The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-08-07
THE MASTER OF THE COURTS
LARNED'S TENNIS MATCHLESS IN
 ITS STRENGTH AND SKILL.

l 4 N | ITS STRENGTH AND SKILL.
 Conquers Raves, the English Expert l Playing of Victor and vanquished Was
 Briiliant-Bob wrenn Defeated Mahoney 1 George Wrenn, However, Lost to Nisbet | Americans Lead in the Matches. | New York, Aug. 6.-The American tennis cracks established their suprem- acy over the visiting Englishmen on the courts of the St. George Cricket club at Hoboken, N. J., to-day, before thousand spectators. It was the final day of the tournament, and tha crowd was larger and more enthusias- tic than at any of the previous con- tests. The result of Wednesdays play had left the two teams tied, each with three victories won and three lost. Consequently the outcome of to-day's matches was watched with intense in- terest. R. D. Wrenn was pitted against H. s. Mahoney, G. L. Wrenn was drawn against H. A. Nisbet, and w. A. Larned met w. V. Eaves.
 It was the latter contest that captur- ed the attention of the gathering, and long before the contestants appeared the ground about the court was pack ed and seats were going at a premium i When Larned and Eaves finally sprang into the court they were greet ed by tremendous applause Eaves | fha tnqo hn The spectators held their breath while he sent the first ball skimming across ,I the tape, for upon the opening play they expected to gauge the chances of the Americans success.
 Eaves won the first game, but Larn- ed promptly struck his pace and then began brilliant exhibition of fast vol- leying and clever net play. The Amer ican crack was at his best, and though Eaves managed to score two games. the set was quickly finished in Larn. eds favor at 6-2.
 ] The apparent ease of his victory had a bad effect upon Larned, for when the second set opened he did not cover the court with his former skill. Eaves was quick to take advantage of the opportunity thus offered, and ran two straight games before the American woke up sufficiently to make stand, Larned then tied the score at two aIl.'a
 Eaves, however, had gained confi- dence by this time, and though Larned held tenaciously at his heels, the Eng lishman was too fast for him. The latter has a capital backhand stroke. and he used it to good advantage in getting the balls deep into the corners where Larned failed to find them. Eaves gradually increased his lead, and though Larned made him fight hard to win, the set was won by the visitor by a score of GA.
 | After a brief intermission the third set was begun. It proved incompara- bly, the most brilliant and exciting of them all. Eaves opened with a rush and scored the first three games almost 1 before the crowd realized what had happened. Then each player took a game, and the score stood Al against Larned. By a magnificent rally, which recalled his similar spurt against Champion Bob" Wrenn at Norwood park last year, Larned forged to the front, turning apparent defeat into a signal victory. The final score was 7-5. but these figures fail to convey the real brilliancy of the struggle. The crowd went fairly wild, and the Spartan Larned who seems to avoid rather than court applause, was treated to an | ovation.
 With the score two sets to one against him, Eaves played his pretteist tennis to win. But try as he would, Larned proved his master. The latter smashed and volleyed with splendid effect. Though his service was not so strong as that of his opponent, he amply made up for the deficiency by his clean net game, which was the best seen on the grounds this week. Eaves got the first game, but Larned followed with the second and from that point the score see-sawed back and forth until 4-3 was recorded in Larned's favor. Larned got the next chiefly on his opponents errors, making it 5-3. Then Eaves ral- lied and caused momentary excitement by winning a game, but Larned had enough experience with letting down at critical points and this time he made things sure by playing his steadiest game. Eaves was finally defeated at GA, which gave Larned the match.
 The match between R. D. Wrenn and Mahoney, which LOOK place on an ad- joining court, proved a runaway for the American champion. It is only just to say, however, that Mahoney has not been we'll during the past two days, the heat of our American summer proving too much for him. His play against Wrenn was far from being what it had been against the champions younger brother on Tuesday, and he was defeat in straight sets. In fact, the second set was won by Wrenn in six straight games, during which Mahoney secured only five points.
 Nisbet was the only one of the Eng lishmen to win his match He and George Wrenn also finished before Larned and Eaves left the courts, and the fact that the victory of the Ameri- can team depended solely on Larned made the closing sets of this latter contest all the more exciting. Nisbet played all around his adversary, and though Wrenn fought well for his points, the ultimate outcome was a practical certainty.
 The result of the match left the Eng fish team with a score for the week of four matches won and five lost while 4L Gx,1