The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-08-31

There is no danger of the national ssingles championship going to the
 far-off shores of Japan. The little
 son of Nippon, Ichiya Kumagae,
 whose. path in this country has been
 paved with frequent successes-in-
 cluding the defeat of William M.
 Johnston in the Newport invita- tion
 urnament-himself tasted of de-
 feat yesterday in the second round of
 the championship tournament on the
 courts of the West Side Tennis club
 of Forest Hills. It was George M
 Church who undermined the fortunes
 of the willy Jap and sent him tumb-
 ling in straight sets by the score of
 6-3. 6-3, 6-1. Not since the Ori-
 ental came to this country, several
 months ago, has he been vanquished
 so decisively.
 Following the victory over Johnston
 at Newport there was a disposition to place the sturdy Nippcnese in the forefront. and not a few were the
 rumors that he would carry back to
 Japan with him the national tennis | championship in singles. Without un-
 derestimating the Japanese, it can be
 said that he was outclasse1 in the
 match yesterday. He was facing one
 of the strongest contenders in the
 tournament and, more important even
 than this, one whose type of game | was admirably suited to cause his J overthrow
 Under a different shaping of the draw. Kumagae might have lasted Ircbably would have continued at | ieast to the semi-finals. It was his
 misfortune that he was placed in such
 a position that he would have to face both Church and R. I-indley Murray
 in early round contests.
 Net Play Upsets Jap. | Ever since Kumagae made his east
 ern bow in the tournament at Utica
 when he defeated Clarence J. Griffin in | the final round for the New York | state championship, much has been | conjectured about the method which would defeat his skill and his steau- mess. It was generally agreed that the net attack in which the play was really at the barrier was the only so- | lution.
 In the vernacular of tennis. it was | said that the one who would van- | quiSh him must perch on the net. | Murray did it twice and won, but
 
 until yesterday, for two baseliners, | Weston M. Washburn and Joseph J. Armstrong of Philadelphia, also had | to their credit victories over the Jap anese.
 However, on the West Side courts yesterday all doubt of the effective
 ness of sharp net game against the Oriental was dispelled. Church had hut h oh in lind In c1o ha
 barrier-and he did so with greater
 success than any player who has yet tried conclusions with the Oriental. Johnston at Newport tried to volley
 Kumagae from just inside the service
 line, with the result that he was de-
 feated in a keen five-set. encounter.
 He could not judge the angle of de- fection on the heavily topped ball of the Oriental, and nets and out gath
 cred to his standard with fatal re- | suits. Church, on the other hand, | was almost over the barrier, and all he | needed then was speed and fair de- | gree of accuracy.
 Kumagae found himself in a quan- dry almost from the start of the ] match. In the past he has driven his opponents when they played net against him back to the baseline by deep driving and by tossing up Jobs | to the deep court, while sharp pass l ing strokes down the lines were an- | other asset. He tried the same tac- tics with Church, but found that there was different story to be told
 with this tall man at the barrier. Church's Reach Decisive.
 He lobbed, only to find that Church f,,1 In | that cleared the air of the flying ball by terrific smashing. It was the same | thing with the passing strokes. Here again Church's reach and agility | smothered many of the shots. True | there were some that went sailing down the lines for placements, as there were lobs that were out of | reach of the nimble Church and nick | ed the baseline as they fell. but the
 percentage was never on the side of the Oriental Chunch smothered two l strokes for every one he lost Church's game was a pattern of | strategy. He mixed his strokes so well that the Japanese never knew | just what to expect and the uncerain- 1 ty robbed him Cf some of the confi- | deDce which has been an outstanding
 quality of his play. The Jersey play | CT no doubt had learned that the stroke to take the heart out of Ku- | m%gae was the soft placement which tantalzingly found it's way over the net and dropped dead on the other l side. At any rate he made good use of its yesterday. With Kumagae standing on the baseline, Church would pop over one of these short shots, which the Oriental rushed frantically in to get but never suc- ceeded in doing so. In the first set Church shook his head as much as to say, "I don't like these at all" There is no doubt but that the short
 cutting off of his strokes, with the angle of deflection to the side lines near the net, shook the OrientaPs
 usual calm playing and negated one
 of his biggest assets, namely that of | being able to Ousteady a rival in driving duel. Church was bound that | there should be no prolonged rallies | if he could help it and he went to | the net with the idea of finishing the
 point off rapidly
 | Kumag gaze played some splendid tennis even though he lost. He sent
 some perfect cross courting passing
 strokes by Church as the latter came | to the net and he sent others skim | ming down the lines. in the first two | sets, in fact. he outplaced Church. | Many of the strokes by the former | PriDcetOp r1avor which apaiDSt A less