New-York tribune., 1919-08-01
Beat Alexander and Vo-
shell at Seabright; Beck
man and 1ilden Reach
Final in the Singles
By Fred Hawthorne

ny ETcO E1aWthQrnc
SEABR1GHT, N. j., July 31.-Sensa-
tions were the order Of the day on the
turf courts of the Seabright Lawn Ten
mis- and Cricket Club this afternoon.
when the singles and doubles invitation
tournament went into the final round.
When the smoke of battle had blown
away it was discovered that Frederick
B. Alexander, the great veteran inter-
nationalist. had been defeated in the
semi-final round of the singles by
Leonard Beekman, the Princeton CAP
tain, by q score of 3-6. 6--1, 6-3:
that William T. Tilden, I'd, of Phila-
deiphla; had .vanquished Walter Mer-
rlll Hall, of New York. at 6-3, 81.
60; that Tilden and Richards, nation
al doubles champions, had won a hard
three-set match from Robert NJ. Kin
sey and Axel Craven, of California, at
O., 4-6, Cd, and that Beekman and
Hall had won the most furiously con-
tested doubles match seen on Ameri-
can courts in years, when they defeat
ed Alexander and S. Howard Voshell.
trl-state champions, by score Of 6-3,
21-l9
1. was q udy tilaI taxed the feellngS
of the largest gallery of the week, for
thrlll over, every player on the courts
taking his turn at stirring the spec
tators. To cap the climax came the
nerve wracking duel in the doubles
between Beekman and Hall and Alex
ander and Noshell, ending in the play
ing of the longest doubles set ever
fought out on American courts in an
important tournament
Doubles Final Tomorrow
The programme for tomorrow calls
for the meeting of Tilden and Beck
man in the final round OF the singles
at $3.50 o'clock, with a special mems
exhibition doubles to follow at 5
o'clock On Saturday Tilden and
Richards will face Hall and Beekman
in the final round of the doubles at
$3.50 o'clock, while Miss Florence
Ballin, former Old Dominion champion.
and Miss Helene Pollak, Middle States
utleholder, will team up with two men
players i'll an exhibition mixed dou-
bles
The best tennis of the day was prob
ably seen in the Tilden- Richards vs..
Craven -Kirsey doubles semi-fnal
match. Richards was the star of this
struggle, volleying like fend and
smashing with wonderful power when
ever he got his racquet on a lob, deep
or short Nothing seemed too diff
cult for the youthful champion to at
tempt and to accomplish.
Tilden was erratic all through the
match, yet many Of his shots astounded
the onlookers by their brilliance. 1t
Vas this. same unbelievably brilliant
Tilden who probably saved the match
Wl9n tho SrOra stood T;<lo,
serving and the points reading 90
against him At this critical point
the Philadelphian braced himself and
whipped two tremendous service aces
into court, first against kinsey, then
against Craven.
1t shook the youngsters nerves for
second. and when Tilden added to
this with dazzling backhand full
volley return OF hard drive, scoring
an ace and bringing the points to o
deuce" the situation was saved and
the national champions won the match
by taking the next game for the set,
at 6-4.
353 Points in One Set
Some faint idea of the tremendous
struggle that was fought out in the
other doubles match may be gained
when say that the point totals in that
final heart breaking set of 21-19 be-
tween Hall and Beekman and Voshell
and Alexander read 1S5 to 1853 Many
fve-set matches have been played with
less points at the end than this An
astonishing number Of deuce games
featured this set, the points sometimes
going to deuce" ten or twelve times.
1t is not an easy matter to pick out
any one player in this memorable
match who stood out above his fellows,
reviewing the contest as whole, but
II there is to be a choice I should lean
toward the work of Hall, who came to
the front at critical periods with in
valuable service aces and who was
always to be relied upon when the ral-
lies were hottest
Noshell, playing with greater steadi-
ness than in several weeks, fought
dozen times he saved the situation by
a dazzling volley or a powerful smash
Here IS the point score of the record
breaking second set:
j j :; Z 4'l' IS
IL 4-lS5-2f.
10 Toshe!I and AleSander-s ! 6
Is 4 1-l6s-l9.
Hall has always given of his best
when facing Tilden and his story re-
pcated Itself to- day. Hall started slow
ly. his ground strokes not Being hit
cleanly and his play overhead very bad
Tilden was not deceived by his oppo-
nent's hardness in getting into his
stride, however, knowing that Hall
often has to work off the rough edges
before eye and stroke get working
in unison.
The national doubles champion began
the service scoring the first point on
cannon ball" service ace. Hall never
even got his racquet on the ball, and
il bounded clear over the back stop
acts. Tilden won tnis game and the