New-York tribune., 1918-12-01
By Fred Hawthorne


If everybody agreed with everybody
else on all questions this world would
be an insipid globe, indeed. 1t is the
differing viewpoints of intelligent men
and women that serve to keep US on
the alert and in touch with world
that is constantly, ceaselessly advanc-
ing.
The other day we had occasion to
lay critic Of lawn tennis, who, in turn,
had found fault with our ranking of
Miss Molla Bjurstedt over Miss Mary
Browne and Mrs Thomas c. Bundy,
the great Californians. The statements
Of this particular critic were so plain
ly biassed and unbalanced that we did
not regard them seriously, but merely
took the opportunity to point out some
Of the many fallacies in his arguments
Now we have received another letter,
this time from as distant a point as
Las Cruces, N. NJ. in which the writer
differs sharply with us as to the merits
of the players in question: We take
pleasure in reproducing this note, for
IL is ntelligently written and evidently
the opinion of a man who is sincere
IN his arguments, and hence worthy of
being heard.
The letter follows:
Rancho Nalle Vista.
Las Cruces, n NJ, Nov. 8, 1918.
MI. Fred Hawthorne
"New York Tribune. New York
"My Dear Mr.. Hawthorne, I read
an article by you in The Sunday Trb-
une of November 3 saying Miss Blur
stedt is without peer IN tennis. You
may be right as to that but | saw the
final match at Long Reach between
Mrs. Bundy and Miss Bjurstedt that
you mention and to me it seemed the
latter was superior in only one par
ticular, stamina, while Mrs. Bundy
showed finished art in every phase Of
play. On their showing of skill Mrs.
Bundy would have won at about the
score 6-2, GO, if she had been
in the vigor of her younger days. In
Ihe HISs SeC MlsS bJui oteuI SeeHleu
crude III 4Smparison, and in the sec
ond Mrs. Bundy was plainly tired and
all the fine edge was taken off her
game. Miss Bjurstedt won by a small
margin in the games she took and won
the set. In the third, after rest
Mrs. Bundy came back with something
of her old brilliance and won easily.
"Miss Bjurstedt may have improved
so that her play in the first set would
compare favorably with that of Mrs.
Bundy. She has gone a long way in
tennis if she has. You must remember
that Miss Browne never reached May
Sutton's class in tennis, and | think
even you would admit she classed with
Miss Biurstedt last year.
Mrs. Bundy Lacked Strength
"You haven't seen Mrs. Bundy's
class Of tennis in the East for some
years, and so are not in q position to
be fair to her. Mrs. Bundy's play
would give the Same feeling of pleas
ure to lover of tennis that the music
of great violinist would give a music
lover.
"You say Mrs. Bundy never played
better than in these matches. That
isn't true, for the reason have given
that she lacked her oldtime strength
Her baby was quite young and She
hadn't trained as of old.
''l'll hazard the statement that Miss
Bjurstedt, great player that she is,
never in all her career played as we'll
as Mrs. Bundy's first set that day.
"Sincerely +. Z. MONAGHAN"
At various times in the last four
years in commenting upon the strength
and weaknesses of Miss Bjurstedt's
game we have laid particular stress
ho TO Of b,%
did not measure up to her American
rivals as regarded court strategy and
variety of stroke.
What she accomplished on the courts
of this country-and none will deny the
of her deeds Miss Blur
stedt gained almost entirely through
her amazing speed of foot and her un-
canny anticipation of an opponents
shots. Rarely has there been a more
striking example of natural" PLAYER
than this wonderful girl from the
North. When she first arrived on our
shores she had practically only a single
shot, an absolutely unrivalled forehand
drive, to pit against the superior court
went through her first season in an
Irresistible sweep speaks volumes for
her ability.
In her second season here the ma
tional champion began to acquire con-
troll of a backhand stroke that was al
most as powerful and as deadly as her
forehand drive. and her game improved
to a corresponding degree. But she
was unable to master the overhead
game, of which Miss Browne and Mrs.
Bundy are such outstanding exponents
among the women, and to this day she
is decidedly weak in that respect
Miss Bjurstedt never, in our opin-
lon-and we have watched her game
with the closest attention for some
years - planned out her court tactics
before beginning match. What she
does on the courts she does because II
IS the natural thing for her to do
Hers Is not the careful planning of de-
tails wherewith 10 encompass an oppo-
nent's defeat that is the Distinguishing |
characterlstlc OF such masters of court
technique as Mrs. Bundy and Miss