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Seabright, the next week, found Little Bill Johnston playing the
stellar role. Washburn took a week off but Williams and Richards
were in the competition.
Johnston crushed Richards when the two met, in a display of
aggressive tennis so remarkable that the boy was helpless before
it. Richards was stale and below form, but even if he had been at
his best, he could not have withstood Johnston's attack. Little
Bill followed this up by sweeping Williams off the court by
another marvellous streak of well nigh perfect tennis.
Southampton and the Women's National Championship conflicted the
next week. The story of Mrs. Mallory's sensational triumph and
successful defense of her title is told elsewhere in this book.
Southampton, as always, proved the goat, for almost all the
leading players took a week's rest before the National Doubles
Championship.
The English Davis Cup team, Willis E. Davis, Vincent Richards and
the Kinsey brothers, Bob and Howard, were the leading stars. The
event narrowed to Davis and Richards in the finals with no upsets
of a startling nature. Davis had had a very poor record all year,
while Richards boasted of the finest list of victories of the
season. On the other hand the boy was over-tennised and stale and
it proved his undoing, for after one set, which he won easily,
the sting went out of his game and Davis took the match in four
sets.
The championships were just ahead. The Doubles held at Longwood
Club, Boston, found several teams closely matched. Williams and
Washburn, with the Rhode Island State and Newport to their
credit, were the favorites for the title. "Little Bill" Johnston
and W. E. Davis and Bob and Howard Kinsey of California had both
pressed them closely. Vincent Richards and I teamed together for
the first time since N. E. Brookes and G. L. Patterson had won
the title from us in 1919. Samuel Hardy and S. H. Voshell were a
pair of veterans who needed watching.
Williams and Washburn had a close call in the third round when
Hardy and Voshell led 3-1 in the fifth set, but an unfortunate
miss of an easy volley by Hardy and a footfault on game point at
3-4 and 30-40 by Voshell turned the tide and the favorites were
safe. Johnston and Davis had several chances in the semi-final
but Davis was too uncertain and Bill too anxious and they tossed
away the opportunities.
Vinnie and I met the Kinseys in the semi-final and after chasing
their lobs all over the court for hours and smashing until our
backs ached, we finally pulled out three sequence sets. I have
seldom seen a team work together more smoothly than the Kinseys.
The final match between Williams and Washburn, Richards and I for
two sets was as sensational and closely contested doubles as ever
featured a national championship. Our slight superiority in
returning service gave us just enough margin to pull out the
first two sets 14-12, 12-10. Then Richards went mad. There is no
other way to describe it. Every time he got his racquet on a ball
it went for a clean placement. I stood around and watched him.
Almost single-handed this remarkable boy won the last set 6-2.
The Davis Cup challenge round stretched itself between the
Doubles and Singles Championship. There was no work except for us
poor hard-working players who were on the team. The rest was a
blessing to Richards, who needed it badly, as he was tired and
drawn.
Following the American victory in the Davis Cup, the scene
shifted to Philadelphia and the eyes of the tennis world were
centered on the Germantown Cricket Club, where the greatest
tournament of all time was to be held. Players of seven nations
were to compete. The Davis Cup stars of England, Australia and
Japan added their brilliance to that of all the leading American
players. Six American champions, W. A. Larned, W. J. Clothier, R.
N. Williams, R. L. Murray, W. M. Johnston, and myself were
entered.
Fate took a hand in the draw and for once I think did so badly
that it settled the "blind draw" forever. In one sixteen
Johnston, Richards, Shimidzu, Murray and I were bunched. The howl
of protest from tennis players and public alike was so loud that
the blind draw surely will go by the board at the coming annual
meeting. Since the foregoing was written, the prophecy has proved
true. The annual meeting, Feb. 4th, 1922, adopted the "Seeded
Draw" unanimously.
Every day produced its thrills, but play ran singularly true to
form in most cases. Illness took a hand in the game, compelling
the defaults of R. L. Murray, Ichiya Kumagae and W. A. Larned.
The early rounds saw but one upset. Norman Peach, Captain of the
Australasian Davis Cup team, was eliminated by William W.
Ingraham, of Providence, one of the best junior players in
America. It was a splendid victory and shows the fruit our junior
development system is already bearing. Peach had not been well
but for all that he played a splendid game and all credit is due
Ingraham for his victory.
The second day's play saw a remarkable match when W. E. Davis
defeated C. V. Todd of Australia after the latter led him by two
sets. Davis steadily improved and by rushing the net succeeded in
breaking up Todd's driving game. Todd unfortunately pulled a
muscle in his side that seriously hampered him in the fifth set.
