New-York tribune., 1910-08-24
WRIGHT HAS CLOSE CALL
Whitney Comes Within a Stroke
of Defeating Veteran.
ACCIDENT DECIDES MATCH
Youthful Player Injuries His
Leg Just on the Eve of
Victory.
tBy Telegraph to The Tribune.


Newport, r. J.. Aug 2S.-E. H Whitney.
youth Of nineteen years. came within a
stroke Of scoring the sensation of the lawn
tennis championship tournament to-day.
At the critical moment he Iell and injured
himself so that his famous opponent, Beals
( Wright. the ex-champion and hero OF
MANY A hard fought tournament. averted
defeat and took his place in the final round
by the score Of 4-6, Is, 4-6, e-2. -
II was the narrowest sort Of escape
rar Wright. He was being cleanly out
rrayed and be knew il, for he had worked
with desperation without avail through five
rfl;elling sets To have the fruits of VIC
tory snatched from the youth by an acct
cent was indeed a sorry trick of tate
Whitney was always strongly aggressive.
end. 10 the surprise Of the experts, he sur
rassed Wright IN every department of the
game.
Whit-ey's complete overthrowing OF
RrIs'7t's attack, his wonderful court gen.
e-alshin ard his versatility in accommodate
ing his strokes TO the changes which the
veteran brought against him caused the
youth To emerge from the shadow of ohscur-
,tr 30 q position of the first rank In the
Snort According TO the record of the sport.
Wright will pass into history as winner
a those who witnessed the match, how
ez=eT. and to tlle winner himself. there viii
slzays be the knowledge that but for an
unfortunate accident there would have been
6 different story TO tell.
Wright by his victory reached the final
round. where he couples with the Pacific
Coast doubles champion. Thomas G. BundF,
who defeated the Maryland player, Fred
erick c. Colston. 6--S. 6-1. 6-3. e--3. The
IA scIzet work Of the player from California
revealed him TO be worthy Of the sobriGuet
Napoleon of the Courts. His tactical SIKH
satgeneralled Colston. and in arriving at the
<Tsl round he stands. as McLoughlin did a
saaz ago as the exponent of the growing
strength OF the Western players
The prospects of two keen1y interesting
matches attracted another large gallery
II the Casino courts. The conditions were
as nearly perfection as the players and
spectators could wish for Whitney, who
last week made his first hid for fame by
winning the national interscholestic cham
,,ionshfp for Harvard, was early az work
against Wright. He at once gave the
champion surprise hy holding him level
70 4aI In fact. straight through the
match only a few points separated the
rlgvere. and at the completion Of their five
sets the T7oint totals were 1e5 for Wright TO
II fcr the youngster. Whitney appeared
70 have learned q lesson from McDough-
Tss's match of YESTERDAY. Not once did he
sacrifice speed for accuracy His court
covering always alert and sure, set
Wrlgh1's driving for placement at naUgft.
To overcome the youth the veteran began
10 shave tie lines with his shots. But
there he failed. as in striving TO place the
han deeply and at terr -fc pace II dropped
inches outside the lines. and Whitney piled
Up the points
Depending chiefly upon his forefand and
hackhand drives, with an occasional lob
70 the base lire that sent the ball IN
,aulting bounds so that the youngster had
70 put . wonderful length TO his returns,
Alright continued until ne was two sets
so1a He began 10 realize that the boy
sss -eutplaying him. and he was worried.
On his SIDE Whitney stood fast like a
Gibraltar He had nc thought for anything
bur the playing, and he never shfrked
TIE work until 2 point had been won or
iost.
He appeared oblivious 70 al surroundings.
ana once IN q chase for "A bali that bounded
away hack from the base line he dove
head first into a pile Of chairs that had
been csrelessly left too near the court.
Fortunately al that time he was not in
jured nor was his nerve shaken Wright
vas supreme ia the fourth set. He rang
eli ot the changes on his game. driving
sh great velocity and on his attacks at
*is net volleying with bewildering raPidity
u al sections Of the court. Ee worked s
he had Tot before in the tournament He
had IN save himself, and hy sheer oesper-
alton he brought the sets to all.
Wright LED at 3-love in the eventful set.
when Whitney began 10 turn his attack
against hira. He also Led st -, only to
have the youth use his 'cross-coUrt shots
So well that he won three games and went
70 the front at "a with the vantage
P7'nt in his favor II was a dark moment
tor Wright. On the next return OF the
nah Wright, by q little lob. dropped 1t
Just over the net as Whitney at the mo-
Fsnt was al his base line. Whitney start
r. IN sprint FOR the ball. As he did so he
f1cE the umpires chair and fell, twist
ne his leg. That was the end of his
eRances- he linped through the next two
ssznes as Wright easily scored them. the
BOY getting only points
Th= point score follows: