Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1922-09-02
SPORTS
CONTINUED from Page Eighty
U. 5. TENNIS STARS
BEST AUSTRALIANS
IN INITIAL PLAY


Forest Hills. l.. l.. Sept. 1.-The
United States lawn tennis players tri-
umphed decisively over their Austria
liam rivals here today when they won
the first two matches in the challenge
round of the 1922 Davis Cup matches
in straight sets. William T. Tilden I'd
Of Philadelphia, the national cham
pion, defeated Gerald Patterson Of
Australia -, los Go. William NJ
Johnston of San Francisco then van
pushed James .. Anderson in the sec
end match 6-1. g. 6-3. Patterson put
up a strong fight against Tilden in the
first two sets Of their match but was
completely outclassed in the third set
Anderson, recently recovered from i'll
ness, was no match for Little Bilw
Johnston and was eliminated l.. a trife
less than 40 minutes of play. 1t was
announced after the matches that Vim
cent Richards and Tildcn had been Sc
iSShtd as Viz tHIltu states team 10
meet Australia in the doubles mattel es
tomorrc
If the Americans win he famous sill
Yer bowl will be safe for another year.
The loss of the doubles. however, will
put it up to Tilden and Johnston to
win at least one of the two remaining
singles to be played on Labor Day
when Tilden crosses racqucts with = l.
derson and Patterson faces Johnston.
Fourteen thousand spectators
grouped in the towering stands sur
rounding the grandStand turf Witness
cd periods of remarkable tennis play in
today's matches. While it cannot be
truthfully said that either Tilden or
Johnston We're in actual danger of de-
feat, there were times in the Tilden
and Patterson match. especially in the
first two sets, when a break in the luck
might have given the powerful Aus
tralian at least set from his Ameri-
can opponent. No such uncertainty
existed in the Observation-Disclosures
match, the 1.-the fiery-headed Califor-
MAN dashng through three sets as
though eager TO catch a train for the
far coast before dark
In meeting Patterson, the winner at
Wimbledon, England. this summer,
Tilden faced the holder of wha. is gen
orally conceded to be the worlds cham
pionship. Tilden held the same honor
in 1920 and 1921 but did not defend rs
honors this season. AS result there
was double interest in the contest and
every action and stroke Of the two
players was followed with exceptional
attention. Through the conflict came
Tilden with honors untarnished and
the claim of his admirers that he is
one of the greatest. if not the greatest
player in the world today, apparently
sustained.
While Patterson forced him into
deuce sets in the first two periods of
the match, critical observers were in
clincd to believe that Tilden always
had something in reserve. This ap-
pearcd TO be borne out by the fact
that when he turned on the rull powLr
Of his offensive. his ability TO imme-
dIatcly check the rallies of Patterson
became clearly evident While Pat
t'I sun uIiCONet'u d tremendous amount
Of bodily power in his battering of the
ball, he did not have the perfect con-
troll. change of pace and finesse that
the American disclosed in the real
pinchcs of the Hay.
Tildcn also showed far better con-
troll and conception of stroking, alter
mating hard driven deep court drive J,
GClIPate slices n,,f hal
which barely cleared the net, and this
change Of pace repeatedly caught Pat
terson out of position and unprepaie ed
for the unexpected stroke The Aus
tralian depended almost entirely on
hard driving. ard many of his returns
were too fast and well placed for Til
den to reach. but he failed lamentably
when he cndcavored to advance to the
forecourt and slice back soft returns.
His only advantage in this position
was when he could reach a high ball
with his overhead smash which put
finality into the stroke beyond ques-
ton. Neither riayer showed any par
ticular tendency to lob and Tliden was
able to maintain most sustained net
attack than Patterson, due. in part. to
this lack Of lobbing at critical mo-
ments of the play.
The Johnston-Anders match was
more or less an anti-climax following
the sustained struggle which preceded
it; 1t required one hour and 10 min
utes for Tilden to defeat Patterson.
whereas Little Bill raced through his
match in a trifie less than 40 minutes.
Just how much effect Andersons re-
cent illness had on his play will per-
haps never be known, but certainly the