Evening star., 1928-12-30
WILLS AND COCHET
STARS OF NETDOM
Yankee Girl and French Ace
Grab About All Titles
That Are Decided.
By tho Associated Press.

By tho Associated Press
" HE history of tennis in 1928 is
the story Of a girl from Berke-
ley, Calf, and young man
4 from Lyons. France.
Between them these two cap
tured about every major championship
known to the game, Helen Wills win
ming the singles coronets of France,
England and the United States and
Henri Cochet carrying off the French
and American titles.
A review Of the year shows that
Cochet met defeat in singles only once
in the entire season and that was at
the hands of his fellow musketeer, Rene
Lacoste, in the final for the English
championship which Lacoste won. De-
spite this reverse, Cochet had the more
impressive record for the season and
displaced his countrylnan as the worlds
No. ranking player for the year.
Makes Great Record.
Little Henri defeated Lacoste in the
final for the French championship i'll
impressive style, kept the Davis Cup
in France by beating Big Bill Tilden
in straight sets in the Davis Cup chal-
lenge round after the American had
downed Lacoste, and then wound 1t all
up by invading the United States TO
capture the national championship
which Lacoste had let go by default
Cochet was nearly as effective In
doubles as in singles. Paired with
Jacques Grugnon, he added the English
championship to his list and with Jean
Borotra scored the victory over Tilden
and Francis T. Hunter which proved to
be an important factor in turning back
the American Davis Cup campaigners.
N1ax IL
to contest every step of the French
mans onward march, but their efforts
met with little success. A brilliant ex-
ception was the victory of George Lott
and John Hennessey Middle Western
stars, over Cochet and Brugnon in the
national doubles championship at
Chestnut Hill, Mass. Fired by their
success at eliminating the French pair
who had won at Wimbledon not long
before, the young Americans went on
to clean up Gerald Patterson and Jack
Hawkes. CT Australia in the final by the
identical scores of Ga, 6-1, 60.
Frank Hunter likewise gained un-
dying glory and ranking at the top
of the active Americans when he stood
in the place of his friend and Davis
Cup teammate, Tilden, who had been
declared ineligible because of his writ
ings, and battled Cochet to the last
stroke in defense of American prestige
in the national singles championship
Bravely though he fought, Hunter
finally bowed to the genius of Cochet
by scores of As, Ga, 3-6, IS, 6-3,
as the little invader came from behind
with withering net attack to take the
title.
Tilden was barred from this event
by decree of the United States Lawn
Tennis Association handed down in the
early morning hours of August IS which
ruled him off the amateur courts be-
cause he wrote newspaper articles about
the Wimbledon tournament in which he
was a competitor.
In Class by Herself.
AS for Miss Wills, there was no wom-
an who could give her even good
contest although she roamed the world
over in search of one. After she had
, swept through the French, English and
! American tournaments without losing
| a set she began playing male opponents,
precipitating controversy which finally
| led to the conclusion that Miss Wills
could beat some of the best of the
men If both confined themselves to
back court duelling and could trim all
but the top flight in a contest on even
terms.
Although never great doubles player,
Miss Wills added the national wOmen'S
and mixed doubles championship to her
singles crown this year, pairing with
Mrs. Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman Of Bos-
ton and Jack Hawkes. of Australia. Her
, fellow Californian, Helen Jacobs, in the
national singles final, was able to force
Miss Wills to a deuced second set, but
the champion was never in danger. Eal
Weak in doubles play, the United
States women lost the Wightman Cup
to England at Wimbledon.
The playing of Mrs. Wightman and
Mrs May Sutton Bundy, both veterans
of some 20 years ago, added interest
to the years campaign. the former VIM
ming the Eastern title. Mrs. Molla
Mallory still was going strong, although
no longer of major championship
caliber.
Youthful Stars Arise.
Among the men, on the other hand,
one of the sensations was the rise Of
such youthful stars as Julius Seligson,
Frank Shields and Gregory Mangin, who
showed promise in the national cham
pionShipS.
OF the foreign players Jack Crawford.
Australia, and H. w. Austin of England,
as well as the French youngsters,
Boussus and De Buzelet, stood out both
here and in Europe.
A French team including these two
and Cochet and Jean Borotra, whom
Hunter later defeated in the national
singles, readily disposed of an Ameri-
ican team minus Tilden and with youth
predominating, in a team match at
Philadelphia, thus casting gloom upon
American prospects of recovering the
Davis Cup in the immediate future.