Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-09-06
". r. 7ilden, Philadelphia,
and ". M. Johnston, San
Francisco, Once More
Clnsh at Forest Hills
nv SPICK HALL

NcStSlue tN''N
,I,iiIIAM r. TILDEN's reputation
w 90 rho worlds premier lawn tennis
.,,,or ia dangling in the balance today
rso r 10 able to wrest the national title
60 william NJ. Johnston in the hnais
w" w. ofternoon. his prestige. as the KING
tn's ,ho courts will be so firmly estab-
Svil,oI ~ ,hat II will withstand Nerdun
nn,u On the other hand. II Tilden IL
,eto, bv Johnston, the tennis rams OF
peaVn siu country. who quickly forget Me
os ,ns Of Yesterday. will look upon the
,..,i" californian as the real world =
nh.s.mr;on n..m oven though he does not wear
u'a Wa nf;c;ol crown awarded to the winner
w ,Sa International Federation tour
v,ment at Wimbledon. England.
There has always been certain group
a. tennis followers who believed that
ridden was really the greatest p,ayc.
nat over stepped upon the White -nned
,nrf with one reservation. lhht res
srrstion was Billy Johnston.
"Tilden is the greatest IN the worm;
g.. Inbnston has his number. He will
voser vo be able to beat Johnston IN an
;mportant match. ~, A..
That Ia what they say. But do the
,,ots warrant such conclusion? Most
inLotically. no. Johnston has met
T;,aon Eve times in tournament matches
,nS has triumphed thrice. All OF these
.anrnaments .au were important affairs and
T;idon won on two occasions, ms
to;ns the case It Is, difficult to see where
w wby Johnston has Tilden's number
or goat or Whatever you p'e"'' ~
Il.
Lost 1910 Finals
/, is true that Tildcp was beaten
h,rs last year IN the finals by Johnston
and beaten dccisively. The scores were
"a, Ga, 6.3 and 1t is also true thar
Tilden was SO nervous after the con
tipua postponements OF the match tnat
no was not able to play his usual game.
Possibly not being nervous is a part
~ the game, II it is. Johnston deserved
10 win as he did.
The other matches in which the Phil
,delphian lost to the Californian were
tbe clay court championships at Chicago
last summer and the Queens Ciuh
tournament for the championship OF
iondon. lust before the Wimbledon
meeting this summer.
Tiden's victories over Johnston came
IN 1910 He trimmed the westcrner at
Newport and also in he East west
matches staged in Cincinnati, D.
Should Tilden win today, and there
IA every reason to believe he will. the
count will be tied at 3-all. The dead
lock. therefore, will be broken the
hitter part of this week when the
famous pair meet on the courts OF the
Germantown Cricket Club In the East
West matches.
But to get back to today's match.
M,times during the last year, Tilden
certainly did seem to lack confidence
fn himself. not only against Johnson
but against Richards, Wallace Johnson
and a number Of others. But he is 2
different player from the one who sailed
for Europe with the American Davis
Cup team early in the summer. From
the time he left until he reached home
shores again, Tilden had a triumphal
march on the courts Of Europe never
After losing to Johnston at London he
began the ascent which took him to
the height Of tennisdom.
Wins Worlds Title
At Wimbledon Tilden defeated J. G.
Parke and \. X. +. Kingscote, Briton's s
Davis Cup stars. in the early rounds.
Incidentally. Parke had previously
beaten Johnston. In the final round
after grueing struggle Tilden took
the little Jap. Ienza Shimidzu over
the hurdles and followed this. by win
ningh the worlds championship from
Gerald l.. Patterson, Of Australia, in
the challenge round.
After short rest, Tilden defeated
Laurenz and Colbert. the crack French
players in Davis Cup singles contests,
then paired with Johnston beat the two
Frenchmen in doubles. Again Tilden
becomes the cynosure Of the worlds
tennis eyes, particularly British. when
he won his Davis Cup singles contests
from Parke and Kingscote and once
more paired with Johnston, beat them
IN doubles.
These victories made different player
Of Tilden, as Johnston very likely will
tnd out today. Although he did not
have any real opposition in the present
tournament until be played Wallace
johnson, Tilden showed plainly in all
his matches that when the time comes
be can lift his game to such heights
mat even Americas ranking players
look like novices compared to his court
genius.
Today Tilden knows that the time for
MN to get down to serious terms Is on
tne opening service shot and that's just
Saat he will do. Johnston is brilliant.
'fe is accurate and his forehand drives
are almost perfection! Furthermore the
Naiitornlan Is a volleyer of the first
wafer And what is more he Is Il
worker. Tilden will have all of these
assets today, the only difference being
.nat the Philadelphian has them deyel
,r!,a ugea 10 higher degree than Johnston.
ttIuehs service is more accurate and
mas far more speed than Johnston can
ttr nope to muster. The champion s
nssht and general physical make ur
sIt, sne MN handicap that it is impos
''O'e ior johnston to overcome.
Better at Driving
Even Johnston's iustlv c.lahra,sd
fore; hand drive never po,sesseS IN. IN.
ea.1llng force which Tilden Is able "a
KRHt KRm, on his shots. At the yolley game
hnaen Is distinctly Johnston's maste,
a az eoth mechanical fulfillment and con
tvpuoh; There is no comparison be
I'm J"t the two when it comes to lobbing
oET"nSIoh MI S is a good lobber and that |,
Hcrso @ Dat Iilden's tosses are uncannil,
,ton r"ueh ls naturally faster than John.
;Sr ;" mas longer reach and a speed
nsn,S capacity for diagnosing his oppo
TuH Tyns moves. At the overhead gam,
s. anuen Is better than McLourhlin eve,
ngni a,'nough this is not generally rec
Nan,ou lor the all sufficient reason tina,
man same was made UP of two ele
TMs oniy,-service and smashing.
L,,nu inuen also can call upon bis Ian,
nav nav strokes II he cares to change th.
1Se .%is OF his game. Johnston canSot 4,
ind on Inc Californian has one style
iu iny .O one only-a hard driving, volisy.