Evening star., 1919-07-27

More than ordinary interest will be
attached to the participation Of Doyle
and Harris in the national events in
that they may clash in either with
the invading Australians - Norman
Brookes. the famous internationalist;
Gerald l. Patterson. who has earned
the sobriquet of hurricane" for his
dashing work on the courts; Ran
dolph Lycett and r. V. Thomas.
Brookes and Patterson will pair for
the doubles, as will Lycett and
Thomas.
Another interesting feature to the
rational doubles is the return of
Maurice Mclaughlin and Thomas c.
the event this year. They qualified
for play at Longwood by winning the
Pacific coast sectional honors.
tournament tennis has been the set
tling of the doubles championship.
and it will be decided this year on
plan formulated by committee, of
which A. Y. Leech, jr.. of this city
was chairman.
The combination of the doubles with
the national singles never has been
possible, owing to the huge entry
for the latter and the difficulty of
scheduling the matches in fairness to
all. The old system was to play a
number of sectional doubles. the win
ners meeting in preliminary tourney
whose survivors then challenged the
standing-out title holders. the match
being played on the first day of the
national singles tourney In 1917 and
1918, however. a single doubles tour
ney was played at Longwood. and it
was thus that William r. Tilden, I'd.
of Philadelphia and Vincent Richards
of Yonkers. N. Y. present champions.
won the title.
This year a plan that has all the
RI nf cxiR -iVO fiCf fpo ut
being tried. 1t combines the best fea-
lures of both the older systems. Sec
tional doubles Journeys have been. or
are being, held all over the country.
there being eleven sections. and the
national championship will be de-
cided in the special tourney of sec
tional winners at Longwood. The
challenge round will be played i'm
mediately at the conclusion of the
special tourney. the champions stand
ing out as in the years before 1917.
Mclaughlin. who earned the title of
comet" for his meteoric methods On
the court, not only will play in the
doubles championship, but will be
seen in the national singles. 1t is
also likely that he will play at South
ampton.
Mclaughlin and Bundy in making
the trip will be invading the east for
the first time since the Davis cup was
lost to Australia IN 1S1
The certainty that Mclaughlin again
will compete for national honors has
stirred the enthusiasm Of players and
followers of the game No player ever
created such public interest as did the
Davis cup hero. who conquered Nor
man Brookes and the late Anthony
Wilding. two of the greatest racket
wielders the world had produced. 1t
10 not alone his dashing style OF
play that makes him so popular, but
his unassuming personality on the
courts. s7T
A follower of the game who recent
ly returned from California declared
that whatever speed the comet" may
have lost through advancing years is
more than counterbalanced by i'm
provement of his game along other
lines. He is said to have bettered his
ground strokes and has grown more
accurate on his backhand. the one
phase of his game that might have
been called weak when he was in his
championship form. The return of
Mclaughlin to the game when the
reputation of the Americans is sorely
threatened by the invasion of the
Australian stars certainly is timely.