Evening star., 1921-09-17

Tall Bills victory in the first set
had much to do with deciding the
issue, and. had Davis taken the long
end in this smashing duel, he prob
ably would have sent the champion
the limit of five sets and might have
come out on top. Practically every
shot from the time one or the other
would cannon-ball the sphere through
the service court, until the point was
decided. was a smash.
TiIden's Steadiness Tells.
Davis fought fire with fire. and the
tually cropped out in their play and
which told in the ene was Tilden's
ability to retain his steadiness, while
the Californian. who had matched
him in this respect in the first set,
grew wild at its conclusion and went
to his defeat quickly because of this.
Davis service was just as speedy as
that of Tilden's, and during the first
set. rare battle of fast stroking
was put on view. Tilden. who began
the match by serving. broke through
on Davis to take the lead at ~.
but the Californian came right back
at him in the seventh game and fol-
lowed by taking his own serve to
even the count. Then they battled
along, each taking his service.
until Tilden again broke through on
the eighteenth game TO take the set.
Davis play grew unsteady from the
start of the second set, but despite
this he never let up in his hammering
of the ball. neither did Tilden, but his
path to victory was made compare
lively easy by the Californian's drives
going into the net out of bounds. An
other big asset in Tilden's favor was
his ability to handle Davis service
much better than his own was met.
Tilden aced the Californian no less
than sixteen times. while he suffered
himself.
Chop Stroke Puzzles Anderson.
Johnson simply wore down Ander-
son with the steadiness of his tan
TALKING chop stroke. He just kept
getting the ball back over the net
with that puzzling twist on it until
the AnZac would net or out. In place
ments and service aces the Australia n
outscored johnson by 49 points to 81,
but the errors of the player from
down under" were proportionately
greater. These errors, of course, were
due to Johnson's plan of attack of
cutting the ball to the side lines and
deep court and the Philadelphia must
be given credit for his court general
ship. steadiness and persistent style
of play. 1t was the personification OF
a good defense being a winning at
tack.
While no one is brave enough TO
predict that Tilden will even be in
danger in today's titular clash, there
are those who have been bold enough
to assert that Johnson may come
! through if big Bill has one of his
bad days" He may have bad days. but
he has had none in the present tour
ney and the odds are long that he
will not fall down this afternoon.
This will be the second time in his
long career on the courts that John
son has been a finalist. He travelled
to that stage in 1912. the year Maurice
Mclaughlin won his first title, and
he sent the Comet five sets then to
turn the trick. Last year johnson
reached the semi-fnal. but he benefit
ed greatly by drawing weak op-
ponents and was ranked last in the
first ten for 1920. No matter what
the outcome this afternoon, he is
sure to be much higher on the list
this season.
Whom Ffnalists Have Beaten.
In coming through to the final John
derson, Fred Mercur. Harrisburg.
Pa, youth, 6-1, 6-1. 6-4: Watson
NJ. Washburn. a 1920 ranking player
Ga. 81. 2-6. 6-3, 6-S: f. NJ
Edwards, a local youngster. 60,
Francisco. 4-6, SIS. s-a, So. and
Craig Biddle, Philadelphia veteran,
6-1. 6-3. Ga. 1t must be remem-
bered. too. that Anderson was the
conqueror of Norris Williams.
Tilden. prior to conquering Davis
won from the veteran Irving Wright
Boston, Go. 60. 6-1; from Phil
! Goldsborough. Baltimore. GO. 6-1
6-4: from ZenZo ShimidZu. the Jap
! anese Davis cup player, 6-3. 6-4
6-l: William NJ. Johnston. the little
California wizard. 4-6, IS, 6-4
6-3. and F. Gordon Love-. England
"a, 6-S. 6-4.
In addition to the championship
match. mixed doubles contest. with
four satellites of the courts partici-
, pating. will be put on this afternoon
Mrs. Molla Bjurstedt Mallory. woman
champion, and Watson Washburn
playing Miss Mary Browne, former
tftleholder. and Bill Johnston. The
fans are expecting to see more tennis
in the exhibition than in the titular
cinSh