New-York tribune., 1921-10-28
Worlds Champion Van
quishes Young Rival in
-f-Set Match ON Courts
BY Fred Hawthorne

Ihe wonder of big BIZ Tilden's
game continues to grow. Yesterday
afternoon, on the clay court of the
Elizabeth Town and Country Club, at
Elizabeth, N. j., with the chill Of late
autumn in the air and spectator sitting
along the side lines muffled in over
coats and furs, the worlds tennis cham
pion defeated Vincent Richards, ma
tional junior champion, by a score of
SIS, So, 7-9, 60, in one of the
exhibition matches for the benefit of
the American Committee for Devastated
France.
1t was not SO much the fact that
Tilden vanquished his brilliant young
rival, for he had done that in all their
exhibition matches of the last few
weeks, but it was the manner of his
doing it that impressed. To watch the
play Of his racquet, the speed of foot
and the keenness with which the
"W onder of Wimbledon" went into
every rally yesterday, was to gain the
impression that it was early August,
and that Tilden was right at the top
of his tournament form.
Every shot in his great repertoire of
strokes was working to perfection, with
a speed and forcefulness that placed
Richards almost continuously on the
defensive. The junior champion tired
palpably in the last set, just at time
when Tilden let loose all his tremen-
dous attack, and the worlds champion
rushed through to a "love" set, bring
ing off shot after shot that fairly
dazzled the gallery.
Injury Hampers Junior Star
Richards's strokes were too soft to
enable him to make q real stand when
Tilden pressed him most severely. The
junior was weakened by an injury he
sustained few days ago, while play
ing football, and this accounts, per-
haps, for his sudden let-down in the
fourth set. In any case, Tilden must
have won, for he was travelling at
clip that he has rarely equaled.
When Richards could work his way
inside the service court lines in time
to .volley his returns he generally held
his own in the lightning-fast ex-
changes, but it was only occasionally
that he was able to do this, for Tilden
was raking the court with fore and
back hand drives Of tremendous power
and uncanny accuracy as to placement.
The champion of the universe made
a consistent and vicious attack on the
juniors backhand, usually placing his
oiiOIS co ucCp Oll uo . iO1C oAuS
that the latter was compelled to reach
far back in his efforts to return the
ball. The longer this assault continued
the more ragged Richards's returns
became, and in the final set Tilden
won a majority of his points off his
opponents weak returns.
Executes Battling Shots
have rarely seen the national cham
pion in better control Of his trap shots,
played at remarkable angles, that
pulled Richards far out of position.
and with such cut on the ball that it
was battling thing to handle even
when the junior did get his racquet on
the ball. Tilden also earned many
points by placing his returns short into
fore court and close to the side lines,
and it was the effort to cut these off
that taxed Richards's strength Sc
verely.
This afternoon Tilden, Richards,
Wallace Johnson and Nathaniel w
Niles will play in singles and doubles
on the clay courts of the Terrace
Kings County Tennis Association at
East Seventeenth Street and Avnue J.
Flatbush, and tomorrow the matches
will be contested on the courts of the
New Rochelle Tennis Club The tour
will officially end on Sunday when
Tilden, Richards and Johnson, and pos
sibly Dick Williams in place of Niles,
will compete on the courts of the
Amackassin Club of Yonkers.