New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-08-24
By Fred Hawthorne

BY Fred Hawthorne
Nathaniel W. Niles, Of Boston, play
ing one Of the greatest games Of his
career on American courts, defeated !
Richard Norris Williams, I'd, the ma
tional champion, after a thrilling four
set match on the championship courts
Of the West Side Tennis Club at Forest
Hills, Long Island, yesterday afternoon.
The men met in the semi-fnal round
of the national Red Cross singles. The
score went at GO, 6, "a, Go, but
the cold figures do not begin to tell the
story Of a match that must long remain
memorable in the annals of the game.
Williams went down to defeat under
leaden and weeping skies. As a matter
Of fact, it rained internationally from
the beginning TO the end of the strug
gle. The conditions made the court
heavy and slippery, and the national
champion seemed to have more trouble
in keeping his feet than did Niles. The
sodden balls also seemed to bother him,
for Williams always plays his ground
strokes low, and yesterday he made an
astonishing number Of nets in the four
/ sets.
/ 4 Different Williams
Williams was not the Williams of
! Wimbledon, or the man who crushed
/ the great Mclaughlin at Newport in
i 1914, and William NJ Johnston on the
/ West Side courts in 1916 The three
months of arduous soldering at Platts-
/ burg this summer, with only the rarest
! Of opportunities for practice on the
courts, told their tale yesterday, and
Williams was not able to bring of the
daring shots that have made his game
q thing of wonder in other years that
/ is, he was not able to do it consis-
| tently.
| For brief sessions the champion came
into his own and thrilled the crowd by a
series of dazzling placement aces that
had Niles laundering about his court,
but eye, stroke and brain were not
working with that perfect coordination
that has at other times marked Will |
iams's game above that Of any of his
rivals.
For Niles let it be said that he was
travelling at such pace that the cham
Ipion had to bring of these winning
shots or else go down before the Bos-
tonisn's forcing attack. BY his victory
Niles gained his final bracket.
The showers that fell all afternoon
forced the tournament committee to
postpone the other semi-fna round
match, in which Robert Lindley Murray,
Of California, was scheduled to face
John r. Strachan, another native SON.
These two will meet this afternoon at
/ $3.50 o'clock, and the winner will play
! Niles in the final round tomorrow at
ternoon.
Women Brave Rain
! One of the features Of the afternoon,
aside from the downfall of Williams,
/ was the gallery. Several hundred per-
sons, a majority of them women, with
out the protection of coats or UNI
brellas, sat on the grandstand as Niles
and Williams bsttled on the muddy
/ field. They refused to seek the shelter
. of the clubhouse so long as the two
/ players remained on the court.
Once, just before a tropical downpour
compelled temporary postponement Of
| the match in the fourth set, Julian ).
/ Myrick, president Of the club, called
out: "You had better stop and wait un-
| I'll this blows over"
/ But Williams. trailing at l-3 on
/ games, was too generous TO allow Niles
to be robbed of his opportunity for vic
tory. "No, well play it out" said the
champion, and started service again. Ii
was raining doggedly and profusely, but
| the crowd voted TO stick and see the
thing through. few minutes later
when the food gates were forced ajar
and a deluge descended upon the earth,
A -. - 4 y
body tripped it for the clubhouse, play
ers and spectators alike.
Half an hour later the canvas covers
! were rolled back from the court and
/ the match was continued, and the rain
| soaked crowd watched in sorrow as
| Williams was slowly but inevitably
swept down TO defeat.
Paul w. Gibbons, OF Philadelphia,
| climbed into the umpire's chair, clad
/ in immaculate white hannels; the lines
men were assigned their places and
/ Niles and Williams began warming up,
while the crowd applauded. II was
/ sprinkling slightly when the match be-
gan, but everybody was hopeful that
/ the clouds would roll by. Niles began
/ the service and took the opening game
with astonishing ease at love. Will
/ Jams Melted the ball three times and
sent the fourth shot two feet back of
| the baseline.
Confidence In Williams
But the gallery refused to be dis
mayed. II had implicit faith in The
champions prowess, and there was
general air of confidence in the stands
that seemed to say: Just wait until
J Dick gets his strokes going right"
Sure enough, in the second game