New-York tribune., 1919-05-10
HAmhpnejy zEnwNatsg

Robert Lindley Murray, the national
champion, and William T. Tilden, Cd
runner-up for that title, may fight il
out again in the final round of the ma
tlonal lawn tennis championship singles
at Forest Hills, Long Island, next Au
gust. AS matters stand to-day, Murray
and Tilden look like the two best play
ers now IN this country, and, in view
OF the fact that Captain Richard Norris
Williams, I'd, champion Of 1914 ano
1915, may not return from France in
time to compete for the national hon
ors, their chances of fighting it out
for the premier title of the American
courts are considered just that much
brighter.
TO be sure, William M. Johnston
champion of 1915; Maurice E. McLough-
lin, who lost the crown to Williams in
1914; Karl H. Behr, famous interna-
tionalst, and Clarence j. Griffin, among
others have returned from the war and
will probably take the courts at the
West Side Tennis Club when the great
tourney begins.
If Johnston or the Comet" can work
back into the playing condition they
were in before the Great War inter
rupted their tennis careers either one
Tilden, and Behr and Griffin also would
stand good chance of coming through
against the present champion and his
closest rival.
But these are questions that can
only be settled by actual matches be-
tween the men named. We know
that Tilden and Murray are better
players to-day than they were a year
or two ago, but we are not quite GER
tain that Johnston, Mclaughlin and the
others will regain their best form.
Of course, in tournament IN which
between one hundred and fifty and
two hundred players compete, with all
the chances of upsets and reversals of
form during the tournament week, a
thousand things may happen to alter
the entire aspect of the situation, but
| am figuring on matters taking their
normal and logical course, when l
name Murray and Tilden as being
possible finalists on the courts Of the
West Side Tennis Club
We have been so much taken up
recently with the remarkable per-
sixteen year prodigy, who already
holds two senior national champion
ships to his credit that we are liable
to lose sight of the fact that other
countries may be developing their
juniors just as successfully.
My attention was called to this the
other day by an article in "The
Sydney Referee" Of Australia, on the
astonishing tennis record of J. b.
Hawkes., a nineteen-year-ol player
from Geelong, N. S. w. This youth
has won the school championship of
Victoria for the last five years in sue
cession, starting in when he was fif-
teen years of age.
Hawkes. played a total of twenty
four matches in these annual school
championship tournaments and never
met defeat. He won total of fifty
sets and lost none, and played total
of 3S7 games, of which ne won 306.
This must come mighty close to being
a record Of its kind. There is no
method of comparison by which we
could obtain relative ranking of
Richards and Hawkes., but there is
certainly no doubt that Richards faced
far sitter opposition in his matches
during the lastyear than did the young
Australian star. However. Eawkes's
record is sufficient evidence that Aus
tralia has a Davis Cup player in the
making, and it may be that he and
Richards may yet face each other in
an international match.
There are other Australian school
boys who are coming along fast, ac-
cording to reports from the Antipodes.
included among the number being the
thirteen-year-o son of ALI Dunlon