The New York herald., 1922-12-10
WILLIAMS, BRITISH !
CHALLENGER, BEATEN
Outplayed Decisively in Latter
Half of Racquets Title
Match.
SERVICE IS BIG FACTOR
Battles Englishman Through
out Four Quick, Decisive
Games.
nv SAMUEL J. BRooKMAN.

Nv SAMUEL j. BROOKMAN.
Jock Soutar Of Philadelphia. for
nine years worlds professional cham
pion at racquets, still reigns supreme.
He fairly swept his challenger, Charles
williams Of England, off the court at
the Racquet and Tennis Club yester-
day, taking four games In a row In
such overwhelming style that those
who looked on from the steep gal
lery wondered how Williams in the
first half Of the international match
at Philadelphia last week had man.
aged to win four games out OF seven
from the American. 1t was a COM
plete, astonishing reversal.
| It was all over yesterday In forty
three minutes, only about one-third the
time required for the first half OF the
contest Four straight games. In not
one Of which the title defender was
forced to the limit to clinch his victory,
yet four games In which clay sparkled
with exceptional speed and brilliant
shots and recoveries. They were play
| ing for the best seven out or thirteen
games, and the tussle ended In the
eleventh with the score 7 to IN SOU
| tar's favor. The complet, score, taxing
| In the games played at Philadelphia,
was 15-1S, 6-15. 16-6, 15--l2. LII, lo-ll.
lis. 15-9, 49, 16-S. 15-5.
| Service was the factor that turned the
| Establishments challenge back In despair
"a service that came rattling off the
front wall with stinging speed. that
| slid off the side walls with sharp
break or faded away low In the rear
corner. where the challenger was unable
| to dig 1t up effectively; a service, In
short. that puzzled Williams from start
to finish. Many a time the challenger
was unable to get his racquet on the
ball even for a glancing blow; on other
| occasions his return was weak and de-
fensive and gave Soutar an opening FOR
| XIII" that the Philadelphia was
quick to take advantage OF.
Nineteen Services Aces.
There were nineteen point winning
shots out OF Soutar's entire total OF
| sixty that could not be called anything
but service aces, and against this to-
tai williams could show only four
which indicates clearly how decisive the
| superiority in service was. and how
| strong a factor in the triumph Of the
| American. Toward the end Williams
| In desperation at his failure to, dig up
the service ball began coming In and
meeting 1t on the volley whenever DOS
sible, but with no create success.
| Prominent players and clubmen who
have been following the sport for many
years were unanimous In the opinion
| that never before In a challenge match
| had a service been used as effectively
| as Soutar employed It yesterday
against the Engiishman. But II the
| match was one-sided on that account
| Il lacked none of the elements that go
to make championship racquets spec
tacular. 1t was played at whirlwind
| speed, and once the rallies were s'e ed
going the sparkling recoveries. tricky
| shots for position and dexterous racquet
handling by both men kept the gallery
thrilled.
| in the matter OF strategic change Of
| pace, which is so essential an asset,
there was little TO choose between the
| men, both of whom are masters OF the
| game, but Soutar had the superior con-
| troll, the more alert sense OF anticipa-
| ton and was the quicker to get his
| racquet into play from difficult posi-
tions. But service was the big thing.
t, the factor that prevented williams from
threatening seriously.
Close for Brief Period.
| The EnglIshman held his own for a
| while In the first game. coming from be-
hind after Soutar had taken lead OF
7 to 2 and bringing the score to 9-11,
but the American opened the speed
throttle wide at that point and counting
points in the eleventh hand completed
his Is points impressively. That made
the score In games all.
| In the next game Soutar's service be-
| gan swapping with tremendous speed
and mt sharp angles that Williams was
at loss to gauge. The points came
| quickly, most of them either on service
aces or on weak returns OF service. and
In n very brief period Soutar was so far
In front that williams began conserving
his energies. practically conceding the
| game, which ended at 10 love. The
| champion had -equired only four hands
and about Ave minutes for the game.
counting II points during his second
tenure Of service.
In the third game Of the day williams
made a determined bid to turn the tide.
He fought aggressively, tore tirelessly
after the most difficult shots and made
| one splendid get after another, but Sou
tar was quite his match In the matter
OF getting. II was close for seven hands
| and then. with tho score 3 to G. the
champions favor service came into evil
| dence again. Counting Ave service aces
In row Soutar practically crushed
| Williams's last hope In the eighth hand
and ran out the game at 15--s./
The score In games was 6 20 then
and the Englishman was fronted with
the task of winning all OF the remain
| ing three to take the title. II seemed
hopeless task in the face OF the title
holders sterling play. and so II proved.
After supreme effort, during which
the score remained fairly even for Ave
hands. Soutar launched another ire
sIstible attack, ran nine points In a
single hand and ended the game and
match at 15--5.
| Among the clubmen OF social and
sporting prominence who sat through
Confined ON Pare Seven