The New York herald., 1922-08-29
RAIN AGAIN DELAYS
LONGWOOD FINALS
Deciding Match In National
Tennis Doubles Champion
ship Off Until To-day.
ny SAMUEL ). BRooKMAN.

I BOSTON. Mass. Aug. 2s. Stin It
rains. For three days It has poured
almost necessarily until the Longwocd
tennis courts are afioat and the pa
tience of the Officials and players anx-
ious to wind up the national doubles
tournament almost exhausted. The
weather man holds out hope for to-
morrow. but he has guessed wrong so
often this last week that no one is talk
Ing him any too seriously. But
Tho match between the defending
champions. William 8. Tilden and Vim
cent Richards. and their Australian
challengers will be played tomorrow
or will be postponed indefinitely. That's
how the matter stands now. There will
be no waiting over for Wednesday. for
the Antipodeans-and for that matter
the Americans--are anxious to reach
Forest Hills In time 20 get at least two
days practice before the opening OF
the Davis cup matches there on Fri
day, and the officials have agreed to
grant their request.
As matter OF fact, Gerald Patter-
son offered to default the national
doubles finals here if 1t would relieve
the situation In any way. but Tllden
would not hear Of 1t, nor would Rich
ards, 2or the tennis tournament COM
mittee. Patterson made II clear that
while he and his teammates appreciated
the Importance of the national doubles
title. they were here primarily for the
Davis cup matches and would rather
lose all chance of the national title than
lose the opportunity of fitting them
selves thoroughly for the international
event.
Australians Have Been Busy.
Having been engaged In preliminary
ties with the French and Spanish Davis
cup teams and In tournaments at Sea-
bright and Longwood. the Australians
have had no opportunity to practice on
the scene OF the Davis cup challenge
round and to grow accustomed to the
conditions of background and turf with
In the Forest Hills grandstand inclos-
ure. Besides they have had practically
no singles practice In ten days or SO.
and as the first two matches of the
Davis cup event are singles. the impor-
tance OF devoting at least two days to
tuning up becomes apparent
Even IL the weather clears sufficiently
be played tomorrow the courts are
likely TO be very heavy. The air is still
saturated with moisture, and only q
warm sun playing on the surface for
half a day .or go can dry the turf out
thoroughly. And where the warm sun
is, or has been for three days, nobody
knows.
To make matters worse one OF the as
sistant groundsmen misunderstood or
ders on Sunday when the club house was
deserted and, instead OF keeping the
championship court covered with tar
paulins. removed the protecting covers,
rolled them up and put them in a dry
places leaving the turf all day to the
mercy OF the pelting rain. So Il will
take twice as long now for the courts to
shed their moisture as II would other
wise.
Conditions Stir Speculation.
How win a soft court affect the
chances OF the respective teams9 Well
some say that inasmuch as Tllden and
richards depend more on their speed OF
foot their Sensationaily swift court COW
aring. than the Australians, the slow
court is likely to work TO their advan-
tage. Perhaps. but In rebuttal It NAV
be stated that a slow surface will slow
the bound Of n hard hit ball and render
II possible for the men to-catch up with
the sphere IN spite OF any slightly handi-
capped footwork. AS a matter OF fact
the Australians run the Americans a
fairly close second In the matter OF bril-
liant getting, and conditions ought 70
hamper ono side as much as the other
A damp court Is likely to take some
or the sting out of patterson's tre-
mendous service, but for exactly the
same reason Tilden's cannon ball service
is likely to be less devastating than
usual There Is this TO remember: That
Tilden and Richards can both bring the
battling chop stroke into play when the
occasion Is propitious and a chop on "a
heavy surface with it's freakish low
bound Is likely to break up an opponents
driving game.
Those who can see nothing but a TIL
dem Richards victory base their convic-
tions chiefly on the fact that three years
ago when Richards was a mere kid OF
sixteen and Tilden had not yet reached
his prime, the Americans were able ia
carry the team OF Norman Brooks and
Gerald Patterson. admittedly rs strong
IL not stronger team than Patterson
and OIIara Wood, to the limit OF five
sets and to approach within few
strokes OF victory. Certainly both Til.
den and Richards are better equipped
now than they were on the previous
occasion.