Wallace F. Johnson, playing magnificent tennis, eliminated Watson
Washburn in one of the brainiest, hardest fought matches of the
whole tournament.
Johnson was very steady and outlasted Washburn in the first set,
which he won. Washburn then took to storming the net and carried
off two sets decisively. The strain took its toll and he was
perceptibly slower when the fourth set opened. Johnson ran him
from corner to corner, or tossed high lobs when Washburn took the
net. It proved too much for even Washburn to stand, and the
Philadelphian won the next two sets and with it the match. Many
people considered it a great upset. Personally I expected it, as
I know how dangerous Johnson may be.
The Johnston-Richards match and my meeting with Shimidzu came on
the third day. Fully 15,000 people jammed themselves around the
court and yelled, clapped and howled their excitement through the
afternoon. It was a splendidly behaved gallery but a very
enthusiastic one.
Richards, eager to avenge his crushing defeat by Johnston at
Seabright, started with a rush. "Little Bill" was uncertain and
rather nervous. Richards ran away with the first two sets almost
before Johnston realized what was happening. The tennis Richards
played in these sets was almost unbeatable. Johnston nerved
himself to his task and held even to 3-all in the third. Here he
broke through and Richards, I think foolishly, made little
attempt to pull out the set. The boy staked all on the fourth
set. Johnston led at 5-3 but Richards, playing desperately,
pulled up to 6-5 and was within two points of the match at 30-all
on Johnston's service. It was his last effort. Johnston took the
game and Richards faded away. His strength failed him and the
match was Johnston's.
I hit a good streak against Shimidzu and ran away with three
straight sets more or less easily.
Meantime one of the most sensational upsets of the whole
tournament was taking place on an outside court where Stanley W.
Pearson of Philadelphia was running the legs off N. W. Niles of
Boston and beating him in five sets.
"Little Bill" Johnston and I met the next day in what was the
deciding match of the tournament, even though it was only the
fourth round. Every available inch of space was jammed by an
overflow gallery when we took the count. It was a bitter match
from the first point. We were both playing well. In the early
stages Little Bill had a slight edge, but after one set the
balance shifted and I held the whip hand to the end.
The same day Dick Williams went down to sudden and unexpected
defeat at the hands of J. O. Anderson of Australia in five well
played sets. It was a typical Williams effort, glorious tennis
one minute followed by inexcusable lapses. The Australian was
steady and clever throughout.
The keen speculation as to the outcome of the tournament fell off
after the meeting of Johnston and I, and with it a decrease in
attendance. This ran very high, however, again reaching capacity
on the day of the finals.
The round before the semi finals saw a terrific struggle between
two Californians, Bob Kinsey and Willis E. Davis. Kinsey had
defeated Davis in the Metropolitan Championship the week before
and was expected to repeat, but Davis managed to outlast his team
and nosed out the match. Kinsey collapsed on the court from
exhaustion as the last point was played.
Gordon Lowe went down to me in a fine match while J. O. Anderson
and Wallace Johnson completed the Quartet of semi finalists,
I finally got my revenge on Davis for the many defeats he had
inflicted on me in years gone by. Wallace Johnson scored a
magnificent victory over J. O. Anderson in four sets after the
Australian led at a set all, 5-2, and 40-15. Johnson ran the
visiting Davis Cup star all over the court and finally pulled out
the match in one of the finest displays of court generalship I
have ever seen.
The finals was more or less of a family party. It was an
all-Philadelphian affair, two Philadelphians competing with
14,000 more cheering them on.
Johnson was unfortunate. Saturday the match was started under a
dark sky on a soft court that just suited him. I have seldom seen
Johnson play so well; as always, his judgment was faultless. We
divided games with service with monotonous regularity. The score
was 5-all when it began to drizzle. The court, soft at best that
day, grew more treacherous and slippery by the minute. Johnson's
shots hardly left the ground. He broke my service at 7-all when
the rain materially increased. He reached 40-15 but, with the
crowd moving to shelter and the rain falling harder every minute,
he made the fatal error of hurrying and netted two easy shots for
deuce, A moment more and the game was mine and the match called
at 8-all.
Play was resumed on Monday before a capacity gallery. By mutual
agreement the match was played over from the beginning. I had
learned my lesson the previous day and opened with a rush. The
hot sun and strong wind had hardened the court and Johnson's
shots rose quite high. It was my day and fortunately for me I
made the most of it.
