Evening star., 1923-06-10

SnOQSTdSS pays an 1nuSuallP
strong attacking game. all Of his
strokes. with the exception OF his
backhand, being aggressive. Both
services are severe and are delivered
very high with slight break. His
forehand drive is delivered much as
Lenglen takes hers-at arms length
the ball either being struck with
fat racquet or slightly undercut. 1t
is swift, well placed. has a low ira
jectry and good length. His back
hand is his weakest stroke and he
runs around il for forehand drive
whenever possible. His smashing is
extremely good, as he is powerful
and abnormally quick and active.
Is Clever VoIleyer.
Like most Californians. his volley-
ing is excellent and he is perfectly
sure of himself at the net. He runs
in very close and his returns are
sharply angled. He Is extremely
hard to pass because of his agility
and anticipation. but he is such
breads lobbing. Snodgrass does not
follow in on his service. but uses
his drive as a means of approaching
the net. The thing that strikes one
about his game is It's aggressive
ness. He is alert, but quick and well
poised. having had years of tourna
ment experience in southern Califor-
MIA.
There is no doubt that during wir-
ter he was playing above his usual
form. 1 had heard of his improve
rnent from several local players even
before the tournament. His victory
over Griffin was well deserved. The
match was an exceedingly close one,
we'll fought by both men and full Of
interesting moments and brilliant
strategy. Again and again Snodgrass
would gain the lead by maneuvering
l. ErNy1 n g~FN-
leying for d kill. but he lost point
after point because of his inability
to return the service on his back
hand or during rallies.
Against kinsey and Johnston he
was bit lucky to find his opponents
below their normal form. Good
though Snodgrass showed himself to
be. 1 do not consider him the equal
even of kinsey. kinsey was just
recovering from influenza and plainly
showed the effects of his illness,
while Johnston was out of practice.
having played only twice since the
championships last September.
Plays Splendid Game.
However, Snodgrass played splen-
didly against both men. In his match
with Johnston he started off conf
IDENTIFY and won the first set easily.
Then Johnston, regaining much Of his
usual fine form, overwhelmed him and
took the second set. Every one
thought that the match was over, but
we did not reckon with Snodgrass
fighting spirit.
He came into the third set no whit
discouraged by Johnstons playing
and was so aggressive that Johnston.
who realized that his game was un-
steady, was forced to assume the de-
fensive. Johnston's drives became SO
soft that Snodgrass found that he
could run around them, give. strong
forehand drive himself and get to the
net. He thus managed to gain lead
of 81, when Johnston, fighting hard.
captured four close games and TIED
the score.
Snodgrass never once wavered in
his determined attack and finally took
the set. For a man who has had only
local experience, I consider this d
very fine performance, playing as he
was against a man of Johnston S
proved reputation.
Not Great Prospect.
Snodgrass is coming east this sum
mer to play in some of the tourna
ments and il will be very interest
ing to see what he will do on grass
Californians rarely do well the mrs
year they come east, unaccustomed as
they are to the lower bound Of the
bali and the moist heat, and | be
lieve that Snodgrass will prove no
exception to the rule.
He should make the first twenty
but not the first ten, as so many Cali
fornians think. If he were in his
early twenties brilliant future
might be predicted for him. but Snod-
grass is nearing thirty and 1T is un-
likely that he will continue TO i'm
prove his game to any great extent.