New-York tribune., 1919-09-02
Tilden Victor by 6-1,
IS. 6-3. While
Johnston Wins by 90,
: o., 6-3, 6-3
BY Fred Hawthorne

lawn tennis immortals yesterday
afternoon. on the championship
court of the West Side Tennis Club
of Forest Hills, by defeating Rich
ard Norris Williams. ID. of Boston,
champion of 1914 and 1916, by a
score of G-1, IS. 6-3 in the
semi-final round of the thirty
eighth annual national singles
championship tournament.
William NJ. Johnston. of Califor-
MIA, who held the title in 1915, de
feated Wallace +. Johnson, Of Phil
adelphia, by score Of 2-G. 6-1,
6-3, 6-3. in the other semi-fna
round match
This afternoon Il. O'Clock TIden
and Johnston Will face one another in
the final and championship round
and the winner will be crowned the
greatest player o. the year Should
Tilden come forth the victor there viii
be many ready to acclaim the tall
Philadelphia as one of the great /
players who ever trod & court md
WIN EOCu reason.
There viii be five other national
championships decided this afternoon.
beginning at o'clock, when Y .ncent
Richards, national indoor champior
meets Alfred II. Chapln, Jr., of SPRING
field, Mass, IN the final round of nc
national junior singles tournaments A.
2:3o o'clock Frederick G. Andcrson
of the Kings County Tennis Club, viii
clash with Clarence Hobart. runner-up
60 40 NOT
o'clock the father and son national
championship doubles viii be played
with Anderson and his son, Frederick.
~, playing Alfred II. Chaplin and his
son, A. II, jr. The boys and junior
doubles finals are also 20 be decided
to-day.
High Praise for Tilden
There is no praise too great or The
magnificent game played by Tiden
shot WAS working with 8 perfection
that have never seen before There
tave been other occasions when the
Phlladelphlan got going al all speed
at certain periods in his matches. and
there were other times when he went
through an entire match only q bit
below his best form, but never until
Yesterday have | seen Tilden playing q
game OF such remarkable and sustained
brlllianco.
the first point to the last. when the
Philadelphian faltered. Williams never
mad a chance to work the rough edges
OH his game, and there were a few
right at the start The further the
match progressed the more erratic
Williams became in the third set, and
this was solely due to the batting
change OF pace engineered By Tilden
After the Philadelphian had swept
through the first set with the loss Of
only one game, Williams, perhaps un-
consciously, began TO press" in the
endcavoH to hold his own. but he could
not gain control of his shots, and, al
though he made a valiant stand in the
third set bringing the games from
3-5 to 5-all, it was his final great
effort to overcome d man who was dis
tlnctly his master yesterday
Williams made & bad beginning, for
his service was not by far the terrific
attacking weapon it had been in earlier
matches. His total of ten double
FAULTS during the match only partially
shows this. At no time did the former
champion get the tremendous pace"
and sharp breaks to right and left in
his delivery that had marked his worl.
against Willis Davis last Thursday,
and Tllden found it easy to "stroke"
his returns and charge in for the net
position without delay
Half Nolleys Brilliant
During the second set Williams
brought off some remarkably brilliant
half volleys as he came in on the run
from his base line, taking the ball at
his feet He had to adopt this shot
because Tiden kept driving the ball
short with lightning speed directly to
his rivals feet, hitting the mark with
the unerring aim of the sharps shooter
But as Tllden continued these tactics
Williams began to fub the shots and
could not dig the ball up. He was
sending the ball into the net a full foot
below the top tape and then his over
hand volleys began to slip up and the
former champion started missing the
easiest kind of shots. That was the
beginning of the end, and in the last
set Tlden raced along to victory, look
ing more like champion with every
passing minute.
Taken in the las, analysis, it was the
wonderful change of pace set by Tilden
that sent Williams down to defeat
Terrific low drives the full length Of
the court, followed by a wicked chop
INTO forecourt, then a deep lob, a sizz-
ling volley, with the ball wonderfully
Angled, across forecOurt, next a deadly
smash. and always that tremendous
service of Tilden's these were the
rocks upon which Williams came to
EiIci, MS NoDeS OF another champion
ship wrecked BY the super-tennis of a
man who knew no restraining hand
Illden's ground strokes. sharp, crisp.
decisive. and always played low so that
they barely skinned the net, were a
great asset to the Philadclphian in
backing up the rest Of his game and in
battling Williams. who simply could not
meet the whirwind attack that bsset
him ON every side. But if were to
name any single shot of Tilden's as
standing out above the rest. | should
say 1t was his furious service.
Tilt.cns Service Furious
fairly accurate tally on my score
sheet shows that seventeen different
times Williams sent his return of scrv-
ice either INTO the net or out of court,
ard many OF these shots might have
been counted as service aces for Til
dcn. They were virtually that for
Williams merely got his racquet on the
ball. and that is all no chance of
keeping them within the court or out
of the net.
Johnston was threatened with all
kinds of trouble in his match with
Johnson, the master of the chop stroke.
In the first set the Philadel lphian played
wonderful tennis. The peculiar slice
he gave the ball sent it skidding over
the turf with practically no bound,
and there was no opening too small for