The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-04-02
MAURICE E. McLOUGHLLN ONLY AMERICAN &
TENNIS PLAYER RATED AS BEST IN WORLD
Many Regard Him Still as Su-
premc, Despite Defeat by
Johnston.
"UNSPOILED BOY" TRUE
DESCRIPTION OF HIM
ny EUGENE n. O,CONNELL.


II has been said of Maurice Evans Nc
Loughlin that he is an unspoiled. n
spoilable boy. or course many other
things have been said about the famous
California Comet. probably more thar
about n other ennis player. but the
words 'unspolled. un~spoilablc' ft him
better than anything else that has been
said OF him. M~cLoughlin's record on
the tennis courts Is too well known TO
require rccounting. lie Is not without
honor In his own land. for even those
not interested In tennis In this country
know OF the exploits of tho wonderful
young red haired Californian. And
abroad he IL as we'll known as In this
country. Indeed he enjoys the distinc-
ton of being the only American ever
rated at the head of the worlds players.
He gained hat distinction. furthermore,
when there was agitation from some
quarters TO keep Mac from the top Of the
list of American players.
In the years that Mclaughlin has been
playing ennis In the East his person.
ality has not changed an iota. lie won
his first title here. the %ation inter-
scholastic crown. In 1909 Mac was "A
hashful. modest youngster In those days.
tickled to death at his victories but full
of bushes when well earned praise was
hcared OF his young shoulders. When
he scored his greatest triumphs. the
vanquishinv OF Norman Il. Brookes and
the late Anthony y. wilding. in the
challenge round OF tho Davis cup
matches in 1914, he look them In the
same manner that he took hbs initial
triumph in the East five years before.
Entire Carccr Mctcoric.
Mcloughliu,s career on the tennis
courts has been more remarkable in
many ways than that of any other ten
nis champion produced in this country,
or for hat matter In the wide world.
In every sense ~ the word II has been
ncteoric, From the time Of his first
appearance IN tennis composition he ad-
yanccd steadily until in 1914 he reached
the pinnacle. He Immediately fell back
a little. hut by many he still is regarded
as tho greatest PLAYER in the game and
there is stu the possibility hat he will
get back To the form that made him
unbeatable for three years. McLough-
Inns rise In tennis was due To his innate
ability To play the game: his fall. IL
such II may be termed. to a foolish effort
10 make mis- play ORTHODOX.
Along about 1905 cloughlin began
10 do his first tournament play. A.
that time he was a member OF the
Golden Gate Junior Tennis club In San
Francisco and did the most Of his play
ing on the public courts In San Fran
cisco. All the boys in the club were
under seventeen years OF age. and be-
sides Mclaughlin another young mem
Der who afterward gained national
prominence was John Strachan. John
Strachan had a brother who played In
the doubles with Mclaughlin that year
for the club championship. 1t was a
little dinky handicap afair that no one
paid much attention to outside OF the
boys who competed.
Mclaughlin and r. Strachan playing
from owe - As went through the
tournament without the loss OF a set
and IN the final round disposed Of John
Strachan and W. Marcus, playing ?-6.
at I'll. 6-l. Mac also played in Nh"
Pacific Coast championship that year.
but was nothing at all OF the world
heater, lie won his preliminary round
match after a hard struggle and Their
was eliminated from the tournament. In
the california State championship tht
same season he had little better success.
The future worlds champion downed n
Young fellow named Finnegtn two sets
To ono IN the preliminary NOW called
the first round), and In the next bracket
fell a victim TO George James IN
straight sets.
Develops IA Service.
In those days Mclaughlin did not
show the promise Of "A couple OF other
youngsters. John Strachan and Clarence
]. Griffin. hut he kept playing as much
as n. could and soon developed IA ser
vice that was destined 10 make history
on the courts. Fou years later Nc
Loughlin az a student at Lowell High
school OF San Francisco won the Pa
riiic Coast in'erscholastic and came
East to pay for the national inter
scholastic title, His fame travelled be
fore him and took most Of the interest
out Of that special ~utersCholastic
There were three other entrants in that
tournamcnt-Gcorgc NJ. Church. WHINE!
of the Columbia University interscholas-
tic r.. ". whitney. the Harvard winner
and q. l.. Johnston. the Princeton win
ner. Johnston was IN" unfortunate II
draw Mclaughlin in the first round and
was beaten badly AZ 60. e.. GO
Whitney accounted for church At C"
s.. 6--i. In the inal round Nc
Loughliu took Whitney into amp IN
straight sets at 81, ID, s.. That
l f1ll1AIl EhN' wv tsA'l nv
first real insight into how good Me
Loughlin really was. lie played are
.essly, only settling down when the Bos'
ton hoy showed signs of coming toe
close.
Although Mclaughlin had won tn,
California state and Northwestern
championships before starting East hi
appearance In the national championship
did not attract any more attention thar
the entry Of some of the other Califor
mans would have, Few felt that tn
young California player would do any
thing out Of the ordinary in the all com
ers. However Mclaughlin went righ
along saving wood. and prior to the tina
round he had lost only three sets. Gu
,avc i. Touchard took one NJ these iron
him in the scmi-tinal round. when Me
Ioughlin beat hin mt "a, i--h. Nv
e., and the other two sets were woi
from him by his fellow californian. Mel
willie II. Long. in the feature match o.
the tournament. The match was wo,
by Mclaughlin in the third round, three
sets To two. At -. "a. -, 2-6
lO-S.
Match Won't ne Forgotten.
That match viii be remembered Ion,
by those who saw II. Both players wer,
at thcir best. and their Western styl,
of free. careless hitting In marked con
trast Ia the Eastern game made the pla.
an the more wonderful 10 the CALLER,
Neither of the players paused for "A min
ute. nor did they lessen the power be-
hind their strokes. 1t was "a battle q