I consider that match the best tennis of my life. I beat Johnson
6-1, 6-3, 6-1 in 45 minutes. Thus fell the curtain on the
official tennis season.
The East-West matches in Chicago proved more or less of an
anti-climax. Johnston was ill and unable to compete, while
Wallace Johnson, Williams, Washburn and Shimidzu could not play.
Several remarkable matches featured the three days' play in the
Windy City. The most remarkable was the splendid victory of J. O.
Anderson over me in five sets, the final one of which hung up a
world's record for tournament play by going to 19-17. Frank T.
Anderson defeated Robert Kinsey in five sets, a splendid
performance, while S. H. Voshell scored over W. E. Davis.
The Ranking Committee faces a hard task on the season's play. Let
us look at the records of some of the American players, and a few
of our visitors.
1. W. M. Johnston Beat V. Richards 2, Williams (2), Kumagae,
Shimidzu, Roland Roberts, Davis and others. Lost to Washburn,
Tilden, Roberts.
2. R. N. Williams 2d. Beat Richards, Shimidzu, Kumagae (2),
Voshell and others. Lost to Johnston (2), Richards, J. O.
Anderson, Kumagae.
3. Vincent Richards Beat Tilden, Richards, Kumagae (2), Shimidzu
(2), (in exhibition at Toronto), Voshell, Hawkes, Lost to
Johnston (2), Williams, Davis.
4. Ishiya Kumagae Beat Williams, Voshell, Anderson, Hawkes. Lost
to Johnston, Tilden, Williams, Richards.
5. Zenzo Shimidzu Beat Wallace Johnson (2), Anderson, Hawkes,
Niles. Lost to Johnston, Tilden (2), Voshell (2). Richards (2)
(in exhibitions).
6. Wallace Johnson Beat Watson, Washburn, Anderson. Lost to
Tilden, Shimidzu (2).
7. Watson Washburn Beat Williams, Johnston, Voshell. Lost to
Wallace Johnson, Tilden, Atherton Richards (a most sensational
upset).
8. J. O. Anderson of Australia Beat R. N. Williams, Tilden,
Hawkes, Lowe. Lost to Wallace Johnson, Kumagae, Shimidzu.
9. S. H. Voshell Beat Shimidzu (2) , Davis. Lost to Richards,
Williams, Washburn, Neer (an upset), Allen Behr (a gift).
10. W. E. Davis Beat Richards, R. Kinsey, Lowe. Lost to Niles, L.
B. Rice (an upset), R. Kinsey, Voshell and Tilden.
These few records show how useless comparative scores may be. If
another season like 1921 strikes American tennis, the ranking
will need either clairvoyance or a padded cell.
These upsets are part of the zest of the game and it is due to
the very uncertainty of tennis that the public is daily becoming
more enthusiastic about the game. I believe next year will see
even a greater interest taken in it than was shown this.
Second in importance only to the big events themselves was the
season in junior tennis.
Little Miss Helen Wills, in her first Eastern season, won the
junior championship for girls and brought to the game one of the
most delightful personalities that has appeared in many years.
Her success at her early age should prove a great boom to girls'
tennis all over America.
Vincent Richards passes from the junior ranks this year but
leaves a successor who is worthy to wear his mantle in the person
of Arnold W. Jones of Providence. Jones should outclass the field
in 1922, by as wide a margin as did Richards this year.
Arnold Jones has had a remarkable record. He won the boys'
championship of America in 1919. In 1920 he carried Richards to a
close match in the National junior Singles, taking one set. He
was ranked "two" for the year.
This year Arnold had his greatest year of his brief career. He
journeyed to France and England, as the official junior
representative of America, recognized by the National Tennis
Association. He played splendidly in France, defeating A. Cousin
in the hard court championship of the world and forced Tegner,
the Danish Davis Cup star, to a close battle before admitting
defeat. His sensational play in the doubles was a great aid in
carrying him and me to the semi-final ground, where we lost to
Gobert and Laurentz after five terrific sets. In England young
Jones played Jacob, Captain of the Indian Davis Cup team, a
splendid match.
On his return to America he carved his niche in the Hall of
Junior Tennis fame by defeating Harold Godshall of California, W.
W. Ingraham of Providence and Morgan Bernstein of New York on
successive days in the junior championship. He forced Richards to
a bitter fight in final, and again proved beyond question that he
is but a step behind Richards today, although he is a full year
younger.
