carried Johnston to a bitter four set
struggle.
The Cup is safe for another year but the new blood infused into
the competition by such men as Shimidzu, Alonzo, Woosnam,
Anderson and Hawkes shows clearly that America must keep working
or we will fall from our present position. It is a healthy thing
for the game that this is so. I hope we will see many more new
players of equal promise next year.
The United States Lawn Tennis Association, following its policy
of co-operation with the Internation Federation, decided to send
a team to France and England for the championships. The personnel
of the team was Mrs. Franklin 1. Mallory, Miss Edith Sigourney,
Arnold W. Jones (boy champion of America, 1919), and myself. J.
D. E. Jones, father of Arnold, himself a tennis player of renown,
accompanied the team, as did Mr. Mallory.
The invading tennis players sailed May 12th on the Mauretania to
Cherbourg and from there journeyed to Paris, where they engaged
in the Hard Court Championship of the world.
The first week of the stay was devoted to practice on the courts
at the Stad Francais, St. Cloud, where the championship was held.
The team were the guests of the Racing Club at a most delightful
luncheon and shortly afterward dined as the guests of the Tennis
Club of Paris.
The finals of the championship of France were held during our
stay and, greatly to our surprise, A. H. Gobert, the defending
title holder, fell a victim to his old enemy, heat, and went down
to defeat before Samazieuhl. The Hard Court championships of the
world produced a series of the most sensational upsets in the
history of the game, a series, I might add, that did much to
allow me to win the event. Gobert lost to Nicholas Mishu in the
first round. Alonzo, after defeating Samazieuhl, went down to
defeat at hands of Laurentz, who in turn collapsed to Tegner.
Fate pursued the winners, for Tegner was eliminated by Washer,
who came through to the final against me. Either Alonzo or
Laurentz should have been finalists if the unexpected had not
occurred, and either would have been a hard proposition for me
particularly in my condition. I had been taken ill on my arrival
in Paris and was still far from well. However, Fortune smiled on
me and I succeeded in defeating Washer 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Meanwhile the long awaited meeting between Mlle. Lenglen and Mrs.
Mallory was at hand. Mrs. Mallory had come through one side of
the tournament after a bitter battle with Mme. Billoutt (Mlle.
Brocadies) in the semi final.
Mlle. Lenglen had proceeded in her usual leisurely fashion to the
finals with the loss of but two games.
What a meeting these two great players, Mrs. Mallory and Mlle.
Lenglen, had! Every seat in the stands sold and every inch of
standing room crowded! It was a marvellous match, both women
playing great tennis. Mlle. Lenglen had consistently better depth
and more patience. She out- manoeuvred the American champion and
won 6-2, 6-3. The match was far closer than this one-sided score
sounds. Every rally was long drawn out and bitterly contested,
but the French girl had a slight superiority that brought her a
well deserved victory.
A. H. Gobert and W. Laurentz retained their doubles title after
one of the most terrific struggles of their careers in the
semi-final round against Arnold Jones and me. The boy and I had
previously put out Samazieuhl and his partner in three sets and
just nosed out the Spanish Davis Cup team, Manuel Alonzo and
Count de Gomar.
The semi final between Gobert and Laurentz and the Americans
brought out a capacity audience that literally jumped to its feet
and cheered during the sparkling rallies of the five bitterly
contesting sets. Just as Gobert drove his terrific service ace
past me for the match, Laurentz suddenly collapsed and fainted
dead away on the court. It was a dramatic end to a sensational
match.
The scene then shifted to England, where the American team
journeyed across the Channel to prepare for the Grass Court
championship of the world at Wimbledon. My preparation consisted
of a hasty journey to a hospital, where a minor operation put me
to bed until the day Wimbledon started.
The remainder of the team journeyed first to Beckenham and then
to Roehampton for their first grass court play of the season.
Mrs. Mallory met defeat at the hands of Mrs. Beamish at Beckenham
while the other members fell by the wayside at sundry points.
Mrs. Mallory won Roehampton, decisively defeating Miss Phillis
Howkins in the final. Francis T. Hunter, another American who
joined the team in England, although he was abroad on business,
scored a victory in the men's event at Roehampton.
The world's championship at Wimbledon was another series of
sensational matches and startling upsets. The draw as usual was
topheavy, all the strength in the upper half with Frank Hunter
and B. I. C. Norton in the lower. Every day saw its feature
matches produce the unexpected. Shimidzu and Lycett battled for
nearly four hours in a struggle that combined all the virtues and
vices of tennis and pugilism. Col. A. R. F. Kingscote, after
three sensational victories over Fisher, Dixon and Lowe,
collapsed against Alonzo and was decisively defeated. Shimidzu
looked a certain winner against Alonzo when he led at 2 sets to 1
and 4-1, but the Spaniard rose to great heights and by
sensational play pulled out the match in five sets.
Norton and Hunter, after several close calls, met in the semi
final. Norton took two sets and led 5-3 in the third only to have
Hunter follow in Alonzo's footsteps and pull out the set and win
the next. Here Norton again took command and ran out the match.
The Norton-Alonzo match in the final round was a sensational
reversal. The Spaniard seemed assured of victory when he took two
sets and led at 5-3 and 30-all, but the last-minute jinx that
pursued the tournament fell upon him, for Norton came to life
and, playing sensational tennis, pulled out the match and earned
the right to me in the challenge round.
Then the jinx arose again and this time Babe Norton was the
victim. Such a match as that challenge round produced! I went on
the court feeling far from well and very much run down. Babe was
on the crest but very nervous. He ran away with the first two
sets with great ease. The third set I improved. Babe, after
dropping three games, decided to let it go. The fourth set found
the crowd excited and rather noisy. Norton became annoyed because
he felt I was bothered, and he blew up. He simply threw away the
fourth set from sheer nerves.
