The sun., 1919-09-03
.nrI0NAL TENNIS
DELAYED BY RAIN
Johnston and Tilden VIII
Meet for Title To-day at
Forest Hills.
NEITHER RULES FAvORITE
Public Is Equally Divided in
Picking Winner of the
Championship.
NEITHER RULES FAvORITE
BY EUGENE n. o,ooNNELL.

----------
BY EUGENE II. o'CoNNELL.
National championship lawn tennis
day on the turf courts of the West Side
Tennis Club, at Forest Hills. were post |
poned on account of wet grounds. The
torrents that came down in the early |
morning hours soaked the courts in such |
a buslnesslike manner that not dry
spot was left.
Later in the morning. the officials had |
a busy time of II trying out the turf, |
warning the railroads TO prevent pas
sengers from riding down to Forest
Hills and telling the inquisitive over the
phone that the matches would be played
to-day In the order in which they would
have been played In yesterday had not
the weather man interfered.
All of this means that along about 1
o'clock this afternoon, Vincent Richards
of Yonkers will play against A. FL.
Chaplin, Jr., of Springfield, Mass, for the
junior title. Following that, the veter-
ems, Clarence Hobart. all corners winner
in 1891, will face Frederick G. Anderson.
at one time or another holder of many
titles, for the veterans championship.
The big match in which William NJ.
Johnston of San Francisco, national
champion in 1915. will try conclusions
with William T. Tilden Cd of Philadel-
phia will be staged at o'clock.
Sentiment Equally Divided.
Sentiment seems to be about evenly
divided as to which of the two will win
the title. Those who favor Tilden for
the crown point to the fact that the
Philadelphia and Johnston have met
three times this year so far and that
twice Tilden has been returned triumph
ant. Tilden gained his first victory over
the San Francisco player in the East
VS.. West series at Cincinnati, early in
the season.
At the time the Philadelphia won
that contest Johnston had just arrived
from the Pacific coast and did not have
81 great deal Of time in which to prepare
himself for hard battle. Tilden, on
the other hand, had been playing right
along ever since the indoor season. He
was in perfect shape, but beat Johnston
none too easily.
The next meeting of the pair was in
the final round for the national clay
court championship at Chicago. Condi-
tions in the Windy City were very much
better. for at Cincinnati it had been OPP
pressiyely hot, while in Chicago, the
weather was ideal for tennis and the
courts were in, good shape. Johnston
turned around and beat Tilden without
any trouble.
Furthermore. it must be borne in mind
that Tilden was defending the clay court
title in this setto. and he could not hold
II against the attack of the little Cali
fornian. Johnston always has been
good. reliable player when there is a
title at stake. Tilden has faltered in
the clay court and also In the national
indoor championship final When they
met In the final round at Newport TIL
den downed Johnston in straight sets,
but Johnston was SO per cent below his
usual form and seemed asleep on his
feet
TiIden Is Strong.
In favor of Tilden it must be said
that he came through his half of the
draw In the present tournament in con-
vincing style But added to this is the
fact that his section was not nearly SO
strong as that in which Johnston sur
vived The victory of the Philadelphian
over Richard Norris Williams I'd OF
Boston, former champion, hardly can be
taken as gauge for his calibre.'
Williams has done nothing all season
to make him stand out. He was beaten
by Tilden at Wilmington and again at
Newport in straight sets. Furthermore.
he was downed by Johnston at Long
wood and by Murray at Greenwich just
as easily as he was defeated by Tilden
showed some remarkably high class me-
chanical tennis in his matches against
richards and Willis Davis. hut neither
OF these belong in the first ten.
Outside of Williams who appears to
be on the down grade. Tilden met no one
OF strength but Kumagae and Brookes.
Kmaza@ forced the Philadelphia to five
hard sets AID finally lost not through
inferior play brt through lesser stamina
Brooses played fonr hard sets with TIL
den before giving up and many felt that
luck favored the I'hiiadelphian a great
deal In that match. for after the first
two sets had been played the rain started
and halted play for half an hour.
B.ookes could not get going at top speed
again, ous s-en Mt that caused Tilden
trouble.
CaiifOrnian's Record Good.
The one thing that marred Johnston's
progress in the championship tourna-
ment was his dropping of a set to
Dionne. The fact remains, however, that
Dionne is slow, methodical player who
Is liable TO take set from any one be-
cause Of his tantalizng steadincss.
Moreover Johnston never really let him.
self out In that match.
Conditions will have TO be taken into
consideration In the playing OF the final
round match this afternoon. If the
courts are soft Tilden win have de-
eided advantage over the Californian
His fast low strokes with their terrific
Inderspin will not rise from a soggy
turf and Johnston should have a great
deal of difficulty handling them. On the
other hand, IL the turf Is we'll dried out
and resilient, there is nothing that TIL
den can put over which should bother
the Californian TO any marked degree.
The men are about equally effective on
service and there is little choice between
their drives Johnston is some better
overhead and volleys far better than
Tilden. If he can get to the net at all,
he should prove more than a match for
the Philadelphia. II Tilden can hold
him back the battle should be a memo
rable one. Johnston. in beating Patter-
son. Murray and Wallace johnson on
successive days. showed that he can
adapt his game to any style of attack
or defence and this should favor him
against Tilden. whose play. seldom
varies.
CONVICT GIVES TIP. FREED