The New York herald., 1921-08-20
BY SAMUEL j. BRooKMAN.

though futile effort Mrs. May Sutton
Bundy made at Forest Hills yesterday
to regain a tennis championship she held
seventeen years ago. There could be
nothing but astonishment at the zest. the
grit. the fighting aggresslveness and The
skill OF the California woman, mother
OF four children. who came out OF retire
ment to do her part in defending title
that appeared to be in danger of being
carried off to Europe. Giving all she
had in a match of thrills. Mrs. Bundy
was beaten by Mrs. Molla Bjurstedt
Mallory. the present American queen of
tennis SIS. 6-2. but in losing won the
esteem of all those who witnessed her
performance and all those who will read
or hear of it,
IL tennis matches were decided by
skill alone. the present and former cham
pions might still be fighting it out on
the courts at Forest Hills, for in that
respect there was little to choose be-
tween them. But the whilrwind pace
that Mrs. Bundy not only followed but
set right from the start was too much
for her strength. and although she never
yielded point until it was hopelessly
'ost fatigue overlook her and the match
quickly slipped beyond her reach. Of
the element that failed the California
woman-stamina - Mrs. Mallory had
aplenty. In fact she seemed to get
stronger with every game seemed fair
ly to revel in the speed that Mrs. Bun
dy's remarkably accurate placements
and severity of stroke demanded of her
Mrs. Mallory had to be at her best
10 stave off the loss of the first set, and
fortunately she was. There was furious
hitting on both sides of the net low
deep drives that doomed across at great
speed and under the circumstances il
s was astonishing that the women kept
the rallies going as well as they lid.
1t took some remarkable getting to
keep the ball in play. but they were
equal to It. Typical of the entire match
was the fight for the very first point of
the tussle, IN the rally for which the
ball travelled back and forth twenty
times. before Mrs. Bundy won II finally.
And during these sustained rallies there
was no effort merely to keep the ball in
play by returning it safely. On the
contrary their shots boldly sought the
lines and the corners the drives being
sharp angled so well that they both
had TO race from one side of the court
70 the other continually.
Mrs. Bundy's Rally.
Coming from behind in the first set
with the score 3 to i In favor OF the
champion, Mrs. Bundy threw the stands
into flutter of excitement as she drew
up even at all. Thei. she was within
q point of taking the lead In the next
game. but Molla won it after the score
had gone to deuce. The Pacific Coast
woman evened the score again in the
twelfth game. which she placed to her
credit without the loss of a point, and
again she forced her rival to the limit
to win the odd game at &c. Mrs
Bundy pluckily put every ounce of
steam at her command into service at
the start OF the fourteenth game and
she began by scoring service ace, but
she was already firing fast and Mrs.
Mallory at last broke through and took
the game and set
Only eight games were played in the
second set. the champion winning the
first four and then taking two OF the
next four. but although Mrs Bundy was
making little headway she kept her op-
ponent fighting for every point. Shots
that she caught UP with In the first set
were escaping her now, however. and
the result was inevitable. To the end
Mrs. Bundy continued to play boldly
and as aggressively as her strength
would permit. She lost all of her SER
vice games in the set but forced MoIla
TO yield two OF hers. Mrs. Bundy was
given great ovation as she left the
court after the match, the applause con-
tinung long after she had disappeared
into the .Ibhouse
1t was practically repetition OF their
match In the women's metropolitan
championship two weeks ago. on that
occasion. however Mrs. Bundy. fighting
Just as tenaciously. had won the first
set at l0-S, but had little left In the
second and third. The high bound of
Mrs. Bundy's drive bothered Mrs. Mall
lory considerably at the start of yester-
days contest, but after half of the first
set had been completed the champion
timed her returns splendidly. Mrs
Bundy kept the ball travelling as often
as possible to Mrs. Mallory's backhand,
for she figured, and figured rightly, that
Molla's forehand was her best shot.
One More Test.
And now Mrs. Mallory has to beat
another California star, Miss Mary X.
Browne, champion of 1912. 1913, and
1914. to retain her title. The latter
came through In most impressive style
I'm the other semi-flnal, defeating Mrs.
G. ". Hitchins of Mexico City, 6-3,
60. and flashing spirited net attack
that delighted the gallery. For while
In the first set-she dropped the first
two games--Miss Browne was puzzled
bit by the underspin service and chop
stroke Of her opponent. the ball bound-
ing so low that II was difficult to meet
u properly. but she solved the attack
quickly and thereafter won twelve
games out Of thirteen. scoring total OF
5S points to 80.
Miss Brownies favorite mode OF attack
was a deep stinging drive into either
corner and then rush up to the net to
meet and block the return. Mrs
Hitchins gave far better account OF
herself than the score shows She COW
cred lot of ground, manmuvred skill
fully and chose her shots with good
Judgment, but the greater speed and
effective volleying of the California girl
we're too much for her. Miss Browne
was in her element when she crowded
the net or met the ball overhead for a
decisive smash.
After only few minutes rest Miss
Browne returned to the courts and
dominated a doubles match, In which