New-York tribune., 1922-07-04

this afternoon in the final round OF
turf court lawn tennis tournament
Cove. l.. !.
Williams went into tho final hrarkc.
by virtue Of his s'raight-sc, defeat Of
Phil Nccr. Of California, former na-
tioral intercollegiate champion. who
yielded TO Williams brilliant playing
by score of q .. &C. Hunter.
after defeating Leonard veckman a,
: ;, Go. in the fourth round. climi-
mated Clarence c. Pcli tho racquets
champion. by score ~ 6 .. c--l. in
the scmi-inal round. pcll had
previously won from Henry II. Bass
ford az C-3, 6-3. m the fourth round
brackets
Paired with Washburn in the
doubles. William first defeated Pcll
and Harry {. Martin AZ 6 ,. .. in
the second round. and then conquered
Fred G. Baggs and Elliott II. Binzen
by n score OF 8 o. e. in the third.
thus gaining their scmi-frai bracket.
lIu ter and $. Howard Noshcll went
into the semi final through the default
of Walter l.. Pate and ". T. Ackcrland.
The tournament will be completed this
afternoon with the playing Of the
doubles match.
Williams is playing better tennis
right now than. was about 10 say.
az any time since he last won the na-
tional title in 1916. but certainly. a.
any time within tho last three years.
Neer was no wcakl.nc opponent yes
terday. on the contrary. his zane was
hcrccly aggressive. ard full Of that
fire TINT we have come 10 associate
1indlcy Murray showed !. 20 Us. p fcw
years back.
Ground Strokes Deadly Effective
But Williams tanned the son of the
Golden West By the amazing skill that
has dazzlcd American and foreign ten
mis- galleries before His ground
strokes were pure gems of execution
and deadly in their effectiveness. rs he
pierced Nccr's defense with p'accmcn;
shots that fairly knitted ;heir way
through the narrowcst ~ openings.
One q his most effective shots in
this match was his drive OF 'hc back
hand. the ball travelling with great
speed. either diagonally across Nccr's
court, or. when the opening presented
itself. sfrnight down the side lines
VIXEN Williams was returning service.
The former national champion made
young Nccr's task 2 more hopeless
struggle against inevitable defeat by
bringing of the most delicate vollcys
and half vollcys from all over the
court. a hackhand vollcy. 20 times
played almost shoulder high. often
winning the point outright. on these
shots Williams sent the ball shooting
into Nccr's court with sharp drop
and with y rcrulting low bound that
ravc the Californian little chance for
the return.
Nccr Rad n great deal Of difficulty.
too. in handling Williams terrific
service. and a. bcst was only able
20 make defensive returns OF this de-
livery. The Longwood star. following
in fast behind his service. nippcd these
returns either or the vollcy or by de-
cisivc smashing.
Nccr put up a great battle against
this brand Of tennis, getting trcmen-
dous pace into his strokes, unwilling
10 give an inch. refusing 20 soften his
Acainst a game less perfect than that
of Williams yesterday Nccr might have
won and certainly would have pressed
his opponent closer. but rs 10 was. he
went down fighting against better
game than any be was able 20 pro-
duce
Beekman Gives Spirited Battle
Rcoknan cavc Hunter spirited
battle in the first set OF their match,
there being no advantage either way
until after the games reached ball,
when Hunter squeezed out tho last
two. for the set and lead that ne
held thereafter 10 the end.
Bcekman handled Hunters powerful
forchand drives surprisingly well by
taking them on the yolley from a
point well inside the service court
lines. and he himself directed a per-
sistcnt attack against Hunters back
hand. but without great success yes
tcrday. Last year this was a vulner-
able point with the indoor champion,
but since then Hunter has strength
cncd his backhand 20 a remarkable de-
gree and there was no apprcciable
weakening there in the face Of Beck
mans savage assault.
The energy expended By Beokman in
rgIning in 10 take Hunters returns on
the vollcy proved costly expenditure,
however. for in tie second set he
tired perccptibly and was forced 20
take the fast dropping ball az his feet.
Hlntcr kept adding 20 his pace rs the
match progrcs sscd. and toward the las,
was wearing Bcekman down rapidly.
Pcll, after defeating Bassford by
T forcing the net position throughout a.
cut OIL his opponents drives, succrmhed
rather easily 20 Hunters hard strok-
ing. He was not able 10 handle The in-
! door champions drives as he had done
against BassfoFd. and this match was
soon over.
The doubles matches produced plenty
Of stirring tennis. with the logical
winners coming through successfully
-o-------