Godshall, Ingraham, Charles Wood, Jr., Bernstein, Jerry Lang,
Charles Watson III, Fritz Mercur and many other boys are but a
step behind Jones. With this list of rising players, need we face
the future with anything but the most supreme confidence in our
ability to hold our place in the tennis world!
There were two other remarkable features to the tennis season of
1921, both of them in America. The first was the appearance of
the Davis Cup team on the court of the White House, Washington,
in response to a personal invitation from President and Mrs.
Harding. The President, who is a keen sportsman, placed official
approval on tennis by this act. On May 8th and 9th, Captain
Samuel Hardy, R. N. Williams, Watson Washburn and I, together
with Wallace F. Johnson, who understudied for William M.
Johnston, met in a series of matches before a brilliant assembly
of Diplomatic, Military and Political personages. C. S. Garland
was unable to accompany the team owing to illness. Julian S.
Myrick, President of the U. S. L. T. A., and A. Y. Leech
completed the party.
Rain, that hoodoo of tennis, attempted to ruin the event for it
fell steadily for the five days previous to the match. The court
was a sea of mud on the morning scheduled, but the President
desired play and the word went on "to play." Mr. Leech and Mr.
Myrick, ever ready for emergencies in tennis, called for
gasolene, which was forthcoming speedily, and, while the Chief
Executive of the United States interviewed men on the destiny of
nations, the people of Washington watched nearly 200 barrels of
gasolene flare up over the surface of the court. The desired
result was attained and at 2 o'clock President Harding personally
called play. Singles between Williams and me opened the matches.
Then Williams and Washburn decisively defeated Johnson and me,
following which Williams and I nosed out Washburn and Johnson to
close the program.
The second outstanding feature was the tour for the benefit of
the American Committee for Devastated France. The appearance in
America of Mlle. Suzanne Lenglen was due primarily to the efforts
of Miss Anne Morgan, who secured the services of the famous
French champion for a tour of the States, the proceeds to go to
Devastated France. Mlle. Lenglen's regrettable collapse and
forced departure left the Committee in a serious position. The
American Tennis Association, which had co- operated with Miss
Morgan in the Lenglen tour, found its clubs eager for a chance to
stage matches for France but no matches available. Finally, in
October, in response to the voluntary offer of several of the
leading players, a team was organized that toured the East for
the benefit of Devastated France. It included Mrs. Franklin I.
Mallory, American champion, Miss Eleanor Goss, Miss Leslie
Bancroft, Mrs. B. F. Cole, Mrs. F. H. Godfrey, Vincent Richards,
Watson Washburn, N. W. Niles, R. N. Williams, W. F. Johnson and
myself. Matches were staged at Orange, Short Hills, Morristown
and Elizabeth, New Jersey, Green Meadow Club, Jackson Heights
Club, Ardsley-on-the-Hudson, New Rochelle, Yonkers, New York, New
Haven, and Hartford, Connecticut. They proved a tremendous
success financially, and France netted a sum in excess of
$10,000.
PART IV: SOME SIDELIGHTS ON FAMOUS PLAYERS
INTRODUCTORY
P. T. BARNUM immortalised Lincoln's language by often quoting him
with: "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all
of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the
people all of the time." P. T. was an able judge of the public,
and it is just this inability to fool all of the people all of
the time that accounts for the sudden disappearance from the
public eye of some one who only fooled all of the people for a
little while. That person was a sham, a bluff, a gamester. He, or
she, as the case may be, had no personality.
Personality needs no disguise with which to fool the people. It
is not hidden in a long-hair eccentric being. That type is merely
one of those who are "born every minute," as the saying goes.
Personality is a dynamic, compelling force. It is a positive
thing that will not be obliterated.
Personality is a sexless thing. It transcends sex. Theodore
Roosevelt was a compelling personality, and his force and ability
were recognized by his friends and enemies alike while the
public, the masses, adored him without knowing why. Sarah
Bernhardt, Eleanor Duse, and Mary Garden carry with them a force
far more potent in its appeal to the public than their mere
feminine charm. They hold their public by personality. It is not
trickery, but art, plus this intangible force.
The great figures in the tennis world that have held their public
in their hands, all have been men of marked personality. Not all
great tennis players have personality. Few of the many stars of
the game can lay claim to it justly. The most powerful
personality in the tennis world during my time is Norman E.
