The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-07-31
Worlds Tennis Champ
 May Be Crowned In NY
Stars From Many Countries will Compete at National Tournament at West Side Club August 9.

New York, July 31.-Now that an opportunity has been given to scan the probable entries for the nationa. championship which begins August 25 on the courts of the West Side Ten ris club it seems fair to say that the winner of the event may reason ably be called the worlds champion this year. A claim for worlds 8 championship is not to be made light ly but in this instance there Is much more than gossip in support of the idea.
 The British championship at . Wimbledon has long held an enviable place among the worlds premier tennis events, which was one reason for the International Tennis F'eder- alton proposing to give the tourna- mont on grass to England in per petuity. That the contest at Forest Hills may succeed to the place held by Vim bledon in this years tennis can be assumed from the fact that i Wimblcdon's winners are to play here against ranking American play CTS who were unable to compete in Ensalnd.
 Canvassing the tennis records for the past few weeks. it appears that
 Watson NJ washburn and Dean y
 tournaments abroad will be at the West Side to bid for honors. Wash burn is the A. E. F. champion so
 there is one large class of entries rep resented in next months tournament.
 Andre Colbert Is admittedly the strongest continental player and while he won some of the French events in which Americans were en- tered he lost at Wimbledon along with Max Decugis, so that leaves the winner of that tournament as rep resentirg the best Europe can pro- duce.
 Roumania, Belgium and South Africa were represented in various events that preceded the English championship and none of their play CTS came through, so they may be ! said to have had their chance at the title.
 So far as Canada is concerned the winner of their championship will be l at Forest Hills in the person of Seii 1 chiro Kashio who won that event q ! couple of weeks ago. South American players also are expected to compete and Japan will be represented.
 Gerald l.. Patterson who won the English championship and then de- feated Norman F. Brookes, in the challenge round, can be said in all fairness, therefore, to represent the best tennis ability of England and the continent, in addition to being the leader of the Australian stars. From the showing made against ! these men by the players of the United States, a fair line can be had
 on the state of the game in the prin- cipal tennis playing countries of the world.
 IT. States offers a field of worthy repre- sentatives. Robert Ltndley Murray. the champions; William M. Johnston | and R. Norris Williams, his immed d. fate predecessors as holders of the | title; William T. Tilden, who was
 runner up last year are among the r.ames that first come to mind. Then 1 the ranking list contributes a quota of players who must not be over looked in any discussion of possi- | biEties. Charles $. Garland of Pitts burgh went to the semi finals at | Wimbledon and will bear watching | at Forest Hills, along with Wash | burn and Mathey.
 S. Howard Voshell has been up and down this season but any one with | his tennis ability and experience can | not be ignored. Clarence J. Griffin
 and willis F. Davis are dangerous | players at any time, and Watler Mer- Till and Frederick E, Alexander were we'll toward the top of the list last | season. Nat w. Niles is another play ! CT of broad experience and Wallace | r. Johnson of Philadelphia has been | playing remarkably well this sea | son. Those are @ few of tho dozen | or more names of men who might be | mentioned as likely to upset "the | Cope" any day by beating players ! that the gallery may pick as l favorites
 Nothing has thus far been said of 1 1chyia Kumagae who has played l better tennis tn1s season than at any | time in his career. Whether he will
 do as well on grass as he did on dirt
 is a question, but anyone who has
 seen his matches during the past | month, knows that the little Japanese | will certainly be important factor | in tho tournament.
 There is still one other man to be | named - Maurice E. Mclaughlin.
 Ma leaves the Coast today on his ! way to Newport where he will make
 his first eastern appearance in a | couple of seasons. How far he can
 go toward the championship is some
 thing that experienced judges of ten | his form in the East refuse to discuss | unll they nave seen nm III acuOn.
 Critics in California say he has modi-
 fled his game, something of the se-
 verity having gone from his servico
 and more attention being devoted to
 ground strokes. It is not a soft | game by any means, and Mac" has 1 been practicing faithfully for weeks,
 in the effort to regain his old form.
 With such a neld assured there can
 be uncertainty as to the caliber
 of the man who comes through. He
 will be a real champion Not only
 does the class of the entries entitle
 the winner to be considered the
 worlds champion, but the fact that
 they represent so broadly the tennis
 playing nations also strengthens the
 argument It seems certain, there
 fore, that this tournament will stand
 unique in the history of American
 tennis, both for the caliber of its