The sun., 1901-08-11
Want VHlYIAES PLACE.
LAWN TENNIS CHAMPION WILL
NOT DEFEND HIS TITLE.

naaay Nsssd Psaysrs wn Contest IN the
Tousuameus as Newport THIS Week
Tho Battle FER the Title = Expected
% De Between wright and Larned.
Ths announced withdrawal Of Malcolm
Whitman, the lawn tennis champion, has
Int an additional interest to the approach
ihs championship tournament which be-
eins Tuesday morning at the Newport
Cnsino. Not aince 1893, when r. d. Wrenn,
then champion, was In Cuba with the Rough
Ridev, has the assurance been held out
10 those who entered the all-comers' tournA-
msnt that their winner should have the
championship. and nearly every year
The overawing effect OF an invincible cham
mon has dampened tho hopes Of the as
pirine experts. II has been estimated that
the handicap against the challenger In the
championship round has always been
heavily against the challenger because
Of the hard strain he goes through In winning
the tournament, and each challenger has
felt this handicap keenly. This season
there will be no such odds against the winner
of the tournament, for he will meet each
opponent on level terms and the cham
plonship awaits the best man.
Throughout the season, most OF the
large tournaments have resulted In duel
between w. A. Larned and B. c. Wright,
and they have come together again and
again in the finals. With Whitman out
of competition, Larned has successfully
taken the Middle States, Canadian and
Longwood challenge cups. beside win
ming many other tournaments. He has
been the king this season. In every sense
Of the word and only once during the year
has he been beaten. then by Leo Ware In
the Crescent invitation tournament at
Bay Ridge in June. Although several
other times close to defeat. he has always
pulled through.
But Larned has always been an uncer-
tain performer. or he would be conceded at
once the right to the championship this
year. Last season was the first time that he
has won the all-comers' tournament at
Newport, although he has long been looked
upon as the -uncrowned king Of lawn
tennis. In 1902. 1894, 1895 and 1890. he was
runner-up, and In 1893 and 1897, the two miss
ing years in which he played, he was beaten
In the semi-flnals. Larned has always been
thought to be .hoodooed" at Newport, and
many believe that even this year. with no
champion In his way, clear advantage
over all other candidates and lucky draw.
that he may again 60 down In heap with
the goal In sight.
II he does lose, Larneds only chance for
defeat, 1t would seem, will be In the finals.
for those who worked out the draw for the
tournament discover that he has struck
his usual good luck Larned Ia the only
high ranked player In the upper half Of
the draw and Stevens, Alexander f. p,
Larned and Hackett are the only other
players OF any pretentions TO champion
ship class In this section. To win a place
In the finals, then, LArned will only have to
beat these players, and 1t does not seem
possible that he can lose before that round
Is reached. Even then he will have an
advantage, too, for his opponent in the
finals IL certain to have had hard week
In earning his place In the last bracket
and this should give Iarned all the ad-
vantage.
The lower half Of the draw fairly bristles
with strong players, including ID. F. Davis
B. C. Wright, HolcoInbe Ward, Clarence
Hobart, r. d. Little, j. P, Paret, Kriegh
Collins, W. j. Clother and E. p Fischer.
In the last quarter alone are Davis, Wright.
Hobart and Ward. The American cham
to play against each other In the first round
on Wednesday the day on which they
defend their championship titles. II would
not be surprising II one Of them defaulted
to the other in the singles
The third quarter is made up largely Of
strong second-class players, but there are
enough Of them in this section alone to
assure some good sport Little, Clothier,
Fischer, Paret and Collins were all drawn
In the same quarter Of sixteen names, and
Of these five all but Little are In the same
eighth, that is, Clothier, Fischer, Paret
and Collins all came out OF tho hat in sue
cessive brackets with weaker men, and
will have to pair Of against each other In
the next round. the winners again meeting
and the ultimate winner playing Little in tho
third round. Judging from Clothier's recent
form II should be q close thing between
him and Little for a place in the scmi-
finals, with Collins an unknown quantity.
Wright seems to be the most likely candi-
date Tor the finals. but he will have his
meet the winner OF the Davis-Ward match,
then Hobart and then the survivor of the
Little Clothier quarter before he can reach
Larned In the finals. II there Ia no rain
this week to interrupt the play, the semi
finals should be reached on Saturday and
the finals be played on Monday. With
this days rest In between his hard pre-
UulIlaTy WOTh anu tIle ilIdis, Wiisht Nouiu
have an excellent chance against Larned,
and many believe that he will turn the
tables on the veteran and fulfil the many
predictions made that he will some day
become the American lawn tennis cham
pion. II no has to play hard semi-tnal
the day before the final, however, which
would be the case II there should be even
one days postponement, II will give Larned
the advantage, for his semi-final Is likely
TO be much easier, the strongest man In
the very weak first quarter OF the draw
being r. G. Seaver Of Boston.
To sum up, therefore, 1t looks like Seaver
and Larned In one semi-flnal with an easy
victory for Larned; and Little or Cothier
against Wright or Davis In the other, with
the odds In favor Of Wright. The finals
between Wright and Iarned look to be
q very even thing. but as Larned has won
each time they met before, one naturally
cedits him with the best chance TO win
again. II II we're anywhere else except
Newport, the championship would look
almost easy for Larned. With Whitman
in to defend his title, there would have TO
be told a very different story, however,
for his practice matches this season havc
already shown him TO be as strong as ever.
But Whitman assured a reporter OF The
Sun only two weeks ago that he positively
would not defend hi- title as champion
this year. and no one expects him to do
30.
A new feature Of the championship tour
nament this season will be the presence Of a
number Of the fashionable Newport enthu-
siasts. Tennis has been waxing strong In
popularity with the Newport people this sea-
son, and number Of tournaments have been
IL - L..