The Washington herald., 1920-12-31
ODDS NOW FAVOR
AMERICAN TEAM
TO WIN DAVIS CUP
Defeat Seen for Austria
lians Following Double
Singles Loss.
~ +. HOWARD KELLY,

-
cup, that sterling bowl Of interna-
tional tennis fame and glory, is NO
longer securely. within the grasp
Of the Australians, In fact, It looks
as IL IL has sauirmed quite q lew
inches out Of the hands of it's hold
ers and Is heading for the our
stretched palms of several gentle
men of American tennis repute, with
the two initial singles matches to its
credit. The American team looms
up like a sure winner Of the trouhy
now being contested for on the
courts Of Auckland. New Zealand
william 7. Tilden, End, and wn-
liam n. Johnston startedAt the cup on
the first leg OF its homeward
journey. for the Davis cup Ii mas
sive example OF American silver,
when they demonstrated their court
superiority over Norman q. Brookes
and Gerald Patterson. respectively.
Their fne victories were expected
by tennis followers In this country.
but tennis matches often end con-,
trary to expectations
Both Rated sf Tep. -
As singles players these stellar
racqueteers were rated above any
opponents that the cup-defending
Australians could pit against them
Both Tilden and Johnston were ac-
corded this superior rating in sing
les on the merits Of victories scored
against the best Australian singles
exponents sometime ago in the VIM
bledon clashes. but the initial sing
les developed two surprise elements.
1t was not believed that Norman Z.
Brookes, captain of the Australian
contingent. would enter the singles
DaN NaI
that he would reserve his play for
the doubles, but when Tilden went
in for America in the opening chal-
lenge round he faced Brookes.
Older in years and experience,
than Tilden. Brookes, while thought
to be at his best in doubles. dem
onstrated that he has lost very lit
tie of his top-notch singles form
as his sets with Tilden show. Even
with the advantage of playing on
home courts before a home crowd
he must have played a consistently
hard and careful game in order to
keep the scores as low as he die.
The first two sets ended, 10-S and
Ga.
Tilden's Strategy.
Winning over Tilden in the third
set by a count OF 6-1 must have
llTcu MIN COHSltcTdply as his aIntTl-
can opponent apparently let him
work fast and hard after his lead
was so great as to make 1t almost
impossible. for Tilden to retrieve
the set. This last set was probably
a bit of strategy on Tilden's part.
With two sets to his credit he
could afford to let the Australian
wear himself down in winning a
fast set and then capitalize his op-
ponent's fatigue in the next and
deciding set. At least this Is the
way II worked out for Brookes
Jagged considerably in the fourth
match and Tilden snatched another
SIS set from the Australian.
Jchnston's one-sided victory over
Patterson was the next surprise. 1t
was generally expected that John
ston would win-but not by such
rapid work as three straight vic
tories in sets, of 6-3, 6-1 and 6-1.
Although a victor over Patterson in
singles matches during 1919. John
ston won his previous laurels by
very narrow margins. His exhi-
bition at Auckland Wednesday
afternoon furnishes ample proof of
the current belief in tennis circles
that Johnston is by far the keenest
game today. Apparently the more
he plays against previous open
ehts the more easily he defeats
them. His study of their service
and return gives him an uncanny
ability to outwit his rivals.
Looks Easy Now.
With these two singles victories
already chalked up to the American
teams credit it only remains for
Tilden and Johnston to win one
more victory, whether at singles or
doubles. to thin the Australian
chances of retaining the cup.
In the doubles 1t is more or less
conceded that the Australians have
scme advantage over the challeng-
ers in team woyk. Tilden and John
ston have not played together to
any extent and in going against
the Australian choices, Brookes and
Patterson, will hnd a defense and
offense built upon team work. The
doubles are scheduled for Friday.
Friday will witness the last of
the singles matches in which it is
expected that Tilden will face Pat
,terson and Johnston will take on
Brookes. Unless the Australians are
able to achieve a tremendous re-
versal in form, or the Americans
slump, the singles should bring the
cup into American possession re-
gardless of the outcome of the