Brookes, with his peculiar sphinx-like repression, mysterious,
quiet, and ominous calm. Brookes repels many by his peculiar
personality. He never was the popular hero that other men,
notably M'Loughlin and Wilding, have been. Yet Brookes always
held a gallery enthralled, not only by the sheer wizardry of his
play, but by the power of his magnetic force.
Maurice E. M'Loughlin is the most remarkable example of a
wonderful dynamic personality, literally carrying a public off
its feet. America and England fell before the dazzling smile and
vibrant force of the red-haired Californian. His whole game
glittered in its radiance. His was a triumph of a popular hero.
Anthony F. Wilding, quiet, charming, and magnetic, carried his
public away with him by his dynamic game. It was not the
whirlwind flash of the Comet M'Loughlin that swept crowds off
their feet, it was more the power of repression that compelled.
I know no other tennis players that sweep their public away with
them to quite the same degree as these three men I have
mentioned. R. L. Murray has much of M'Loughlin's fire, but not
the spontaneity that won the hearts of the crowd. Tennis needs
big personalities to give the public that glow of personal
interest that helps to keep the game alive. A great personality
is the property of the public. It is the price he must pay for
his gift.
It is the personal equation, the star, who appeals to the
public's imagination.
I do not think it is the star who keeps the game alive. It is
that great class of players who play at clubs the world over, who
can never rise above the dead level of mediocrity, the mass of
tennis enthusiasts who play with dead racquets and old balls, and
who attend all big events to witness the giants of the court, in
short, "The Dubs" (with a capital D), who make tennis what it is,
and to whom tennis owes its life, since they are its support and
out from them have come our champions.
Champions are not born. They are made. They emerge from a long,
hard school of defeat, dis- encouragement, and mediocrity, not
because they are born tennis players, but because they are
endowed with a force that transcends discouragement and cries "I
will succeed."
There must be something that carries them up from the mass. It is
that something which appeals in some form to the public. The
public may like it, or they may dislike it, but they recognize
it. It may be personality, dogged determination, or sheer genius
of tennis, for all three succeed; but be it what it may, it
brings out a famous player. The quality that turns out a great
player, individualizes his game so that it bears a mark peculiar
to himself. I hope to be able to call to mind the outstanding
qualities of some of the leading tennis players of the world.
Where to start, in a field so great, representing as it does
America, the British Isles, Australia, France, Japan, South
Africa, Rumania, Holland, and Greece, is not an easy task; but it
is with a sense of pride and a knowledge that there is no game
better fitted to end this section of my book, and no man more
worthy to lead the great players of the world, that I turn to
William M. Johnston, the champion of the United States of
America, and my team-mate in the Davis Cup team of 1920.
CHAPTER XII. AMERICA
WILLIAM M. JOHNSTON
The American champion is one of the really great orthodox players
in the world. There is nothing eccentric, nothing freakish about
his game.
Johnston is a small man, short and light; but by perfect
weight-control, footwork, and timing he hits with terrific speed.
His service is a slice. Hit from the top of his reach Johnston
gets power and twist on the ball with little effort. He has a
wonderful forehand drive, of a top-spin variety. This shot is
world famous, for never in the history of the game has so small a
man hit with such terrific speed and accuracy. The racquet
travels flat and then over the ball, with a peculiar wrist-snap
just as the ball meets the racquet face. The shot travels deep
and fast to the baseline.
Johnston's backhand is a decided "drag" or chop. He hits it with
the same face of the racquet as his forehand, and with very
little change in grip. It is remarkably steady and accurate, and
allows Johnston to follow to the net behind it.
Johnston's volleying is hard, deep, and usually very reliable. He
crouches behind his racquet and volleys directly in to the flight
of the ball, hitting down. His low volleys are made with a
peculiar wrist-flick that gives the rise and speed. His overhead
is accurate, reliable, but not startling in its power. Johnston's
game has no real weakness, while his forehand and volleying are
superlative.
Johnston is a remarkable match player. He reaches his greatest
game when behind. He is one of the hardest men to beat in the
game owing to his utter lack of fear and the dogged determination
with which he hangs on when seemingly beaten. He is quiet,
modest, and a sterling sportsman. He gets a maximum result with a
minimum effort.
R. N. WILLIAMS
R. N. Williams, American Champion 1914 and 1916, another of my
Davis Cup team-mates, is a unique personality in the tennis
world. Personally, I believe that Williams at his best is the
greatest tennis player in the world, past or present.
Unfortunately, that best is seldom seen, and then not for a
consistent performance. He is always dangerous, and his range of
variation is the greatest among any of the leading players.
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