The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-09-07
TIden Defeats Johnson For Championship

Forest Hill N. Y, September 6.--Wil- liam T. Tilden, II, won the national aii- coners singles championship title the 1 today In the five-set battle, in which he employed his cannon ball service to ad- vantage the tall Pennsyivanian con- ouered William M Johnston. the Cali fornian who has twice held the title and stood as the playins-through cham pion of the tourna ment. The score was 6-1, 1-6 7-5, 5-7, 6-3
 Tilden had to display the strongest clements of his game to win. In the fourth set, leading at 5-4 on games, ne was within d point of taking the honorS only to have the aggressive Johnston fight him off and win the set The breaks of the game were with Tilden. He had his greatest streak of luck in the eighth game of the third set when one of his drives, going far out of court, hit the net post and fell good. Also, he was helped in the final set by net ioerd stroke in one of the critical games. 1 The unusual thing about the match was that with the exception of one service, Tilden was not inclined to make use Of his tremendous pace. This was all on Jchnston's side of the net The Cali fo1nian brought his forehanders into ac- ton in many of the rallies frequently
 passing Tilden cleanly for the points. He had the Wimbledon winner running in the wrong direction any number ot times and until the break came in the fifth set Johnston appeared likely to pull out the match.
 Tilden started the service in the first set and he went breezing through 1t to
 win in exactly fourteen minutes Ills service proved good and in the tiftn game he tucked three service aces. John- ston footfaulted at crucial moments anu his lobbs were short so that his faulty playing made it possible for Tilden to easily go through.
 Johnston outgeneraled Tilden in the second set He was coming, in to close range and his forehanders found the way through for the points The third set bothered Johnston He had terrifi : battle and broke through Tildens serN- ice by unusual blocking shots in the seV- enth game In the next game ne WAS twice within n- stroke of accounting for his own s~rvice for the lead 5-S, when
 Tilden's lut<. upset this resultr He hai
 Tilden racing fN shots that ne seh' spinning into the corners, but lost the set 75. It was during this set that an airplane which had ben circlingf the field, fell and killed it's occupants near the courts.
 Johnston forced d lead of 4-2 on games ir the fourth set He had been forcing his rival out of position in the rallies, his forehand drives and his quicker gets causing Tildep to make errors of nets and outs Tildren then ran three con- secutive games. In the next game he was within a point of the title when he retted the ball. Johnston, by decisive strikes. carried the tally to five games. and eventually took the set.
 The fifth set was temporarily delayed by heavy shower. This caused John ston some difficulty with his drives as the ball was hard to handle. He went to the lead however at 3-2 games. At this stage Tilden came back fer some very effective driving. He was steadier ttar the Californian, whose attempts to get the lines missed by inches He had several footfaults called upon him and this seemed to upset him a trifle. He fought gamely to the end. Tilden taking the final point by a pass down hs/back- hand
 The effect of Tildens remarkable serv- ice is shown by the stroke analysis. He talIed on a total of sixteen aces, while Johnson made only one. The ability of the little Californian to force his points is shown by his total of fifty three place ments to forty-four for Tlden. It was on his errors in critical games that Johnston ipst, as tKe respective point totals of the five sets separate the two men by only two points. Tildren tailed .164 and the defeated player 162