New-York tribune., 1918-08-30
Defeats Biddle-
Rain Halts kumagae and
Iilden Matches
By Fred Hawthorne

Robert Llndley Murray, the famous
California IN eteor." defeated Fred
erick B. Alexander, the Davis Cup vet
IS. 60 yesterday afternoon in the
fourth round of the national singles
b. 'vn tennis championship on the turf
N'rts of the West Side Tennis Club,
'orest Hills, l.. T.
The tide of battle swayed first to
Murray, then to Alexander. alternate
y throughout, until the final set. when
tie net-rushing Californian. volleying
With supreme skill and whipping tre-
mendous service aces throueh his op-
Donent's court. smothered Z xander
sheer speed and hard hitting alone
The struggle for the points IN that
hnsl set was far closer than the score
%ould indicate. many of the games
sJing to deuce before Murray could
triumph. Alexander, who had taken
the fourth set at Cd after Won
derful fight against odds, continued to
play with all his wizardry of stroke
and court generalship, but the "Native
ON" was going at such pace in this
set that nothing Alexander could do
seemed capable of staying Murray s
lmpetuous charge to victory.
Unbeatable Net Attack
Il was the Murray Of 1914 and 1916.
with the same almost unbeatable net
tack the same crashing. deadly ser
,e that thrilled the East in those
srs. who faced Alexander, and al
.ough the veteran played with superb
courage and desperate determination
until the final point had been won and
iost. it was not his day. and Murray
triumphed by superior play.
This was the feature that kept the
big gallery in their seats for almost
three hours, in spite Of clouds, thunder
clap, lightning fash and finally rain,
and it alone was worth the Journey to
Forest Hills, but there were other
,atches two unfinished, owing to the
oownpour- that created almost as much
enthusiasm among the onlookcrs.
Lieutenant S. Howard Voshell, ma
t'onal indocr champion, PLAYING a won
derfully effective volleying game, took
the measure of Lieutenant Craig Bid
die in straight sets at GO, 6-3, 81
gaining his bracket in the semi-fnaI
round in the upper half of the draw
Walter Merrill Hall, Middle States
champion, end William 7. Tilden ID
national clay-court title holder, started
their match in the same round, in the
lower brackets, but were forced to stor
in the fourth set because Of the rain
with Hall leading, at 6-3, 1-6, 7-5
81 and the points at deuce.
Wright in Lead
In the fourth round Beals C. Wright
the famOuS Nptpran Of
national match, was leading Ichiya
kumagae at 9-8, in the first set OF
their match, when forced to halt be-
cause of the showers. Both these post
poned contests will be resumed this
afternoon at the points where they
were left of.
Other fourth bracket matches re
suited in the victories of Nathaniel
w. Niles over Elliott H. Binzen at ID
50, e. and of Lyle Evans Mahar
over Harry S. Parker at g, 60
S.
The crowd was filled with wonder
ment at Halls splendid showing against
Tilden, who has been unbeatable this
year. The New Yorker was driving
with such deadly accuracy and such
unusual pace that Tildens usual style
of net attack was seriously upset and
when the issue was settled from the
base line the tall Phladelphian was nc
match for Hall.
After taking the third set at u
Hall started away to a good lead in the
fourth and matters looked very serious
for Tiden. 1t was raining gently al
the time and Hall was making frantic
efforts to finish the match before halt
should be called.
Hovering mighty close to defeat, how
ever Tilden started a furious assault
in the latter minutes of the struggle
and brought the gage to 81 in Halls
favor, with the p$nts at deuce and
Tilden serving, when a deluge of rain
descended and the match was stopped
Tilden Rallies
1t is difficult to say who was the
hardest hit ty the sudden calling of
the match. Hal it is true, had a
substantial lead at the time and was
going at rare pace, but five minutes
before the postponement Tildcn showed
unmistakable signs of return to his
great playing and was smotherng
many Of his opponents drives by bril-
liant volleying at the net.
Wright, who was not regarded as
serious opponent for the great little
Kumagae, soon proved that he was on
the court to do or die. and through a
EluelllnR NISt SET ne neIu lnc japanese
star trifie better than even, although
Kumagae overcame a big lead in the
early part of the set Wright's ability
70 volley the ball across the court and
into the corners made up for his lack
Of speed at covering, and many a time
he smothered Kumagae's terrific fore
hand drives by getting in close to the
net
The player from the Far East was
slow to start, and it is probable that
had the match been finished yesterday
he would have won, for Wright is hard
ly capable of finishing ahead of Kuma-
gae IN fveset struggle. With fresh
start to-day, however, the veteran might
score a sensational reversal, but this
does not appear probable.
The juniors, boys, fathers and sons
and veterans tournaments made good
progress before the rain interfered
with Vincent Richards and Abraham
Bassford, Sd, working their way into
the final round of the boys event.
Murray and Alexander have engaged
in memorable court battles before
notably in 1914, when Murray defeated