New-York tribune., 1922-12-25

does MrH Mallory hold a correspond
wielders Of the racquet.
Tilden. N the course Of the season
Of 1922. sustained four defeats three
a, the hands Of william NJ. Johnstone'
and one. he bowed IN defeat before
young Vincent Richards. Mrs. Mallory
on the contrary. competing IN more
tournaments than Tilden, swept Amer
lean courts even more impressively
than she bad done in 1921. Pitted
against the greatest Of her rivals in
this country, the national champion
vas never defeated, and in almost
svnry instance she vanquished her
leading opponents, not once but sew
synl times. Here is BY far the most I'M
pressive tournament record ever made
81 any American player, man or
woman.
IN addition 70 these accomplishments,
Mrs. Mallory finished 80 runner-up 70
Nile. Suzanne Lenglen. Of Paris. In the
women's worlds championship tourney
at wimbledon. England. thus marking
her a. the second greatest woman
player IN the world.
A brief resume Of the champions
tournament record shows that she con-
qusred Miss Helen Wills, Of California,
four times, on the only occasions they
net, namely, AZ Glen Cove, az Long
wood, At Forest Hills In the national
singles, and Et CedarhurBt. Miss Mary
K Browne, Of California, yielded 20 the
champion twice In the East West
matches st Forest Hills and At Ardsley,
and Miss Lsslie Bancroft, Of Boston,
vent down before Mrs. Mallory no less
than six times, and always In straight
set matches.
Eight Stars vanquished
Mn. May sutton Bundy was defeated
twice. IN the state championship tour
nsy At Green Meadow and az seabright
Mes MArtha Bayard was beaten twice
and Mrs Marion Zinderstein Jessup,
Miss Helen Gilleaudeau and Miss Flor
encs BAllin each once There you have
list Of eight Of the possible first
ten" women players In the United
lory's march % victory. Could any
thing more be asked Of plsyerf
There can be no possible argument,
then, as 70 Mrs. Mallory's night 70 be
ranked In the No. ] position In this
country, even though there be consider
able division OF opinion ~ % the plsc-
ng Of the other candidates for the
frst division
Until fairly late in The season 7 WAS
inclined 70 believe that Miss Bancroft
would finish strong enough 20 have q
legitimate claim on second place, but
she weakened IN the closing weeks OF
the outdoor season, whereas Miss Wills
kept improving steadily. BY peculiar
twist % fate Miss Bancroft defeated
Miss Wills every time they met last
teason-four vietories-but there her
advantage ends
Miss Wills, the seventeen-year-old
marvel from ths Pacific Coast, met
Mrs. Mallory four times and was 81
ways beaten, but on three Of these oe-
casions she won q set from the cham
p!on, once being within two points OF
victory In the Longwood tournament.
In addition the California girl van
quishsd Mrs Jessup twice and lost 20
her once, as we'll as yielding once TO
Miss Martha Bayard Mics Wills won
. splendid victory over Mrs. Bundy,
however, In the national singles, and
also defeated the famous Californian
~ Longwood-notable performance,
both OF them.
Miss Wills Shows Promise
On the basis Of her remarkable rec
ord Miss Wills seems a logical holder
o. second place, and Is quite the most
promising player among the women
Of this country. Her path 20 the ma
tional championship appears psrticu-
larly filed with promise, and che should
gain the heights within another year
or two,
II may appear as q hardship and
even ss an Injustice TO Miss Bancroft
20 deny her the third place IN the
ranking, when you consider the long
and rigorous tournament season she
went through. No less than eight
times IN tournaments Of Importance
the slender Longwood girl finished as
a fnaiitt In competition against some
OF the most skilled players in this
country, and was also a semi-hnalist
In the national singles event. She
won the tournaments AZ Providence,
Apswamis, Newport and Greenwich, re-
eereing many notable victories in the
course Of her play.
Perhaps her most notable achieve
=. mentS we're four successive defeats Of
Miss willie, the only occasions when
these two players met. but against this
vas Der disastrous experience with
Mrs. Mallory, who defeated Miss Ban
croft six times, and always In straight
sets; two set-baeks at the hands of
Miss Bsyard and defeats by Mrs. Jes-
aup and Mrs. Harry Biekle Of Canada.
In naming Miss Browne Tor the No.
position ! take into account the fact
that fhe played very restricted
schedule here In the East last season.
Were she a less illustrious player than
she has 20 often proved herself 20 be.
should no doubt feel inelired 20 rank
her below Miss Bancroft In this
case, however. ! am ondeavoring 20
rank the players on their actual
ability, and when 70 is remembered
that Miss Browne, a three times win
ner Of the national title, defeated Mrs
Mallory IN a majority Of the Red
Gross matches played al over the
United States in 1917 and finished in
the No. position last year II appears
20 throw the balance IN her favor.
Miss Browne Extends Champion
Miss Browne competed In only two
events IN the East during 1922, first
IN the East West matches At Forest
Hills and then In the Ardsley invita-
tioa event Al Forest Hills, after
splitting even with Mrs. Mallory IN the
first two sets, after which rain forced
: postponement, the CallftInian lost
- the champion IN straigh. sets At
Ardsley she did far better, forcing the
match 20 three sets against Mrs. Nal
lory and leading az Sd In the third
session Of play. These two instances.
however, were quite sufficient 20 prove
that Miss Browne was 40 close 20 Mrs.
Mallory IN playing force as 70 entitle