The fifth set was terrible. Norton had come to earth and was
playing well while I for the first time in the match had some
control of the ball. Norton finally led at 4-5 and 30-40 on my
service, with the championship one point away.
We had a long rally. Desperately I hit down the line. I was so
certain my shot was going out I started for the net to shake
hands. The ball fell on the line and Babe in the excitement of
the moment put his return out by inches. It was a life and
fortunately for me I seized my chance and succeeded in pulling
out the match and retaining the championship. Norton deserved to
win, for nothing but luck saved me as I walked to the net,
thinking my shot was out. Norton is the youngest man to have won
the All Comers Singles. He is just 21.
The championships had two sad moments. One was the absence of J.
C. Parke, due to retirement from singles. The other was the
retirement of A. W. Gore, the famous veteran, after 30 years a
participant in the championships.
The women's events found an even more unfortunate draw than the
men. All the strength was in one eight. Miss Ryan defeated Miss
K. McKane in the first round and Mrs. Beamish her old rival in
the second. She met Mrs. Mallory in the third.
For one set Mrs. Mallory played the finest tennis of her career
to that time and in fact equal even to her play against Suzanne
Lenglen in America. She ran off six games in ten minutes. Miss
Ryan, cleverly changing her game, finally broke up the perfection
of Mrs. Mallory's stroking and just nosed her out in the next two
sets. It was a well deserved victory.
Miss Ryan easily won the tournament and challenged Mlle. Lenglen,
but her old jinx in the form of Suzanne again proved too much and
she played far below her best. The French girl easily retained
her title, winning 6-2, 6-0.
The journey of the wandering tennis troupe abroad was far from
the most important development of the year. The American season
was producing remarkable results. Every year produces its
outstanding figure and the early months of 1921 saw Vincent
Richards looming large on the tennis horizon.
The first sensation of the year was the decisive defeat inflicted
on Kumagae by young Richards at Amakassin Club, New York. This
was immediately followed by Kumagae's victory over Dick Williams,
avenging Williams' win at Palm Beach some months before. Kumagae
scored in the intercity match for the George Myers Church Trophy
played in 1921 in Philadelphia. The following day Wallace F.
Johnson defeated Kumagae in one of the most terrific battle of
the year.
Vincent Richards went through the season to the middle of July
without sustaining a defeat. He won five tournaments.
I arrived home from France and England July 12th and journeyed at
once to Providence where I took charge of the Rhode Island State
Championship at the Agawam Hunt Club. Zenzo Shimidzu had
accompanied me to America on the Olympic and made his first
tournament appearance two days after landing at Greenwich, Conn.,
before coming to Providence. He went down to unexpected defeat at
the hands of S. H. Voshell.
The Providence tournament held the greatest entry list of any
event except the National Singles itself. The singles had
Shimidzu, Williams, Richards, C. S. Garland, Watson Washburn, S.
H. Voshell, Samuel Hardy, N. W. Niles, many young Western
collegiate stars and myself. Ichiya Kumagae arrived to play
doubles with Shimidzu in preparation for the Davis Cup.
Then the fun began. Shimidzu again fell before the net attack of
Voshell, who was himself defeated by the calm quiet steadiness of
Washburn. Garland went out at my hands. Williams faced certain
defeat when Niles led him 4-0 in the final set, but in one of his
super-tennis streaks tore through to victory, only to collapse
against Vincent Richards and suffer a crushing defeat 6-2, 6-2 in
the semi-final. Meanwhile Washburn had dropped by the wayside to
me 6-2, 6-2 and young Richards and I took up our annual battle.
Youth is cruel. The world is cruel. Life is hard. I know it, for
Vinnie, with care and discretion, quietly led me along the Road
of the Has-Beens, where he deposited me to the tune of 6-1, 6-2,
1-6, 6-0.
Richards, with the scalps of Kumagae, Williams, Voshell and
myself dangling at his belt, seemed destined for the championship
itself. Alas, pride goeth before a fall. The fall came to Vinnie
suddenly.
The following week was the Longwood Singles. "Little Bill"
Johnston arrived East, together with the rest of his California
team, the day the event started. Johnston was the holder of the
trophy and was called on to meet the winner of the tournament in
the challenge round.
The tournament was mainly Dick Williams. He defeated Shimidzu in
the final. Kumagae was his victim in an earlier round.
Willis E. Davis, second string of the California team, was
unexpectedly defeated by N. W. Niles, who himself went the long
road via Shimidzu. The little Japanese star scored another
important victory when he defeated W. F. Johnson.
Williams met Johnston in the challenge round with chances bright.
Somehow Little Bill has Dick's number these days and again
decisively defeated him. Vincent Richards wisely rested the week
of Longwood, preparing for the later events. I was off in the
woods at Camp Winnipesaukee recuperating from the effects of
illness in England.
Newport followed on the heels of Longwood. Newport should be
called Washburn Week. Here the judicial Watty methodically placed
Johnston and Williams in the discard on successive days. It was a
notable performance.
Williams took an awful revenge on Vinnie Richards when the two
met in the third round. It was Williams' day and he blew the
little Yonkers boy off the court in one of the finest displays of
the whole year. Shimidzu, who had again scored a victory over
Wallace Johnson, was taken suddenly ill with ptomaine poisoning,
the night before he was to meet Williams in the semi final, and
compelled to default. It robbed him of a chance to gain revenge
for his defeat at Longwood. Washburn played the best tennis of
his life, in defeating Johnston and Williams, which, coupled with
Richards' crushing defeat, placed Washburn on the Davis Cup team.
A sensational upset occurred in the first round when L. B. Rice
defeated W. E. Davis. Rice has made a great improvement this year
and bids fair to go far.
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 | 7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12