New-York tribune., 1919-09-05

" richt be said for Tilden that hc'
.,ver anproached the heights of brill
;.nce that had marked his work IN
,be semi-fnal round, when he defeated
p;,hard Norris Williams, I'd, but that
ron,d not be entirely fair to Johnston,
"a, It was the little Californian's fierce
,ccressiveness from the time the first
ooint was played unil the last that
served TO rob Tilden's game Of its
strength and made him q certain VIC
I'm OF Johnston's flawless tennis.
have watched the new champion in
cost of his important matches for the
last five years; I nave seen him de-
feat Maurice Mclaughlin, Williams,
Jindley Murray and Gerald Patterson,
bu. his defeat OF Tilden yesterday was
his crowning achievement, IN my opln-
ion. The Californian's victory must
he set down as great triumph tor
sound tennis, for Johnston has always
been noted as having the soundest
came the most evenIy developed, of
sny player in the world
No Dazzling Shots
In his category of strokes are none
of the dazzling shots that men like
Williams and Tilden are armed with.
Johnston's net game Is just a s strong
az his back-court attack; his forehand
drive is hardly more evenly developed
tban his backhand. and his lobbing and
smashing are reliable al all times. You
could not lay your finger yesterday on
any single weakness in the Califor-
mans playing.
To begin with, Johnston played TIL
den lust right; that is, he forced the
battle from the beginning, rushing the
net with wonderful speed as he raced
IN souarely behind his splendid forcing
drives, and once intrenched at the net
the Californian's volleying was superb.
It was almost impossible for the tall
philadelphian 10 avoid the deadly sweep
Of Johnston's racquet, and there was
snap and a crispness to the new
champions volleying that amazed the
great gallery OF 5000 persons in the
stand.
Even on service Johnston had by far
the better of it. He had plenty of
speed on the bail and wonderful con-
trol. and this enabled him to stick the
service reentlessly to Tilden's back
hand. with the result that the Phila-
dephian gradually began 70 weaken
at that point. Even when he did get
the ball back, he was only able to
pop up short, weak lobs, and these
Johnston simply murdered as he came
rushing in from his base line.
Tilden's Service Easy
Tilden's service, on the other hand,
was never troublesome to the man from
the shores of the Pacific. There were
times when the Philadelphian scored
clean service aces on his opponent
with Johnston not even getting has
racquet on the ball. but in many IN
stances Tilden made faults on his
first service and then fell back on his
famous reverse twist. This is bar
ang shot for some players to handle,
but not for Johnston. The high, slow
bound Of the ball was just to the Cal
ifornian's liking and he crashed 1t back
with tremendous power.
One o. the things that must have
broken Tilden's heart was to see the
way in which Johnston returned shots
that seemed a moment before like GER
tain placement aces for the Philadel-
rhian This did not happen once or
twice. but a score of times, and It was
something that the Fastener was not
accustomed to, and it helped to shake
his confidence and impair his effect
iyeness.
Psychology entered into Tilden's
defeat Yesterday, or perhaps had
better describe it as u plain case Of
nerves" The two days, delay in the
playing Of the match preyed upon the
Philadephian's high strung tempera-
ment constantly He was keyed up to
his best game last Monday and ready
10 60 out on the court on Tuesday and
give Of his best; then came ram. On
Wednesday Tilden hoped to be able TO
get out and settle matters, but once
more delay. and then his nerves got
she better Of him.
Yesterday Tilden was in his tennis
clothes almost two hours before the
time scheduled for playing, and was
walking around near the courts with
his racquets in his hand worrying foI
fear 1t might rain, worried lest John
ston should not show up at the
appointed hour.
4 Nervous Tilden
Just before o'clock, when there
We're few drops OF rain, Tildeu saic
% ne: II wish they would put it or
now. told them l would be ready
play at 9 o'clock if they could get
Johnston, but they can't get hold OF
oily" and then he strobe off again
serves on edge
What a contrast in Johnston. About
twenty minutes before playing time
lne frecked faced little Californian
arrived at the clubhouse, all smiles
and easy confidence, and went to the
oexer room to dress. He looked and
acted like man who had slept wei
.ae night before and was prepared tc
pay the greatest match of his career
anu that is just what ne did.
Inc threatening weather that began
spout noon yesterday and continued
saIi after the start Of the match, at
o'clock, had its effect in keeping
M ~%n the crowd, but even so there were
sshiy few vacant places in the stand
NJ room section when Johnston and
.'oen came out on the court tc
wrm up.
MI. .'.u usual battery Of camera and
slsslhg picture men greeted the two
sssess, and both were snapped in q
N.ea N.ea diiferent positions as they batted
.sS s oail around. Tilden looked nervous
s,s ,sa Then, whereas Johnston was calm
,Sa. SS at ease, although there was the
sAs. r OF battle in his eyes.
Msso Mso~srd {. Conlin climbed into the
ill.,. sha umpire's chair, the linesmen took
r.a. a places, hush settled over the
,o.ao and Johnston, having won the
''' started the service.
First Point an Augury
h,.ne first point was an augury Of
tar'r;sh she match was going, for the Cali
in,s iAh shot over a service ace, Tilden
Ms' catching the ball on the tip OF
ste, 'ascquet as it sped by. But John
ns 'ost the next two points by driv-
rso mo the net twice on his return