Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1915-09-06
EAST AND WEST
DIVIDE THE HONORS
Johnston, Williams, Mclaughlin
and Pell Will Take Part in
Semi Finals.
GRIFFIN AND RAND DEFEATED

FORREST HILLS. n. j.. Sept. SAT
the end of the first week Of play in the
thirty-fifth annual championship tourna-
ment of the National Tennis association,
the eastern and western schools of ten
mis- were equally represented by the four
surviving players. At the close OF the
fifth round on the courts of the West
side club here today, William NJ. Johnston
! OF San Francisco and r.. Norris WILL
Jams, I'd. Of Philadelphia, were bracketed
; for the upper half of the semi-finals, and
Maurice T.. Mclaughlin and Theodore r..
Pell aligned in the lower half OF the
draw for the semi-final round. which will
be played here on Monday.
Johnston came through as the result
Of his victory over Clarence J. Griffin OF
San Francisco, at SO, 6-l, 6-S. ST, 81
Williams advanced by defeating William
Rand. Sd, team member with the United
States champion in the Harvard Univer-
sity Tennis club, Sc. rs. 6-1
Puts out Hunter.
Mclaughlin put out f. 7. Hunter OF
the Cornell university team, at 60, g.
60 while T. r. Pell was winning from
I. c. Wright Of Boston, 6-S. 6-1. 6-1. As
result Of these victories, Johnston will
face Williams in one of the east against
the west on Monday, white Mclaughlin
and Pell will be the contenders in tho
other half of the semi-finalS
The best play Of the day was witnessed
In the contest OF the lower half in the
draw, Neither Johnston nor williams
played up TO their former previous
matches. while Mclaughlin and Pen
showed a distinct Improvement IN their
81 80. III
five sets, two OF which went to deuce, to
dispose of his team mate, while Williams
was forced to play two deuce sets by
Rand. Pell and Mclaughlin, however,
raced through their matches in rapid
fire order and never left the spectators
in doubt as 20 the final outcome of their
matches
Johnston, who was generally expected
to he the player to meet Williams in one
of the semi-finals. opened in excellent
form against Griffin, and by clever gem
eralship and an exhibition of rapid rec
quet technique. won the first two sets
in handy fashion.
Appears to FaIter.
He appeared to falter, however under
the extreme heat as the play progressed,
and Griffin, bringing the full power OF
his sturdy physique into action. evened
the score of sets by giving two deuce
contests. johnson, however, showed a
great come back in the final set. and with
dashing assortment of strokes, played
from all parts of the court at top speed,
quickly ran through the deciding set at
6-1, thus cllnching his right to meet Will
Jams on Labor day.
a.. 49,.
| the day and drew round after round of
| applause from the spectators, who were
kept deeply interested by the dashing play
and long rallies of the two young Cali
fornians. Considering the match as a
whole, Johnston showed a greater gen.
eralship and finesse in his placing and
stroking of the ball. Except for his lapse
in. the third and fourth sets, his judg--
ment of distance and height was excel
lent, as he brought fore and back hand
strokes the length of the court or at
sharp angles with marvellous skill,
Can't Keep UP Pace.
Griffin had difficulty in holding his
position against this fusilIade and return
ing the ball when he could check It with
his racquet At times he lifted his game
| to point equal with that OF Johnston,
but could not maintain the pace long
enough on a stretch to win the match
Johnston's game was not as good as the
! one he played against Behr on Friday,
when he defeated the former reserve
member of the Davis cup team three out
of four sets, none of which went to deuce.
He developed tendency to hit the ball
into the net and out of court when in
the fore part OF his territory and his best
work was done on the base lines today.
That he deserved the victory over Griffin
was shown by the fact that his total
point score for the five sets was 1872 to
Griffin's 119.
Champion williams play against Rand
was a distinct disappointment to the big
gallery present. During the first two
sets he appeared to have lost his wizard
/ like control Of the ball, and this taken
into consideration with the fact that
Rand played steadily and tried for every
ball driven into his court, carried the
Fools the Champion.
Rand who has played tennis against
Williams frequently at Harvard, was ia
miliar with his opponents game and his
persistent returning of the ball seemed
to throw the champion off his stroke.
He netted and outed the ball in surpris-
l1B ldSHAOuf III btTNlCc anu
showed a disposition to avoid rallies or
rushes TO the net. He stuck TO his task,
nevertheless. winning the first two sets
OF many deuce games The third set
saw him back in his old form again and
Rand ceased to be a factor. Everything
that had been lacking in the champions
form during the first two sets was on
exhibition In the third and final session,
and. although Rand tried hard to lift
his game to meet the new attack, he was
utterly outclassed by the real Williams.
In sharp contrast to Williams slump
was the excellent playing OF Mclaughlin
The famous Davis cup contender and for
mer American champion lost no time in
opening his old-fashioned smashing and
driving form OF attack when he met the
Comedian. He served with deadly ac-
curacy and speed. frequently aceing Hun
ter, rushed TO the net far more frequently
than in previous matches this week. and
once there refused to be dislodged until
he had In most cases hammered out the
winning point
Hunter played a game which consisted
OF hard driving from base ana service
lines and he put plenty of top on every