Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-12-21
DAVIS IS RANKED
NO. 10 BY T|LDEN
Coast Stars Future Status De-
pends on His Determina-
ton to Win
AT HIS BEST IN NATIONAL
BY WILLIAM T. TILDEN. ID
National Tennis Champion

When come to placing the last man
in my list of the first ten" find my
self confronted with the almost equal
records Of group Of stars made up Of
such famous players as Willis z. Davis.
of California: Stanley W. Pearson. of
Philadelphia: Watson Washburn and
3. II. voshell, Of New York, and
Lawrence Rice and n. W. Niles. OF
Boston.
1t is with uncertainty as TO my
Judgment that | give the selection to
the first named.
Willis Davis, after most disastrous
season of club matches in San Fran.
cisco, in which he met several un-
expected reverses, found himself in the
Pacific Coast championship, where he
forced "little BIZ Johnston to the
deuce sets. TO. 90
His first Eastern appearance was
at Seabright, where he went down
to unexpected defeat at the hands
Of sos Wertheim. the Austria
lisn extra string player. in two close
sets. 70. 8-4. The Californian gained
revenge over the Australian star in the
invitation event at Newport, by the
peculiar score of 6-2, DC. SO, after
defeating Carl Fisher in the previous
round, 10. 6-2. 60. His "jinx this
time. in the form Of Hugh kelleher.
got him by 3.6, 6.1, So score.
Defeated Niles
The national championships produced
Davis best performance OF the season
when he defeated y. w. Niles in the
first round. 2.6. 6-3. 20, 8:3, 6:4.
The Australian ''bugaboo TINS
time in the person of Pat O'Hara Wood
eliminated Davis from the competition
in sequence sets. g., GA. Ga. The
East West matches saw Vincent Rich.
ards defeat Davis in close battle.
The season of 1929 was not a good
one for Willis Davis. 1t was only for
short periods that he revealed the game
which, in former years, made him one
Of the most dangerous contenders IN
America. 1t is hard to analyze where
Davis failed last year. His service
seemed as deadly as of old: his over
head was still the devastating attack
of former years. his ground strokes the
same vicious. il erractic. wallops OF
the past. Yet he lost where formerly
| he won.
1t seemed TO me that he lacked in.
terest in many matches. The old fight
ing spirit which had characterized him
in the past seemed gone or at least laid
on the shelf for the time being. His
future status depends far more on his
rcgai ming a concentration and deter
minatiOn 10 win which makes cham
pion, than 10 any return Of form which
he may have lost during 1872, although
7 did not see it's absence.
Washburn Slipped
OF the other candidates for tent
position the most famous is Watson
Washburn. Unfortunately his seasoI
was a string Of defeats with NJ
compensating victories over any OF tn
leading players. His outstanding efor
of the year was bis fve.set match will
Manuel Alonzo, Of Spain, in the ma
tional singles.
NAT" Niles defeated Henri Cochet
OF France, at Newport, and Lawrenc
! Isice in the Massachusetts, state cham
pionship, but the hitter returned tn
compliment in the more important even
, for the Longwood Bowl.
; s. II. Voshell had a disastrous sea
! son with few redeeming victorie'
Stanley W. Pearson, with two 900
matches against "Bill' Johnston and
Ike pair against Wallace johnson, ma
. force Davis from his position in tn
: select circle.
,, After all, ranking, except by the Ns
i tional Committee, is purely a persons
5 opinion. SO ] pick Willis Davis fe
number ten and feel sure that the ma
. jority Of my readers will not agree.
e Copuright, 1888, by Public Lsf0sr CowDai