Evening star., 1922-09-10

!! But at Wimbledon in July. 1920,
there had been no lapse. AS he met
opponent after opponent lH his long
fight to win the honor Of contenaing
against Patterson for world hsnors,
and in the challenge rouCd he ros
to higher flights than he had hitherto
known. winning. i'm addition tu -
orld title, the honor If being ths
first American tennis player to crash
.i..oLh- ,,inUI HoD.
Johnston Turns Tables.
There was yet more t. be done.
however If the erraiic element had
been banished forever from his plry.
that fact must be dem the
following September AT Forest Hills
Long Island, where William Johnston
stood ready to defend his title. Th-r"
were those who doubted that he had
ii in him to carry on. despite his
brilliant English showing. His per-
formance in 1919 certainly bulwarked
this attitude.
For in that year no man ever played
more brilliant tennis than Tilden. his
eliminating effort coming ~ Newport
in the all-comers at the Casino, WHORE
he literally swept Johnston OFF his
feet. Yet q few weeks lat r. on the
courts of the Wes. Side Club. the oe-
casion being the national singles
championship. Tilden found himself
at loss against the little Californian.
and was beaten.
With this in mind, thert fore there
were many who held reservations re-
giIrdinG Tiidcn's chances in the sin
giles championships Of 1920. They en-
dured, though, only until the fir-t set
had been played. For TildeR stood
revealed not only at his best but a
probably the create technician the
world has ever seen. H. defeated
Johnson for the title. and since thrn
he has been utt,riy reliable in ali
m 10 n
at stake.
Fought 20 Gain Consistency.
This is saying a great deal for Til
den, for the ma!sdy of f1ightin.ss i'm
a performer is the most difficult of
all flaws to eliminate. inasmuch as
both mental and physical fccts are
T. involved. Howtver. no one exptcls
anything Of Tildpn in important
. matches these days other than p ay
that combines steadiness wiki bril-
liancy.
Tilden will be thirty years old next
February. He WAS Guln - iie-.IulE
| town in 1898, ard his eXperieure ia
tennis began when he was seven
! years old At ages when Vim emf
Richards and Helen Wills and Mau-
! nee hci.onsali ,Ga:is in u rs'f,I;-
nence Tilden was a player OF merely
! local reputation. and no. II ton-u.gIi
! performer at that. But in 1916 and
! 1917 he began to impress observers
with an idea of greatness. His play.
however, was extremely errauc.
One match would find him blazing.
another smouldering. No one could
count upon him at all. But in 1918
he had overcome his mercurial tend
a place on the Davis cup team and "A
ranking among the first ten of Amer
lean lawn tennis specialists.
n>,o-. f-h,u,,t,n q, vopo
In 1919 he was again ranked No. ..
but in 1929. after his Wimbledon sue
cess he reached the mountain heights
through his defeat of Johnston AT
Forest Hills. Since then Til'ien haS
stood supreme. and great as has been
William Johnston's 70 M in match,
thus far-far better than in ls2l-no
one who has watched Tilden's piay
this season has concluded That Big
Bill Is ou' of fh- running.
While Tilden is master of more
shots than any man playing. yet one
of the chief characteristics of his
play is headwork. He studies an OPP
l,on~nt game with the profound scr
tiny of a chess master. and by the
time the second set has arrived he
has his rival down pat. Tilden's
strategy is joy To watch. while
! spectators are constantly amazed at
his wide variety of shots. that range
from a slow. teasing twist to a light
ming straight drive. He can chop an
drive from the base line forehand and
backhand.
He likes to play base line. but when
pressed he storms the net. where his
six feet one inch OF statur'. his great
reach and his agility usualy serve t
confute the efforts OF his oppouenJ To
pass him or to lob him nut oi the
point. Is Tilden the greatest tennis
.t.yer that ~ yo..L -
The writer believes he is